Lake Nona is Taking Off
The visionary community of Lake Nona, located in Orlando, Fla. is quickly evolving into America’s leading Aerotropolis
The Lake Nona Aerotropolis is the most comprehensive Aerotropolis in the United States, comprising of residential, commercial, retail, mixed-use, industrial and manufacturing uses and tenants that all directly benefit from direct access to Orlando International Airport (MCO).
The Aerotropolis is formed by the connection of Lake Nona, a 17-square-mile master-planned community, and the Orlando International Airport. Located directly contiguous to each other, Lake Nona and MCO encompass 37-square-miles of land under control of just two entities, the Airport Authority and Lake Nona’s developer and land owner, the Tavistock Group.
Lake Nona’s residents and businesses benefit from their location within the Aerotropolis, experiencing less than 15-minute commute times to MCO’s check-in and TSA security areas. This has helped accelerate growth in the community, resulting in Lake Nona being ranked among the best-selling residential communities in the nation for the past 10 years.
The community’s location within the Aerotropolis has also been a driver of business and commercial growth for Lake Nona, which consists of clusters of excellence in health and life sciences, sports and human performance, education, technology, and aerospace and defense. It has also been a catalyst for attracting leading organizations, such as KPMG’s National Learning and Innovation Center, the USTA National Campus, SIMCOM’s largest training center, and Lake Nona’s Medical City, a health and life sciences innovation district.
The Aerotropolis is anchored by MCO, the busiest airport in Florida and the 10th busiest in the U.S. The airport itself recently ranked as the #1 Best Mega Airport by JD Power, and is located in a Foreign Trade Zone and a robust transportation hub, offering access to global destinations through a network of air routes, interstate highways, rail systems, and space transportation through launch facilities at the Kennedy Space Center. MCO is also home to Orlando’s new Intermodal Transportation Center, connecting the Aerotropolis to the broader region through light, commuter and high-speed railway integration, buses, and APMs.
Looking ahead, the Aerotropolis will continue to grow, featuring the nation’s first high-speed, electric air mobility hub servicing all-electric, vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft through the Lake Nona Vertiport.
