ORLANDO, Fla. — Demolition has been approved for the public housing complex known as Griffin Park in Parramore.
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“It’s obsolete,” Vivian Bryant, the CEO of Orlando Housing Authority, said. “It doesn’t meet today’s standards.”
The property, which consists of 23 buildings on 9 acres, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Two buildings will be preserved while the rest of the former housing units are demolished to make way for new, mixed-income housing away from the highway flyovers.
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“We preserve that history,” Bryant said. “We can have folks look back and see what was and still be proud.”
With the removal of the Central Florida Expressway ramp that once separated the neighborhood from the rest of Parramore, there is now an opportunity to reintegrate it.
“It was great, it was good,” former Griffin Park resident Carmen Colon said.
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She hopes the new neighborhood provides people with the chances it gave her.
“If they didn’t have Orlando Housing, I wouldn’t live here,” Colon said. “I live on a paycheck from social security. My income doesn’t cover an apartment.”
The community has been a part of Orlando for over 80 years but has been unoccupied since 2022.
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Developers are seeking input from residents, the city, and historians on what they want to see when residents return to live here.
The demolition is fully funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The reconstruction timeline will depend on funding, which we’re told can take a few years.
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