Eatonville OCPS property no longer being sold; here’s why

ORLANDO, Fla. — Editor’s note: This story is available as a result of a content partnership between WFTV and the Orlando Business Journal.

Orange County Public Schools will no longer sell a roughly 100-acre property in Eatonville after a lawsuit.

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An entity tied to a group led by developer Sovereign Land Co. submitted a letter of termination to the district on March 31, the same day the property sale for $14.6 million would have closed. The termination came after lawyers from Alabama-based civil rights organization Southern Poverty Law Center filed a civil lawsuit in Orange County Circuit Court against the board on behalf of the Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community (P.E.C.).

The lawsuit sought to stop the sale and the plans for a mixed-use development on the land. The property originally housed a school for Black students established in 1897. The school district assumed ownership of the Robert Hungerford Preparatory School in 1951, closed it in 2009 and demolished the building in 2020.

Click here to read the full story on the Orlando Business Journal’s website.

Video: Family marks century owning Eatonville land that served as sanctuary for Black families An Eatonville family is celebrating 100 years of owning acres of land covering part of Maitland and Eatonville. (Phylicia Ashley, WFTV.com)

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