Multifamily Construction & Renovation in Orlando, FL
CN Development Group renovates and builds apartment communities across Orlando and Central Florida — unit turns and interior renovation programs, clubhouse and amenity capex, exterior and roof work, and ground-up multifamily construction. One licensed general contractor, one point of contact, work sequenced so the property keeps leasing.
Licensed & insured Florida GC — [CGC# — add license number]
[N]+ units renovated and delivered in Central Florida
Service counties: Orange · Seminole · Osceola · Lake
Ground-Up Multifamily
New apartment communities in Central Florida, from site development through turnover to your management company.
New Apartment & Build-to-Rent Construction
Garden-style and mid-rise apartment communities and build-to-rent developments, from site development and infrastructure through vertical construction and turnover to your management company.
Preconstruction for Developers
Budget development, value engineering, constructability review, scheduling, and subcontractor procurement — during design, when changes are still cheap.
Our Process
Property Walk, Scope & Capex Budget
We walk the property with ownership or management, define scope unit by unit and building by building, and deliver a line-item capex budget with a phasing recommendation.
Design, Permitting & Procurement
Plans finalized, permits submitted complete, and materials ordered and staged to a standardized spec before crews mobilize — so the schedule doesn't wait on a backordered cabinet package.
Phased Construction Around Residents
Work sequenced by building or unit group against your leasing calendar, with access windows, work-hour protocols, and life-safety continuity managed daily.
QC, Punch & Turnover to Leasing
Every unit and common area inspected against a standard checklist and released to leasing move-in ready. Warranty and closeout documentation delivered with it.
How We Keep the Property Leasing
Every contractor in Orlando says they "minimize disruption." Here is what that actually means on our jobs, in writing, before we start.
A written phasing plan before mobilization
Work is broken down by building, stack, or floor and sequenced against your leasing calendar — not ours. You get the phase map and the unit-by-unit schedule before a single crew shows up, so your on-site team can answer resident questions without calling us.
Resident notice and access windows
Access windows are set with property management and communicated on your notice template, on your timeline. Crews work inside the agreed hours. If a unit can't be accessed, it rolls to the next window instead of stalling the phase.
Noise, dust, and work-hour protocols
Containment and negative-air where interior demolition warrants it, daily cleanup of shared corridors and stairs, and no high-noise work outside agreed hours. Resident complaints are a leasing cost, and we treat them as a construction defect.
Life safety stays live
Fire alarm, sprinkler, and egress remain in service or under documented interim measures in every occupied building. Hot work is permitted and fire-watched. This is the part that turns into a liability claim when a contractor improvises.
Staging that doesn't cost you leasable amenity
Laydown, dumpsters, and crew parking are located in the pre-construction walk — not on the day of, in the pool deck lot, in front of the model.
QC before a unit goes back on the market
Every unit gets a punch and a move-in-ready inspection against a standardized checklist before it's released to leasing. Same standard, unit 1 through unit [N].
Unit Turns & Interior Renovation Programs
A standard vacant turn takes 5–7 days. A full interior renovation — flooring, cabinets, appliances, and fixtures — takes 10–14 days. Light cosmetic work in an occupied unit runs 3–5 days without relocating the resident.
Where turn cost actually goes
The visible line items — paint, flooring, cleaning, punch labor — are rarely the expensive part. Lost rent during vacancy, concessions, leasing commissions, and carried utilities usually exceed them. That's why a contractor who hits the schedule beats one with a lower per-unit price, and it's the number to compare when you're bidding turn work.
Three levers that cut turn cost on every property we've worked
Start the turn at notice, not at move-out. A 30- to 60-day notice period is free planning time — inspection, scope, material ordering, and crew scheduling all happen before the resident leaves. Properties that wait for move-out day lose that window every single time.
Consolidate trades under one contractor. Coordinating five vendors per unit across a hundred units is a full-time job for your maintenance supervisor. Under one GC it's one schedule and one accountable party.
Standardize the spec across the community. One flooring SKU, one paint, one cabinet and counter package, ordered in bulk. Standardization is what makes bulk pricing possible and what eliminates the rework that comes from unit-by-unit improvisation.
What Multifamily Work Costs in Central Florida
Light interior refresh — paint, flooring, lighting, minor fixtures
Full interior renovation
Ground-up multifamily construction
Ground-up, per-unit all-in
Real ranges, not a spread wide enough to be useless. Every project gets a line-item capex budget before you sign anything.
Orlando runs slightly below the roughly $350 per square foot national average for multifamily construction, and above Florida's tertiary markets. Material inflation moderated to low single digits in 2026 after the post-pandemic surge, which makes a fixed-scope capex budget realistic again in a way it wasn't three years ago.
Renovation returns in multifamily typically land in the 10–18% range depending on submarket and scope — but that number only holds if the finish level matches what the submarket will actually pay for. We'll tell you when a scope is over-built for the comps.
Orange County Permitting for Multifamily
Apartment complexes and condominiums are permitted as commercial structures in Orange County — not residential. Different review track, different fee schedule, different inspection sequence. Owners who budget a multifamily project against residential timelines are wrong before they start.
Reviewed in parallel by:
Expedited review requires architectural and engineering plans that are 100% complete at intake — a partial submittal doesn't get fast-tracked, it gets queued through comment cycles. We submit complete.
On ground-up work, transportation, fire, law enforcement, parks and recreation, and school impact fees are assessed at the rate in effect on the date of a legally sufficient application and paid at permit issuance. Submittal timing has a dollar value.
We manage permitting and inspections with the building departments and municipalities within each.
Why CN Development Group
Licensed & Insured Florida GC
[CGC# — add license number], with certificates of insurance and subcontractor coverage on file before mobilization.
One Accountable Project Lead
A named project manager who runs subcontractors, schedule, and communication with your on-site and regional teams. Not a call center.
Written Phasing Plan, Every Occupied Job
Phase map and unit schedule delivered before mobilization, not improvised in week two.
Central Florida Permitting Relationships
Orange, Seminole, Osceola, and Lake county building departments, plus the municipalities inside them.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does an apartment unit turnover take?
A standard vacant turn — clean, paint, flooring, and minor repairs — takes 5 to 7 days. A full interior renovation including flooring, cabinets, appliances, and fixtures takes 10 to 14 days. Light cosmetic work in an occupied unit can be done in 3 to 5 days without relocating the resident. The biggest schedule lever isn't crew size, it's starting the turn at the notice date instead of the move-out date, which gives you 30 to 60 days to inspect, scope, order materials, and schedule crews before the unit is even vacant.
How much does an apartment renovation cost per unit in Orlando?
A light interior refresh — paint, flooring, lighting, and minor fixture upgrades — typically runs $15,000 to $25,000 per unit in Central Florida in 2026. Full interior renovations with cabinets, counters, and appliances cost more depending on finish level. Standardizing the spec across the whole community lowers per-unit cost meaningfully through bulk material pricing and eliminated rework. You'll get a line-item capex budget for your specific property before you sign anything.
How do you renovate occupied units without displacing residents?
We phase work by building, stack, or floor against your leasing calendar and deliver the phase map and unit schedule before mobilization. Access windows are set with property management and communicated on your notice template. Crews work inside agreed hours with containment, daily cleanup of shared corridors, and fire alarm, sprinkler, and egress kept in service or under documented interim measures. Cosmetic occupied upgrades are typically completed in 3 to 5 days per unit, with no relocation required.
Do apartment buildings need a commercial permit in Orange County?
Yes. Orange County classifies apartment complexes and condominiums as commercial structures, so multifamily projects follow the commercial permitting process — a different review track, fee schedule, and inspection sequence than single-family residential. Budgeting a multifamily project against residential permitting timelines is one of the most common and most expensive planning mistakes owners make.
How long does multifamily plan review take in Orange County?
Plan review through Orange County's FastTrack portal generally takes 10 to 30 days depending on scope and complexity, with Zoning, Environmental Protection, and Utilities reviewing in parallel. Expedited review requires architectural and engineering plans that are 100% complete at intake — partial submittals cycle through comments instead of moving faster. Submittal completeness is the single largest variable in the timeline.
What does it cost to build a new apartment community in Central Florida?
Ground-up multifamily construction in Orlando runs roughly $300 to $350 per square foot, or approximately $84,500 to $109,000 per unit, which places Orlando slightly below the national average and above Florida's tertiary markets. Impact fees are assessed at the rate in effect on the date of a legally sufficient permit application and paid at issuance, so submittal timing carries real dollar value on a development schedule.
What is the Live Local Act and does it apply to my site?
The Live Local Act requires Florida local governments to administratively approve multifamily and mixed-use residential development on commercial, industrial, or mixed-use zoned land when at least 40% of rental units are affordable at or below 120% of area median income for 30 years or more. Qualifying projects can access the jurisdiction's highest allowed density, height matched to the tallest allowed within a mile, 150% of the maximum floor area ratio, and reduced parking. HB 1389, effective July 1, 2026, extended those preemptions to certain publicly owned land and qualifying religious institution property. Eligibility is a legal determination for your land-use counsel — we build to whatever approval you secure.
Do you work directly with property management companies?
Yes. Most of our multifamily work is coordinated directly with on-site and regional property management teams. We scope projects around leasing schedules, budget cycles, and ownership priorities, and we give your on-site team the phase map and unit schedule up front so they can answer resident questions without calling us.
Can roof or exterior work qualify us for insurance credits?
Often, yes. Wind mitigation features — hurricane straps, roof deck attachment and geometry, impact-rated openings, and secondary water resistance — commonly earn 10% to 25% in premium credits, sometimes more. Many owners who reroofed in the last five to seven years have credits they never claimed because the work was never documented for the carrier. We scope roof and envelope projects to produce a wind mitigation report you can submit, not just a completed roof.
Ready to scope your next multifamily project?
Send us a unit count and a scope — or just an address. We'll walk the property and come back within one business day with a phasing recommendation and a capex range you can take to ownership.
Schedule a property walk