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Did Orlando start building The Canopy, its public space under I-4, in early 2025 as promised?

The Roadmap Reckoner · Orlando, Florida · last checked 2026-09-26

Verdict	PENDING, OVERDUE (by about a year and a half)
Promiser	City of Orlando
Place	Orlando, Florida
Promised	2025-03-31 ("early 2025")
Delivered / status	Not started; the City now expects construction to begin in fall 2026
Last checked	2026-09-26

Verdict: PENDING, OVERDUE, by about a year and a half. Construction was to begin in "early 2025". Reading that as by March 31, 2025, the end of the year's first quarter, the start is 1 year, 5 months and 26 days late at the last check on September 26, 2026. Construction had not begun in any record read.

Last checked: September 26, 2026.

The promise has two dated parts and a pilot, and they stand differently.

Starting construction: PENDING, OVERDUE.
- The City promised a start in early 2025 [C1].
- The City's project page now says: "The Canopy is expected to begin construction in the fall of 2026" [C27].
- The inspection firm that building in the state's highway right-of-way requires was still being chosen: the City Council's September 28, 2026 agenda asks it to approve an advisory committee's ranking [C26].
- The design approval of August 20, 2026 states that it "does not grant permission to construct" [C24, C25].
Finishing: PENDING, not yet due.
- The promise said construction would take "approximately 24 months" [C1]. From an early-2025 start, that is about early 2027.
- The City now gives the Fourth Quarter of 2027, with an 18-month build [C27].
- The state's grant agreement sets final acceptance by December 30, 2027, and completion "on or before April 30, 2028" [C19, C20].
The pilot parking: DELIVERED LATE, by about three months.
- About 150 temporary public parking spaces were to be built from early April 2024 and finished "this summer" [C2].
- They opened under a release dated December 18, 2024, "beginning Friday, December 20", about three months after that summer ended [C5].

The promise

The City of Orlando introduced The Canopy, the new name for its plan, in a press release on February 21, 2024 [C1]:

"The Canopy is expected to begin construction in early 2025 and is expected to take approximately 24 months to complete."

What it is. The same release says the project "will activate 10-acres under the Ultimate I-4 in Downtown Orlando" [C1]. It is the City's plan for a public gathering space under the rebuilt interstate. The ground is the Florida Department of Transportation's (FDOT's) right-of-way, and the City has used it under an agreement with FDOT since September 2010 [C22, C26].
Its names. The project was first called the "Bridge District", then "Under-I", and then The Canopy [C4].
Who pays. The construction money comes from the City and its Downtown Community Redevelopment Agency (the CRA), which is borrowing through bonds, and from FDOT [C8, C15, C18, C21].

Timeline

2023. The CRA's redevelopment plan was amended to fund "the Under-I elements" [C4].
January 9, 2023. The City Council approved a contract with AECOM Technical Services for The Canopy project [C3].
February 21, 2024. The promise: construction to begin in early 2025 and take about 24 months. A parking pilot was to be built from early April 2024 and finished that summer [C1, C2].
October 7, 2024. AECOM's Amendment One was executed, "to assist in the visioning and design of a unique restroom facility, artistic trees, and raised platforms" [C3].
December 18, 2024. The CRA announced the pilot: about 150 temporary public parking spaces, "beginning Friday, December 20", as a "one-year pilot" [C5].
May 19, 2025. The Council and the CRA approved Whiting-Turner Contracting as the construction manager, for pre-construction work at an estimated $105,000 [C6, C7]. The promised early-2025 start had passed, and no construction price had been set yet [C1, C8].
February 9, 2026. The Council and the CRA approved a $30,000,000 construction price with Whiting-Turner, both unanimously [C8, C9]. It is a "GMP Amendment", for a guaranteed maximum price, and its terms say [C11]:
- the drawings "are not fully complete and are issued for pricing purposes only" [C10];
- the amendment "is contingent upon the full approval" of FDOT and the Federal Highway Administration [C11];
- the date for substantial completion is "TBD" [C12];
- the schedule from ground breaking to turn-over "is 18 months" [C13].
February 9, 2026 (same meeting). The CRA and the Council adopted resolutions for the CRA's Series 2026A bonds, up to $160,000,000 for four projects, The Canopy among them, both unanimously [C9, C15].
February 23, 2026. The Council approved AECOM's second amendment, $232,820, unanimously. It pays for "90% construction documents that incorporates the revised scope", including "removing prior event-space elements" [C16, C17].
June 29, 2026. The City asked firms to apply for the construction engineering and inspection work required in FDOT's right-of-way [C26].
August 10, 2026. The Council approved two sets of agreements with FDOT, both unanimously [C18, C22, C23]:
- a grant of up to $3,750,520, half of the construction cost at most [C18];
- agreements to use the land for 50 years with no rent due to FDOT [C22].
- The grant's schedule, as approved, reads: "Construction contract to be let (Bid Opening) by January 30, 2025", "Construction Duration of 593 days", and "Final Acceptance" by December 30, 2027 [C19].
August 19, 2026. An advisory committee ranked the firms for the inspection work, with Mehta and Associates, Inc. first [C26].
August 20, 2026. The City's Appearance Review Board approved The Canopy's design case, ARB2026-10048, 6-0 [C24]. Its staff report states: "ARB approval does not grant permission to construct and/or install." [C25]
September 28, 2026 (agenda). In its Community Redevelopment Agency section, the Council is asked to approve that ranking for the inspection contract, up to $1,100,000 [C26].

What changed, and why, in the record's own words

The records read do not say why construction did not begin in early 2025. They record the steps that came after it, in this order:

The price was set before the design was finished. The drawings behind the $30,000,000 price "are not fully complete and are issued for pricing purposes only" [C10].
The price waited on the state and federal highway agencies. It "is contingent upon the full approval of the Florida Department of Transportation ("FDOT") and Federal Highway Administration ("FHWA")." [C11]
The design was revised after pricing. Two weeks later the Council paid for construction documents "that incorporates the revised scope", which included "removing prior event-space elements" [C16].
The land needed FDOT's agreements. The grant and the use agreements came on August 10, 2026 [C18, C22, C23].
Building on FDOT land needs an inspector. "As part of the construction of this project, within FDOT right-of-way, the city is required to secure Construction, Engineering and Inspection (CEI) services" [C26].
The build was shortened. The contractor's terms give "18 months" from ground breaking to turn-over [C13], and the City's page says 18 months [C27]. The 2024 promise said about 24 [C1].

What it costs

The February 2024 promise gave no cost [C1]. The figures since then:

Construction: $33,750,520 in total, "The total construction phase cost" [C21]. That is Whiting-Turner's price of up to $30,000,000 from the City and the CRA [C8], plus FDOT's grant of up to $3,750,520 [C18].
How the CRA pays: bonds of up to $160,000,000, shared with three other projects [C15]. The CRA also planned to add $2,000,000 "to fully fund the project account" in its next budget, for fiscal year 2027 [C14].
Design and preparation:
- AECOM's second amendment, $232,820 [C16];
- Whiting-Turner's pre-construction work, an estimated $105,000 [C6];
- the inspection contract, up to $1,100,000 [C26].
The City's project page gives "Budget: $30M" [C27].
Rent to FDOT: the public areas are used for 50 years "with no rent due to FDOT". The paid-parking and vendor areas carry "an anticipated annual rent of approximately $114,150.00, based on an appraisal and subject to the Federal Highway Administration's approval" [C22].

What to watch

The inspection contract: on September 28, 2026, the Council is asked to approve the advisory committee's ranking [C26].
The start. The City's page gives the Third Quarter of 2026, which ends September 30 [C27]. The record read holds no notice to proceed, and no groundbreaking.
Completion. The City's page gives the Fourth Quarter of 2027 [C27]. FDOT's agreement sets final acceptance by December 30, 2027, and the project's completion "on or before April 30, 2028" [C19, C20].
The CRA's budget: the $2,000,000 planned for fiscal year 2027 [C14].

Limits

Permits were not searched. The City's permit system was not queried, and no recorded notice of commencement was looked for. The finding that construction had not begun rests on three things: the City's own page, which puts the start in the future; the inspection contract still being procured; and the design approval's condition that it is not permission to build [C24, C25, C26, C27].
"Early 2025" is the City's phrase. This entry reads it as by March 31, 2025, the end of the first quarter. Read as by the end of April 2025, the start is about a month less late. The verdict does not change.
The pilot's end was not traced. The record read shows its start and its "one-year" term [C5]. Whether it ended, continued or became permanent is not covered here.
The records read are the City's. They are the City Council and CRA agendas and minutes from May 2025 to September 2026, two City press releases and the City's project page. News reports were used only to find records, and no statement here rests on them.

Sources

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