Downtown Orlando

The GAI Building is the first privately developed green office building in downtown Orlando. The project is designed to meet the requirements of LEED® certification.   LEED® stands for “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design” as administered by the U.S. Green Building Council. The GAI Building will apply for silver level certification upon completion. LEED® certification is the industry leader for recognition and certification of green buildings. GAI Consultants and Ustler Development are extremely proud to “go green”. It is simply the right thing to do and demonstrates our commitment to responsible professional practice and sustainable real estate development. 

Anchor Tenant:  The new building will headquarter GAI Consultants, Inc.’s Orlando operations. GAI has naming rights for the building and the engineering company will initially move 100 professionals to occupy approximately 62,000 rentable square feet on the building’s top two floors. The office eventually will expand to 200 employees.

GAI is a 700-person multi-disciplinary engineering consulting firm serving clients worldwide in the energy, government, transportation, real estate, water and industrial markets. Founded in 1958, GAI operates 16 offices throughout the Northeast, Midwest and Southeastern United States. The company is led by President and CEO Gary M. DeJidas, P.E.

Established in 1982, GAI-Orlando represents more than 25 years of service in downtown Orlando and is managed by Vice President Rick Cima, P.E. Top clients in Central Florida include FDOT, Orange County, Seminole County, and the cities of Orlando, Lake Wales, Eustis, Daytona Beach and DeBary. Some of GAI’s notable public works and streetscape projects include Park Avenue in Winter Park, the Lymmo Bus Circulator, reconstruction of Orange Avenue, Church Street, Pine Street, and Central Boulevard in downtown Orlando, Plant Street in downtown Winter Garden, and the Uptown Altamonte project in Altamonte Springs. 

Anchor Lease Size and Significance of the Deal:  The GAI lease ranks as one of the largest and most significant professional office lease transactions in the recent history of downtown Orlando. Excluding financial institutions and law firms, it represents the top anchor tenant deal over the past decade. Moreover, the GAI Building is one of the biggest build to suit developments ever executed in downtown Orlando. GAI and Ustler Development believe in downtown Orlando for the long term. It is a great accomplishment to keep GAI downtown and add their signature building to our skyline. 

Project Team: The developer is Ustler Development, with principals Craig Ustler and Tom Ustler. Construction financing was provided by M & I Bank, Tom Bacchus, Senior Vice President. The project architect is Baker Barrios Architects, led by Design Principal Tim Baker, and the general contactor is Brasfield & Gorrie, led by Regional President Tim Dwyer.

Jobs and Economic Impact:  Construction of the GAI Building will have a significant economic impact on downtown Orlando. For direct construction jobs, there will be approximately 200 on-site workers. If you add the additional supervision, production and support from each trade at their facilities and offices, the total number will be roughly 350. If you include the entire scope of the project, for actual construction and corresponding design, consulting and professional services, there are over 400 jobs directly related to this project. 

The total value of the project, including the land, hard costs and soft costs, is approximately $30 million. For large scale projects like the GAI Building, there are significant tax receipt benefits to the city, county and state. For example, as part of the construction contract, well over half a million dollars in sales tax is expected to be paid.

For real estate taxes, upon completion, the net tax increase for the new building as compared to the former vacant land is about $400,000 annually. 

“The financing and construction of the privately-developed GAI Building is a positive sign for our City's economic recovery…and further positions Downtown Orlando as the economic engine that drives Central Florida’s economy,” said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer. “Combining the hundreds of people who will work on the building’s construction with GAI’s plans to expand their workforce, this project puts Central Floridian’s to work at a time when it is most needed.” 

More Information and Websites:  For more information, please contact Craig Ustler at custler@ustler.net or Gary DeJidas at g.dejidas@gaiconsultants.com. Related websites are listed below. 

www.gaiconsultants.com 

www.ustler.net 

www.bakerbarrios.com 

www.brasfieldgorrie.com 

www.gaibuilding.com