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Will Disney's affordable-housing community in Horizon West have its first units built in 2026, as Disney said?

The Roadmap Reckoner · Hartzog Road Attainable Housing Community, Horizon West (Orange County), Florida · last checked 2026-11-02

Verdict	PENDING, AT RISK
Promiser	The Walt Disney Company, through Walt Disney World Resort (its Disney Parks Blog post of Apr. 19, 2023); the developer is The Michaels Organization
Place	Hartzog Road Attainable Housing Community, Horizon West (Orange County), Florida
Promised	Groundbreaking "next year" (2024) and first units in 2026 ("groundbreaking on this development is targeted for next year, with the first units anticipated to be completed in 2026", Disney Parks Blog, Apr. 19, 2023)
Delivered / status	Not built on the records read, as of Nov. 2, 2026: county land-use and zoning approval Oct. 8, 2024; a reclaimed-water agreement approved Aug. 4, 2026; no groundbreaking on record; Disney's two current project pages name no groundbreaking or opening year
Last checked	2026-11-02

Verdict: PENDING, AT RISK. On April 19, 2023, Disney wrote: "groundbreaking on this development is targeted for next year, with the first units anticipated to be completed in 2026." [C1, C2] The 2026 date has not passed: 59 days remain, counted from the date this entry was last checked. Two things put it at risk. Disney's two current project pages give no groundbreaking or opening year [C30 to C34], and the county records read show approvals and a utility agreement, not a building under construction [C15, C16, C26, C29]. The "next year" target for groundbreaking was 2024. This entry read no record of a groundbreaking in 2024 or since, which is not the same as no work having started (see below).

Last checked: November 2, 2026.

The promise. Groundbreaking "next year" (2024), first units in 2026, about 1,400 units, to be built and operated by The Michaels Organization [C1, C7, C8]. The post is dated April 19, 2023 [C2]. The developer's republication carries the byline of Rena Langley, Senior Vice President, Walt Disney World Communications and Public Affairs [C6].
What the county has approved. On October 8, 2024 the Board of County Commissioners adopted the land-use amendment and rezoned the site to a Planned Development, 5-1 with one absent [C15, C16].
The latest county action. On August 4, 2026 the Board approved a reclaimed-water agreement with HRAHC LANDLORD, LLC [C26, C27]. In it the owner agrees to submit construction plans for the reclaimed-water improvements for county review [C29].
Disney's silence on dates. Disney's current project page and FAQ page say nothing about a groundbreaking or opening year [C34]. The 2023 post still carries the promise [C1, C3].
What it cost. No total project cost appears in any record read. The county's records name payments the owner must make, not the cost of building the community: a $3,245,340 road payment [C19], a $403,767.90 fee in lieu for public-facilities land [C38] and a $5,671,560 school mitigation payment [C39].
What is still open. Whether ground has been broken; the building-permit record; when the first units will be ready.

The promise

Disney Parks Blog, April 19, 2023 [C1, C2]. The sentence: "groundbreaking on this development is targeted for next year, with the first units anticipated to be completed in 2026." [C1] "Next year" in a post dated 2023 is 2024. The post gives the scope as "approximately 1,400 total units" [C7] and says "The Michaels Organization, a nationally recognized developer, will build and operate the property" [C8].

The post's page data shows it was edited on June 3, 2024 [C3]. The sentence is the same in WDW News Today's article of April 19, 2023, a trade-press copy last modified 39 minutes after Disney's post went up [C4, C5]. What the 2024 edit changed is not established.

Timeline

April 6, 2022. The Walt Disney Company announces that Walt Disney World Resort has earmarked nearly 80 acres (words as read on the current page, whose page data shows a later edit). The plan is "still in the early planning stages and subject to appropriate approvals" and the scope is "more than 1,300 units" [C9, C10].
April 19, 2023. The promise above [C1, C2].
February 15, 2024. The county's Planning and Zoning Commission, sitting as the Local Planning Agency, recommends transmittal of the land-use amendment, 4-3 [C11]. The staff report says the applicant proposes "up to 1,410 multi-family dwelling units" [C14].
March 26, 2024. The Board votes 4-2 to transmit the amendment to the state reviewing agencies. This is a transmittal, not the final adoption [C12]. The site is 114.23 gross acres south and west of Hartzog Road [C13].
June 3, 2024. Disney's promise post is edited [C3].
October 8, 2024. The Board adopts the amendment and rezones the site to a Planned Development named Hartzog Road Attainable Housing Community, 5-1 with one absent [C15, C16]. A condition reserves rental units: "At least 75% of all multi-family units available for rent on the Property shall be reserved for residents earning between 50% and 100% of the Area Median Income (AMI)" [C17]. The same meeting approves a wetland permit "to construct an entry road associated with the Hartzog Road Attainable Housing development" [C18] and a road payment of $3,245,340 [C19]. A separate Board item the same day sets a fee in lieu of $403,767.90 for a 7.43-acre shortfall of public-facilities land [C38]. The minutes are headed "Draft Meeting Minutes" [C20].
September 9, 2025. The South Florida Water Management District's record for permit 48-114759-P, Hartzog Road Attainable Housing Community, Orange County, shows the application received on this date, with an expiration date of January 23, 2031, and 103.38 acres served [C21 to C23, C36]. The record has no issue date [C22].
October 28, 2025. The Board approves a school-concurrency agreement for the project [C24, C25]. The School Board calculated the school mitigation payment at $5,671,560 [C39]. Its consent item says: "This Agreement also requires payment of Capacity Reservation Fees prior to issuance of building permits for this project." [C24] Disney's project page is last edited the same day [C31].
August 4, 2026. The Board approves "Agreement for the Delivery and Use of Reclaimed Water (Hartzog Road Attainable Housing) by and between Orange County, Florida and HRAHC LANDLORD, LLC." [C26, C27] The owner entity's address is Disney's Lake Buena Vista address [C28].
September 4, 2026. Disney's FAQ page is last edited. It begins: "As work continues, here is what you need to know about this important project" [C32, C33].

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

The schedule. Disney's pages opened for this entry name no revised date, and the 2023 post still carries 2024 and 2026 [C1, C3, C34]. The records read do not say why the groundbreaking target passed. The county's final approval came on October 8, 2024 [C15, C16], so the Board's last land-use vote fell in the target year.
The scope. More than 1,300 units in April 2022 [C10]; approximately 1,400 in April 2023 [C7]; up to 1,410 in the county's February 2024 staff report [C14]. Disney's current page says: "approximately 1,400 units of mixed income housing to Central Florida, more than 1,000 of which will be reserved as affordable" [C30]. The county's condition reserves 75% of rental units for households at 50% to 100% of area median income [C17].
What the latest filings say about building. The August 2026 agreement says: "The Owner agrees to submit construction plans for the System Improvements for County review under the County's standard plan review process." [C29] That is a promise about a future step, not a report that work has started. The October 2025 school agreement ties fees to a later step, "prior to issuance of building permits" [C24]. Neither says whether a building permit has been issued.

What it cost

No record read gives a total cost for the community. The county's records name three payments the owner must make: $3,245,340 for roads [C19], $403,767.90 as a fee in lieu for public-facilities land [C38] and $5,671,560 for schools [C39]. The October 2025 school agreement also estimates a larger total of school capacity reservation fees; that figure is on a scanned page and was not checked on the image, so it is not used here. None of these is the cost of building the community.

What this entry did not check

Whether ground has been broken. The county's building-permit portal, the district's permit document, any construction-start notice, any Michaels announcement and any dated local report after January 2026 were not read. News stories about the district permit appeared in searches and were not opened; nothing here rests on them.
Disney's earlier project pages. One report says Disney's page once named a 2025 groundbreaking. The archive requests for the captures that could show it returned errors twice, and the capture that was read (edited October 28, 2025) has no dates. This is open, not a finding.
The district permit's meaning. The record shows a received date and an expiration date but no issue date. Its status fields read "Appro" and "Pending-RefundP" and what they mean was not established [C22, C37].
The minutes. The October 8, 2024 minutes are headed Draft [C20], so the votes above rest on minutes not yet marked final.
Cost. No source read states one.

Sources

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