The City of Orlando has mapped more than 300 vacant, privately owned lots concentrated in the Parramore neighborhood and is preparing to offer builders and buyers a package of incentives to turn them into homes — including up to $45,000 in down payment assistance for qualifying buyers and full rebates on permit and impact fees for builders who price homes at $375,000 or less.
The city identified the lots using its GIS database and confirmed them with field visits, a city spokesperson said. A vacant lots map provided to Bungalower shows them scattered throughout Parramore and the surrounding Downtown Community Redevelopment Area, from Colonial Drive south past the East-West Expressway.
City council on Monday approved the three-year pilot, called Orlando Unlocked Open Door, as part of a broader affordable housing push that also includes a separate citywide ADU incentive program on the same agenda.
How it works
Builders who construct detached single-family homes of at least 1,200 square feet within the CRA and price them at $375,000 or less would receive 100% rebates on impact fees (averaging $18,565 per home) and building permit fees ($574 to $704 per home) — a total builder incentive averaging roughly $19,200.
Buyers whose household income doesn’t exceed 120% of Area Median Income would receive up to $45,000 in down payment assistance, structured as a five-year forgivable loan for homesteaded properties. First responders — law enforcement officers, firefighters, nurses, and EMTs — would be eligible for an additional $10,000.
For a family of four, the 120% AMI income ceiling is $126,480 per year, the spokesperson said. For a single person, it’s $88,560.
Buyers must complete a homebuyer education seminar through a HUD-certified housing counseling agency. They cannot combine the city’s down payment assistance with the separate Orlando Housing Department program, but can stack it with Orange County or Orange County Housing Finance Corporation assistance.
Does the math work?
The city provided research showing the $375,000 price cap is grounded in current market conditions. New construction within the CRA portion of ZIP code 32805 has averaged $318,750 since 2022, with the highest sale at $335,000 — all 3-bed, 2.5-bath homes averaging 1,572 square feet. Looking at the broader 32805 area, 41 new-construction home sales since 2022 averaged $344,441. The higher end of those sales are concentrated in the Lake Mann Estates neighborhood, outside the CRA.
The spokesperson noted that the metro-area median of $415,000 is skewed by the downtown core and east side of downtown, which pushes it higher than what is typical in Parramore.
That said, the city’s own numbers show the math is tight. Separately from this program, the CRA is currently finalizing eight single-family homes for sale in two models: the Lion/Pride (1,567 square feet, appraised at $365,000) and the Magic (1,581 square feet, appraised at $380,000). The larger model exceeds the program’s own $375,000 cap.
The city’s affordability analysis assumes a 7% interest rate. At $375,000 with no down payment, a buyer would need to earn at least $110,723 per year to keep housing costs at a third of income. With the program’s $45,000 in down payment assistance, that threshold drops to $99,836 — making the home affordable for two-or-more person households at 120% AMI.
Funding
The Affordable Housing Initiatives Fund has $1.5 million that will be split between this program and the ADU incentive program, the spokesperson said. The Permit Fee Rebate Pilot Program has about $600,000 in its current balance. That’s $2.1 million total shared across both programs.
The city said the exact number of units the funding can produce is difficult to estimate because both programs draw from the same pool. At roughly $19,200 per home in builder rebates plus $45,000 in buyer assistance, a single transaction could cost the programs more than $64,000.
The program is available through January 2029 or until funds are exhausted.
Updated Feb. 24, 2026: Updated to reflect city council approval on Feb. 23.
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