Orlando Housing Authority acquires former Guardian Care property for new redevelopment

The Orlando Housing Authority has purchased the former Guardian Care Nursing Rehabilitation Center property in the Lake Mann Homes neighborhood, with plans to redevelop the site into a mixed-use, mixed-finance housing community.The property has a significant history in Orlando. It originally opened as Dr. P. Phillips Memorial Hospital, the first hospital in the city dedicated to serving Black residents during segregation. More recently, it operated as the Guardian Care Nursing Rehabilitation Center before the facility relocated to a new building in 2021. The property has remained vacant since then.After about a year of negotiations and planning, the Orlando Housing Authority acquired the site for $2.75 million.Housing officials said the redevelopment is expected to be a mixed-finance and mixed-use project, meaning funding would come from multiple sources and the development could include more than 100 affordable housing units along with nonresidential space.“It’s extremely impactfu