Project · Central Orange County
International Drive Evolution.
Under construction · as of Aug 13, 2026
“I-Drive: the county's tourist-tax task force said no to funding another convention center expansion” — Aug 31, 2026.
The timeline
Where is it really?
Under construction
Now
Orange County breaks ground on the $560M Grand Concourse Expansion: 100,000-sf ballroom, 44,000 sf of meeting space, new Convention Way entry for the North-South Building; completion targeted 2029.
Development · Aug 31, 2026
I-Drive: the county's tourist-tax task force said no to funding another convention center expansion
Orange County's Tourist Development Tax task force decided in August against a proposal to fund a further Orange County Convention Center expansion of more than $523 million (an Orlando Business Journal headline puts the ask at $541 million; the two accounts could not be compared directly). This is a separate request from the $560 million Grand Concourse expansion already under construction. The task force also rejected the Orlando Dreamers' $975 million baseball stadium request.
sourced ↗Orlando Weekly
Development · Aug 31, 2026
I-Drive: PopStroke's two-story flagship opens December 2026
PopStroke detailed the 8554 International Drive location on Aug. 13: two 18-hole courses, 13-foot waterfalls, a cave tank with six sharks and stingrays, five bars and a rooftop terrace, opening December 2026.
sourced ↗PopStroke (via Yahoo Finance)
Development · Aug 31, 2026
The Grand Concourse is out of the ground: OCCC's $560 million expansion builds toward 2029
The convention center's $560 million Grand Concourse expansion broke ground in mid-December 2025 — the county's newsroom dates it December 18, the OCCC's own expansion page December 17 — and construction started in early 2026, closing Convention Way from February 26. The project adds 44,000 square feet of meeting space and a 100,000-square-foot ballroom to the North-South Building, with completion in 2029 and more than 800 construction jobs on the way there.
sourced ↗Orange County Government Newsroom
Notice · Aug 31, 2026
A second expansion phase — 200,000 more square feet of exhibit space — still awaits approval
Behind the Grand Concourse sits Phase 5B, which would add 200,000 square feet of contiguous exhibit space and push the convention center's total to 1.15 million square feet. Full design documents arrived in January 2026 and the county commission gave the current program final budget approval in March — but 5B itself is explicitly pending approval, not a done deal.
sourced ↗Orange County Convention Center
Development · Aug 27, 2026
I-Drive: the $560M convention center expansion is under construction, with a 700-room InterContinental up next
Crews are now building the Orange County Convention Center's $560 million Grand Concourse — a 100,000-square-foot ballroom and new meeting wing rising alongside the North-South Building, due in 2029. Down the street, the 700-room InterContinental replacing the old Wyndham is expected to break ground by the end of this summer, and PopStroke's two-story flagship near the convention center says it's on track to open in December. With Epic Universe's first full year behind it and a rail study underway for a station at the convention center, the corridor's next chapter is genuinely moving.
sourced ↗Orange County Government Newsroom
From our comments
“So…they are going through all this trouble instead of improving pedestrian crossing safety…and they aren’t even converting it into a roundabout to ensure a continuous traffic flow??”
“Can somebody tell me why a simple azz pedestrian bridge cost $35m and 3 years to build? It's not a tower or road or anything that complicated... I need some dayum answers!?”
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Newest signal · Aug 31, 2026
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