Orange County Mayor Jerry L. Demings has released a statement on today's news that Disney is abandoning plans to create an east coast headquarter complex in Lake Nona Florida.
Mayor Demings said, "It is unfortunate that Disney will not be moving forward with construction of the Lake Nona campus. However, these are the consequences when there isn’t an inclusive and collaborative work environment between the state of Florida and the business community. We will continue to work closely with our valued partners at Disney.”
Located in Lake Nona, the new campus was planned to complement Disney's operations in Southern California and its regional hub in the New York City area and be home to more than 2000 Cast, Imagineers and employees. The relocation to Florida was originally planned to be operational by the end of 2022 before being delayed, and has been in the planning stages since 2019.
In an email to employees today, Disney Parks Chairman Josh D'Amaro cited "changing business conditions" as a reason for canceling the Lake Nona project.
Today's move by Disney should send a clear message to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis that the company is clear that its spending in the state of Florida will be affected by DeSantis' actions. Referring to previously announced plans to spend more than $17 billion at Walt Disney World in Florida over the next 10 years, Iger recently said, "We have a number of other growth and expansion opportunities at our parks and we are closely evaluating where it makes the most sense to direct future investments."
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