- April 24, 2026
Avalon Park Daytona took one step forward on Thursday, April 23, as the Daytona Beach Planning Board approved a rezoning for the entire 2,760 acre development, a necessary move for its developer to bypass several requirements of the city's Land Development Code.
The board voted 6-1 to approve the rezoning to Avalon Planned Development. At buildout, Avalon Park will be a mixed-use community composed of 8,818 residential units and 1,091,150 square feet of commercial development. The development, which is currently embroiled in a federal lawsuit with the City of Ormond Beach regarding utilities, is located west of I-95 and south of State Road 40.
Avalon Park Group CEO Beat Kahli said they are asking for waivers to construct a "small town in Daytona." One, he said, he and his wife will purchase a home in.
"We're coming with a master plan to build a town where people can live, learn, work and play," Kahli said. "We're asking for changes, but changes to your code don't have to be bad."
Some of the waivers requested include:
Planning Board member Milverton Robinson was the lone vote against the rezoning, though he said he "loved the project."
"Your concept is to build towns," he said to Kahli. "Well, Daytona Beach is a town, so you're thinking of building a town within a town, and I don't see the connection between your town that you're building and the connection to our town that we live in."
Kahli said that Avalon Park Daytona will benefit the greater area. According to a letter to the city's planning director, included in the agenda items, the development will create $2.8 billion of taxable value and bring in $70 million in property tax revenue a year at buildout. It will also bring $30 million of impact fee revenue to Daytona Beach and $50 million of school impact fee revenue.
Avalon Park Group estimates it will create more than 2,600 full-time jobs and generate over 27,000 construction jobs with $1.1 billion in wages.
Avalon Park Daytona will cost about $3.3 billion to construct.
"If you are content to leave everything as it is in Daytona Beach and in Volusia County — no more buildings, don't do it — then I don't think I have a solution," Kahli said. "If you're here and if you want to have smart growth ... this is exactly what the region is looking for."
Planning Board member Vernon Weatherholtz said he believed Avalon Park Daytona is an "excellent project."
"I think that Daytona Beach is very fortunate," he said. "I think that there's going to be some changes as this builds out. It's not going to be built overnight. You're talking about years, and some things will possibly change, but I think it's for the good."
Some Ormond Beach residents spoke at the Planning Board meeting, expressing concerns about Avalon Park Daytona revolving around traffic, buffers along State Road 40 and flooding.
Bryan Ayoub worried about the traffic the development will generate, despite Avalon Park Group's assurances that most of the traffic will be contained within their development due to the amenities provided for residents.
"It's a massive project and you guys haven't really thought about the impact of local people in this area," Ayoub said. "... You guys are annexing my town into his project."
On the other side of the argument, Daytona Beach residents said zero lot lines and compact high-density development are ways to avoid urban sprawl.
"I think this is a great project in terms of building an urban core — fantastic idea," resident Ann Ruby said. "But if you want to build something that's reflective of our city ... then you need to maybe commit to building 20% of your housing that's affordable."
Kahli said it is a goal to construct housing in the $200,000 range within Avalon Park Daytona. He called it "attainable housing."
The first phase of the development will consist of 2,032 units and 90,000 square feet of mixed-use buildings. The developer will also construct Avalon Park Boulevard from State Road 40 southeast to Tymber Creek Road, and two lanes of Tymber Creek Road south from Avalon Park Boulevard to Margaritaville.
At Thursday's meeting, the board also unanimously approved a small-scale comprehensive plan amendment to change the future land use for a 27.3-acre parcel; the land previously held a county future land use designation and is slated to be annexed into the city.
Based on the proposed development plan, this property may have up to 80 residential units and over 479,000 square feet of non-residential space. It will also front the future extension of Hand Avenue, a county road project that will be paid for by the developer.
