Experts: Disney likely won't fight Reedy Creek district law in court. Here’s why.

Welcome to Orlando Business Journal's weekly LinkedIn newsletter. I'm Digital Producer/Senior Staff Writer Richard Bilbao, rounding up Orlando business news to keep you in the know when time is short.

There's little chance The Walt Disney Co. will challenge the legality of Florida House Bill 9B, which will rename and revamp the power structure of Walt Disney World's Reedy Creek Improvement District, several experts said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to sign the bill into law, but there has been no formal announcement via the state's media site. When made official, the law will replace the district's five-member board with appointees by DeSantis and change some of Reedy Creek's powers. 

Meanwhile, the theme park giant appears to have no plans to challenge the legislation in court, based on the verbiage of a statement released shortly after the bill's passing on Feb. 10. "We are focused on the future and are ready to work within this new framework," said Walt Disney World Jeff Vahle. 

The reasons Disney may be moving on could be due to the fact that the legislation won't have any real bearing on what Reedy Creek already did on its own or its related powers that matter, experts told Orlando Business Journal.

Read more on the story here.

And now onto other big business deals, transactions and activity headlines from the week.

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Real estate news of the week

Check out some of the biggest names in local real estate and what they're up to:

• See where a new $65M project is under construction: Palm Beach Gardens developer Eastwind Development has begun work on this new project.
• Brain surgeon-turned-developer buys more Winter Garden land: Dr. Ravi Gandhi and his Verax Investments group just closed on land for a new project.
• Winn-Dixie, Walgreens-anchored properties sold for big bucks last week: Retail real estate transactions were among the top commercial deals posting in Orlando Feb. 13-17.
• On the market: 309 acres near Lake Toho in Kissimmee: The minimum bid for the site would be $85,000 per acre, or at least $26.27 million.

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Orlando news bites

You don't want to miss these top stories:

• Lake Nona scores another HQ. Here's the latest.: Lake Nona Town Center in east Orlando continues to attract office users, especially in the tech and medtech sectors.
• Why former Orlando City owner’s Windermere mansion sold for a record $35M: The sale smashes Central Florida’s previous record, a $15.3 million sale last year in Windermere. 
• FDOT lines up grants and more for Brightline and SunRail's proposed Sunshine Corridor: The proposed shared corridor would allow commuter rail SunRail to connect with the Orange County Convention Center, Orlando International Airport and South International Drive near the Walt Disney World Resort.

(Personal note from Richard: I'm very interested in the success of the Brightline train to and through Orlando. I think it would be fun to show my kids alternative ways to travel.)

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Restaurant news & notes

We're always hungry for new places to eat. Check these out:

• Check out the newest restaurant to open in the Orlando airport’s Terminal C: This two-story, 7,000-square-foot eatery will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, with menu items such as burgers, tacos and salads. 
• Two new Orlando restaurants to open near UCF: The eateries, which will be right next to each other, are joining other tenants such as Cold Stone Creamery, Happy Lemon and a smoke shop.

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Nominations & Events

Things to put on your busy calendar:

• Register now for Mentoring Monday, to be held Feb. 27
• Nominate now for 2023 Diversity in Business Awards. Deadline: March 2
• Join us at the 2023 Business of Sports panel discussion, to be held March 9
• Nominate now for the 2023 Fire Awards. Deadline: March 16
• Register now for the 2023 Future of Cities virtual event, to be held March 20
• Join us at the 2023 Women Who Mean Business event, to be held March 30

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Finally ... make your voice heard!

Some OBJ polls are live. Let us know what you're thinking.

• What should Orlando do to draw more world-class sports events to town?
• When was the last time you took a weeklong vacation?

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That's all for this week's top headlines, and thanks for supporting OBJ.

This weekly round-up of Orlando business news was compiled by Richard Bilbao, OBJ's digital producer and senior staff writer. Questions? Comments? Concerns? News tips? Send them to rbilbao@bizjournals.com.