$500M Westcourt project ramps up; OBJ's Most Influential Leaders announced; Lawsuit filed over David Siegel's trust & more

Welcome to Orlando Business Journal's LinkedIn newsletter. I'm Data Reporter Logan Dragone, rounding up business news to keep you in the know when time is short.

Progress for Westcourt, the 900,000-square-foot mixed-use development adjacent to the Kia Center in downtown Orlando, is ramping up.

City officials and the project's developer Machete Group gave updates on the anticipated development — and insights on the real estate environment it is being built in.

“Nothing in real estate is ever easy. We are no longer in an environment where [a loan] is cheap to get the way it was five or six years ago when construction costs were predictable, so those certainly have impacted the process one way or the other," said David Carlock, founder and principal of Machete Group.

Click here to see the full story on the development from Staff Writer J.C. Carnahan.

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Real estate news of the week

• Brevard County aquarium cost jumps to $140M, groundbreaking may be delayed
• Massive cold-storage facility hits market in booming Leesburg
• Embry-Riddle expansion plan takes flight with new research/office building
• Multi-acre site near aerospace hub up for grabs, sparking development interest
• Iconic Orlando retail space up for grabs
• Grocery store may sprout in this growing Osceola corridor
• Florida Tech plans expansion amid enrollment surge
• Luxury Sanford estate with tennis court hits market (PHOTOS)
• AdventHealth buys downtown Orlando building for $15M
• Orlando suburb bucks cooling trend as its home sell fast amid high demand
• Downtown Orlando office complex completes Class A renovations
• Mapped: Central Florida's latest luxury home sales and listings

Orlando news bites: Don't miss these other top stories

• Orlando Dreamers secure additional funding toward pro baseball pursuit
• Legal battle brews over late Westgate mogul David Siegel's trust
• These are Central Florida's 34 Most Influential Leaders
• 51 Central Florida firms make Inc. 5000, including 12th-ranked company in US
• Kissimmee airport expansion to bring 100 new jobs
• Allegiant adds new budget flights out of Orlando
• International fiber optic firm enters US with Lake County venture
• Central Florida weighs costly SunRail expansion as other cities see weekend gains
• Visit Orlando gets $10M budget boost amid audit concerns
• Distribution company to cut Orlando jobs, close local site

Restaurant, retail and tourism news & notes — Check out the latest news on popular local places to eat, drink, shop and be entertained

• Youth sports tourism fuel billion-dollar developments in Central Florida
• Italian restaurant chain to replace closed Macaroni Grill
• Jeff's Bagel Run set to open 20th shop with more on the way

Nominate now for the OBJ awards programs!

GUIDE: Best practices and key details to nominate for OBJ's 2025 awards

• 2025 People to Know (deadline: Oct. 20)

This weeks List:

• Modeling, Simulation and Training Cos.

Nominate your company to be eligible for the OBJ's lists here. Now surveying for:

• Hispanic & Latin-Owned Businesses
• Subcontractors
• Private Schools
• Largest Employers

That's all for this week's top headlines, and thanks for supporting OBJ. This weekly round-up of Orlando business news was compiled by Logan Dragone, data reporter. Questions? Comments? Concerns? News tips? Send them to ldragone@bizjournals.com.