I-4 Between Osceola Parkway and SR 528: How FDOT Buys Right of Way in Orange County
Reading Time: 8 minutes
The Florida Department of Transportation is buying right of way in Orange County right now along Interstate 4 between Osceola Parkway and S.R. 528. Under work program item 242484-8, described by FDOT as “SR 400 (I-4) E of CR 522 (Osceola Pkwy) to west of SR 528,” the department has nearly $75 million programmed for land acquisition, relocation, and acquisition services.
The item status reads “ROW acquisition beg.” If you own commercial property, a hotel pad, a restaurant outparcel, or a business on this corridor, an offer from FDOT is not hypothetical.
Is FDOT Still Buying Land Between Osceola Parkway and S.R. 528?
Yes. Acquisition on this segment is underway and funded for years to come, not finished. FDOT’s Five Year Work Program carries $70.2 million in right of way purchase money for item 242484-8 spread across FY2027, FY2028, and FY2029, plus $335,694 for relocation and about $4.3 million for acquisition services.
FDOT’s work program download portal posts the underlying program files, the most recent being the Amended Tentative Work Program dated 02/11/2026. Programming shifts with each amendment, so confirm current numbers for your parcel.
What Makes This Segment Different From the Rest of I-4
FDOT is buying the land here years before it plans to build. Item 242484-8 carries no construction phase anywhere in the five-year work program. Every programmed dollar is for right of way.
That matters:
- Owners often assume a quiet corridor means no taking. Here the opposite is true.
- Buying early gives FDOT time. It gives you time too.
- Section 73.071(5), Florida Statutes, excludes increases or decreases in value occurring after the project scope is known in the market that result solely from knowledge of the project location, so how an appraiser treats project influence matters.
See also: major FDOT projects in Central Florida and reading an eminent domain notice on I-4 Beyond the Ultimate.
Which Interchanges Sit Inside the Project Limits
Between Osceola Parkway and S.R. 528, I-4 passes dense hotel, attraction, and retail frontage. The interchanges inside these limits are S.R. 536 (Epcot Center Drive and World Center Drive), S.R. 535 (South Apopka-Vineland Road), Daryl Carter Parkway, and Central Florida Parkway.
Takings here are rarely whole parcels. They are strips, corners, drainage easements, and access changes, the category that most often produces disputes over value.
Jimerson Birr represents Florida property and business owners in condemnation matters brought by the state, counties, municipalities, and utilities. We research corridor projects at the work program item level, so you know how your project is funded and scheduled before the first meeting. Contact our team before you respond to FDOT.
How FDOT Buys Right of Way in Orange County, Step by Step
The process starts with a written offer, not a lawsuit, and section 73.015, Florida Statutes, gives you defined rights at every stage.
The Written Offer and the Response Window
FDOT must make a written offer and give the owner at least 30 days to respond before filing a condemnation proceeding for that parcel. Under section 73.015(1)(b), that period runs from receipt of the notice or from the date it is returned as undeliverable by the postal authorities.
Treat that number as a starting point. Our review of common appraisal deficiencies explains what typically goes wrong.
What FDOT Must Hand Over If You Ask
Section 73.015(1)(a)3. requires the condemning authority, within 15 business days after receipt of a request by the fee owner, to provide the appraisal report the offer is based on, plus copies, to the extent prepared, of the right of way maps or other documents depicting the taking and of the construction plans. Additional plan sheets follow within 15 days of request.
Make the request in writing anyway. The maps tell you whether you are losing frontage, parking, a driveway, or drainage, which usually drives the number more than raw square footage. See access, parking, and other business-critical features in a taking.
When Negotiation Ends and Court Begins
If negotiation fails, FDOT files suit and can move for an order of taking under Florida’s quick take procedure. The order does not take effect until FDOT deposits into the registry of the court at least its good faith estimate of value, and title vests upon that deposit.
Final compensation is decided later. Our walkthroughs on reading an FDOT order of taking and quick-take timelines explain the deadlines that follow.
What Compensation Covers on a Partial Taking
A partial taking pays for more than the dirt inside the new right of way line. Under section 73.071(3), Florida Statutes, compensation on a partial taking includes damages to the remainder caused by the taking.
That opens the door to:
- Lost value in the land and improvements you keep, or severance damages.
- Compensation for temporary construction easements.
- Separate claims held by tenants and leaseholders.
- Sign and billboard interests.
Business Damages and the 180-Day Deadline
This is the deadline business owners most often miss. Section 73.071(3)(b) allows recovery of business damages when the action is by FDOT, a county, a municipality, a board, a district, or another public body for the condemnation of a right of way; the effect of the taking may damage or destroy an established business of more than five years’ standing, for takings on or after January 1, 2005; and that business is owned by the party whose lands are taken and located upon adjoining lands owned or held by that party.
Under section 73.015(2)(c), the business owner must submit a good faith written settlement offer by certified mail, return receipt requested, within 180 days after receiving the business damage notice or the date it is returned as undeliverable, or at a later time mutually agreed to by the parties.
The offer is not just a number. It must explain the nature, extent, and monetary amount of the damage, must be prepared by the owner, a certified public accountant, or a business damage expert familiar with the business, and must be accompanied by the business records that substantiate it. Absent a showing of good faith justification for missing the deadline, the court must strike the claim, though on such a showing the court shall grant up to 180 additional days.
Under section 73.015(2)(d), FDOT then has 120 days after receipt of the offer and the accompanying records to accept, reject, or counter, and it must do so by certified mail. A failure to respond, or a rejection, is deemed a counteroffer of zero dollars for purposes of the attorney fee calculation. Our piece on business damages walks through the proof, and relocation benefits run on a separate track.
Who Pays for Your Lawyer and Your Appraiser?
In a Florida condemnation, the statutes shift much of that cost to the condemning authority, subject to important limits. Under section 73.091(1), Florida Statutes, the petitioner pays attorney’s fees as provided in section 73.092, plus all reasonable costs incurred in the defense of the proceedings in the circuit court, including reasonable appraisal fees and, when business damages are compensable, a reasonable accountant’s fee, to be assessed by that court.
Except as otherwise provided in that section and in section 73.015, section 73.092(1) awards fees based solely on the benefits achieved for the client: 33 percent of any benefit up to $250,000, 25 percent of the portion between $250,000 and $1 million, and 20 percent above $1 million.
“Benefits” means the difference, exclusive of interest, between the final judgment or settlement and the last written offer made by the condemning authority before the owner hires an attorney. If no written offer preceded the hiring, benefits are measured from the first written offer made after. The timing of that decision is worth discussing before you respond to FDOT.
What Owners on This Corridor Should Do Now
- Confirm whether your parcel sits inside the item 242484-8 limits before you respond to anything.
- Request the appraisal, right of way maps, and construction plans.
- Photograph the property, access points, parking counts, and signage while the corridor is intact.
- If you operate a business there, calendar the 180-day deadline the day the notice arrives.
- Get an independent valuation. Our Real Estate Development, Sales and Leasing team works with our condemnation lawyers on valuation and access.
Talk to Jimerson Birr Before You Sign Anything
Jimerson Birr’s eminent domain practice represents Florida owners against FDOT and other condemning authorities. We handle these matters with the cost-shifting provisions of sections 73.091 and 73.092 in view. Those statutes govern what a court may assess against a condemning authority, and what you may owe depends on your fee agreement and the facts of your case.
We track this corridor and the projects around it, from the Wekiva Parkway to Volusia County’s acquisition schedule.
If FDOT has contacted you about property between Osceola Parkway and S.R. 528, contact our Orlando area team or review our eminent domain FAQs before you respond. Florida law gives owners procedural rights that can affect the final number.