Today Mayor Demings and the Orange County commissioners unanimously agreed to give Universal Orlando up to $5 million in future county fee credit to help with the cost of moving a wastewater pipe that is on the land being developed for the new Epic Universe park. Universal will still pay $13-$14 million to relocate the pipe, but Orange County did agree to the assist.
This comes after the county also gave Universal $125 million to pay for the new road just a few months ago, in December, 2019.
Now this has caused some people to question why the county is giving even more money to Universal Orlando, but they argue that they have done similar deals in regards to projects involving infrastructure with other companies in the past. Which is actually normal for a lot of areas in the country.
The group also agreed to give a tax break of  $90,000 and $245,000, over the next three years, to SIMCOM Aviation Training and they also voted to pay $50,000 for a “bid fee” to try and get the U.S. Soccer organization to have their World Cup qualifying games at the Exploria Stadium in either 2020 or 2021. Among other business.
Universal Orlando must be planning on moving forward with their Epic Universe park again. They previously announced it was paused due to the economic downturn over the COVID-19 closures. But if they are asking for assistance, it is likely that we might see it moving forward again, hopefully soon.
Epic Universe is going to be a very big draw for Orange County with the new park having a Super Nintendo Land, Wizarding World of Harry Potter Expansion, How to Train Your Dragon Area, and a Universal Monsters themed area. Along with new hotels, restaurants, shops and more. It’s in the best interest of the area and Universal if everyone gets the ball rolling.
What do you think? Comment and let us know.
Source: Orlando SentinelÂ
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