Orange County officials quietly terminated a developer’s agreement with the Hannibal Square Community Land Trust for a 24-unit affordable townhome project in Apopka, citing financial instability and a lack of construction progress as the reasons.  

Known as Cornerstone at Sixth, the development would have been built in the heart of the Apopka Community Redevelopment Area (CRA). The estimated $8.1-million project was meant to provide affordable housing options as a mixed-income development, including a pocket park and pavilion, on 2.53 acres at 350 E. Sixth St. 

An April 7 letter, not previously reported, served as written notice of Orange County’s termination of the agreement. It confirmed that the agreement is ending “for cause, as a result of the Agency’s default,” effective 24 hours after Hannibal’s receipt of the notification. 

“That project is no longer happening,” Dustin Wyatt, an Orange County spokesperson, wrote in a Dec. 18 email to The Apopka Chief. “The agreement was terminated and they will not be receiving funding from us.” 

The primary catalyst for the termination was the collapse of the project’s funding structure. On Aug. 23, 2024, Black Economic Development Fund, as lender, filed a foreclosure action against the Winter Park-based Hannibal Square Community Land Trust.  

According to the county’s notice, the lender alleged that the nonprofit “failed to make timely loan payments,” putting the $6.425 million construction loan at risk, which is an estimated 74.1% of Cornerstone at Sixth’s funding.  

“Without the Lender’s financial support and with the Property subject to a foreclosure action, the County has determined that the Agency is unable to perform under the Agreement and cannot develop or construct 24 affordable townhomes on the Property,” the letter stated.  

The letter stated that, along with the financial situation, the developer “failed to make sufficient progress on the Project for over a year,  and the County has determined, in the County’s sole discretion, that the Agency has materially breached the terms of the Agreement that require the Agency to complete the Project by the Agreement’s required Completion Date of October 11, 2025.” 

Cornerstone at Sixth’s groundbreaking ceremony took place with much fanfare on July 14, 2023. 

Officials, including those from the city of Apopka and Orange County, celebrate the groundbreaking for Cornerstone at Sixth on July 14, 2023 (File photo by Teresa Sargeant).

The trust did not respond to requests for comment.  

Under the terms of the termination, the Hannibal Square Community Land Trust was ordered to “stop working under the Agreement” and “place no further orders with subcontractors for materials and services.” The letter further instructed the trust to “incur no further costs” and prepare all necessary documents required to close out the 2022 agreement. 

A developer’s agreement between the Hannibal Square Community Land Trust and Orange County for Cornerstone at Sixth took effect Oct. 11, 2022, according to the letter.  

That same month, the Orange County Board of County Commissioners approved $1.5 million to go from the county’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund to the Cornerstone at Sixth project.  

The Affordable Housing Trust Fund was started in 2020 to address the county’s affordable housing crisis due to the area’s burgeoning population. The county initially dedicated $160 million to the fund for its first 10 years.  

As of October, the county had earmarked $58 million from the Housing Trust Fund to at least a dozen projects, supporting nearly 2,400 affordable units and another $6.5 million toward maintaining existing homes, according to an Oct. 27 Orange County news release.  

In October, the Board of County Commissioners dedicated another $58.5 million for the next three years to help create or maintain 3,570 affordable units, the news release states.