Disney Cancels Plans For $1 Billion Florida Expansion Amid Fight With DeSantis
Media giant Disney has canceled plans to create a $1 billion office park in Florida that the company estimated would have brought 2,000 jobs to the state amid its fight with governor Ron DeSantis. Disney CEO Bob Iger said on an earnings call recently that, in fighting Disney, DeSantis was potentially jeopardizing further investment from the House of Mouse. And on Thursday, the company showed that it was not bluffing.
The Florida project, known as Lake Nona Town Center, would have included a massive new complex. 1,000 workers from Disney's Southern California offices were due to relocate, and a further 1,000 would join to work on Imagineering projects.
Some workers complained and threatened to quit over the prospect of being relocated (and some 200 reportedly already relocated). Disney pressed ahead, though, in part due to a Florida tax credit and the belief that Florida was a good place to do business.
Disney boss Josh D'Amaro said in an email obtained by The New York Times that «changing business conditions» led Disney to scuttle its plans for a new office in Florida. Although this new office park is not going ahead, Disney said it will still invest $17 billion in Florida over the next decade at its Disney World park that could create 13,000 jobs.
Sources told NYT that Disney's public battle against DeSantis «figured prominently» in the decision to cancel the Lake Nona Town Center project. Disney workers who already moved from California to Florida will have meetings to discuss next steps, including the potential to move back.
The fight with DeSantis might not be the only reason Disney is canceling the Lake Nona Town Center. NYT reported that when Iger returned to Disney to become CEO again, he told his reports that it
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