In March, Disney called Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ sweeping attempt to increase oversight of the company’s theme park resort near Orlando “anti-corporate.” Last month, when Disney sued the governor and his allies for a “targeted government retaliation campaign,” the company revealed a $17 billion planned investment in Walt Disney World.
“Does the country want us to invest more, hire more people and pay more taxes?” Disney CEO Robert A. Iger said last week. He said on an earnings conference call with List.
On Thursday, Iger and Disney theme parks and consumer products chairman Josh D’Amaro backed down plans for a near-$1 billion office complex in Orlando, showing they weren’t bluffing. The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity estimates that it would have created more than 2,000 jobs in the area with an average salary of $120,000.
Known as the Lake Nona Town Center, the project involves more than 1,000 employees in Southern California, including most of a division known as Imagineering, which works with Disney’s movie studios to develop theme park attractions. I was planning to move from Most of the affected employees have complained bitterly about having to be transferred, and some have even left, but Disney, thanks in part to Florida tax credits, is keeping the facility safe. It was supposed to recover $570 million in construction and occupation costs over 20 years, so it largely remained firm. .
When Damaro announced the project in 2021, he cited “Florida’s business-friendly climate” as the reason.
In an email to employees on Thursday, Mr. Damaro’s tone was markedly different. He cited “changing business conditions” as the reason for canceling the Lake Nona project. “I remain optimistic about the direction of the Walt Disney World business,” D’Amaro said in the memo. He noted that $17 billion is still allocated for building Disney World over the next decade, and that growth will create an estimated 13,000 jobs. “I hope it can be done,” he said.
But two people briefed on the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity about the private deliberations, said the company’s fight with Mr. He said it had a big impact on Disney’s decision to cancel the lake project. A spokeswoman for Mr. Iger said Mr. Iger was unavailable for an interview.
About 200 Disney employees have already moved from California to Florida. In the memo, D’Amaro said the company would discuss options “including the possibility of getting you back.” The Lake Nona project was originally scheduled to open next year. Last July, Disney pushed back the move-in date to 2026, citing construction delays.
The Lake Nona campus, about 32 miles from Disney World near Orlando International Airport, was backed by Bob Chapek, who served as Disney’s chief executive from 2020 until he was fired last year. Iger, who returned from retirement to reclaim Disney’s reins, wasn’t all that enthusiastic about the project even before Disney got bogged down in a fight with Mr. DeSantis. As soon as Mr. Iger returned to Disney, he began telling his executives, for example, that it made little sense to move Imagineering far from Disney’s movie studios. As he likes to say, “creative teams need to stick together.”
Disney is also in the process of cutting $5.5 billion in costs to improve profitability, pay down debt and restore dividends.
DeSantis and Disney have been sparring for more than a year over the special tax zone surrounding Disney World. The fight began when the company criticized Florida’s education law, which opponents labeled “Don’t Say You’re Gay” for restricting classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation. But this infuriated Mr. DeSantis, who repeatedly vowed revenge.
Since then, at the request of Mr. DeSantis, the Florida legislature has targeted Disney, the state’s largest taxpayer, through a variety of hostile means. In February, it gave DeSantis control over the resort’s administrative services, ending Disney’s long-standing ability to govern its 25,000-acre resort as if it were a county.
It soon emerged that a previous board of directors controlled by Disney had approved a development agreement that would lock in the resort’s growth plans. Efforts to void those agreements have since led to one-on-one lawsuits, with Disney suing Mr. DeSantis and his allies in federal court, and the governor’s tax district appointees fighting back in state court. bottom.
