ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings took the stage at the Orange County Convention Center on Friday morning to deliver his State of the County address, with a theme of "We are building a better Orange County together."

The mayor highlighted actions taken and planned for the future to increase transportation options, increase affordable housing, enhance business and educational opportunities and promote environmental stability.

Demings said affordable housing is one of his top priorities. More than 2,300 affordable housing units have been built or are in development, Demings said.

He highlighted five affordable housing projects in the county — The Mira and Southwick Commons in Apopka and Barnett Villas and Emerald Villas Phase III in Pine Hills as examples. The other project is Cornerstone at Sixth, a 24-unit affordable townhome community in Apopka that the county has invested in through its partnership with Hannibal Square Community Land Trust. 

Demings said the community land trust model ensures that homes remain owner-occupied.

He also pointed to a project approved by the Board of County Commissioners for Walt Disney World's plans to build a 1,400 affordable housing community on 80 acres in western Orange County and to the county's partnership with Universal and Wendover Housing Partners to turn 20 acres of land in the International Drive area into a 1,000 unit workforce housing community called Catchlight Crossings. Catchlight is expected to open by 2026, the mayor said.

Demings also said the county has made progress on flood mitigation in the Orlo Vista community that saw severe flooding during hurricanes Ian and Nicole in 2022, completing three new pond storage areas that are expected to protect the area in case of future flooding. The county removed what he said was about 23,000 dump trucks of dirt to create additional pond storage. He said work on flood mitigation in other areas of the county also would continue.

Regarding growth, Demings said Orange County has 1.5 million residents and 400 more people move to the county each week. Officials expect the population to grow by 700,000 by 2050, he said.

Large and small businesses continue to grow, providing jobs for the people who currently live in the county and are moving here, Demings said.

He pointed out that tourism and hospitality remain the primary drivers of the economy, generating an $87.4 billion economic impact, but he noted that agriculture, simulation and technology and life sciences and medical technologies also are key industries in the county. 

Demings said tourism and hospitality are expected to continue to grow with the upcoming openings of Universal Epic Universe, the future expansions of Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom and a new roller coaster at SeaWorld. He also cited the business brought in by the convention center at events like MegaCon, IAAPA and the AAU National Volleyball Championships.

An increase in visitors who come to Orlando for sporting events also drives business, Demings said, noting that Orlando was ranked as the No. 1 sports business city in the country by the Sports Business Journal in its latest ratings.