Robert Thorne, CEO and Founder, Urban Network Capital Group

April 2026 — Urban Network Capital Group (UNCG) is moving from vision to delivery as it completes its first hospitality-driven project in Orlando and advances a 1,000-unit pipeline across Central Florida and Miami. CEO and Founder Robert Thorne sees 2026 as a defining year, when several hundred units will be delivered and the firm’s full concept will be proven in the market. “If we stay focused on what we do best and deliver consistently, the next chapter for UNCG will be about scale and longevity rather than just proving the concept,” Thorne told Invest:.

How would you describe the past year for Urban Network Capital Group and its key milestones?

This past year has been important for us because we are finally moving from selling a dream to delivering it. In Orlando, we are almost finished with our first property, The Flats, which we will be delivering in April. Reaching that milestone matters because for many years we were asking buyers and investors to believe in a concept; now they can see it taking physical shape.

At Visions, we also completed the full infrastructure for a development with about 1,000 horizontal and vertical units. People do not always realize how massive that is — it really is like building a little city. We took a site that was essentially forest, with deer, turtles and birds, and brought in utilities, water and all the supporting systems needed to make it a functioning community.

Another major milestone was completing Celebration Boulevard. That road connects Osceola Park Road to 192 through Celebration. It relieves a serious traffic situation and opens up new opportunities for development and commercial uses along the corridor. It was complicated — we worked closely with the county, bought land, went through eminent domain processes and design — so seeing it finished is very rewarding.

Looking ahead, 2026 is probably the most important year for the company. We will be delivering about 500 units that year. Once those are delivered, it closes a chapter on who UNCG is as a developer because we will not only have planned and sold projects, we will have fully developed and delivered them. That is when the company can truly say it has fulfilled its promise and its vision.

How do you view the real estate and development landscape in Greater Orlando?

Orlando remains an incredible market for us. Land pricing has continued to rise, but that is a reflection of strong demand and the long-term growth story. Our strategy is to complete the last two projects we have in Miami and then concentrate more of our efforts in Orlando, because the market there still has room to grow.

Demand for housing tied to hospitality, end users, and a very large transient population is not fully met. Orlando’s hospitality sector and the space industry bring in a constant flow of people who need space, flexibility and a certain level of service. There still are not enough units at the caliber the market wants in that niche.

We created a model in Orlando that is a hybrid between an Airbnb-type product and a hotel. Through our research, we found that travelers want three things: space, good price, and service. Traditional hotels were strong on service but weak on space and price, while short-term rentals offered space and price but were never really designed around service. Our product puts those three elements together in a way that works for both guests and investors.

Right now, we are fortunate to be the leaders in that specific segment of the Orlando market. Nobody else is delivering this hybrid product at the level we are, and we have the formula dialed in. That gives us confidence to keep expanding in the region.

How are you adjusting your land acquisition strategy amid rising land prices and tighter timelines?

It is actually a bit easier for us today because of the track record we have built. When we sit down with a landowner, we offer a high level of confidence that we will close and execute. That credibility makes sellers more flexible on the terms we need to reach the price they want.

If a seller wants to achieve a price that reflects where the market will be in a year, they need to be willing to give us that year in the contract structure. On the other hand, if they want to sell immediately, then the price has to reflect today’s value. Because we have delivered on our commitments, sellers are more comfortable giving us the time we need to entitle and structure a project properly.

The big change for us is that we no longer have to bank land and absorb heavy carrying costs the way we did in the early days. We are structuring deals so that we do not have to fully capitalize the land far in advance. That approach helps us avoid pushing up our basis unnecessarily, which in turn helps us keep the end pricing of our units as close as possible to what the market can absorb, even with rising construction costs.

What are the most significant development challenges today, and how are you navigating construction and cost pressures?

The biggest challenge right now is construction and material costs. Tariffs and uncertainty around where pricing will go make it hard to lock in predictable budgets for multiyear projects. To move forward, we need to structure win-win agreements that work for both the contractor and the developer over the full life of a project.

For our large project with Meliá at Lake Buena Vista, on Lake Cecile, we are taking a different approach by self-performing. One of our equity partners is a large general contractor. They are coming in with equity and will build the project, so we can control both the construction and the capital side.

By self-performing, especially in a market like Orlando where most projects are not 30-story towers, we can manage costs much more effectively. That allows us to keep the sales price and the market value aligned, instead of constantly chasing rising costs. Self-performance will be a key strategy in Orlando for developers who want to maintain product quality and investor returns in this environment.

UNCG is heavily hospitality-driven. How do you think about balancing that focus with broader housing needs in Central Florida?

Our business model is hospitality-based, and that is where we are strongest. We see tremendous demand for multifamily and traditional end-user housing in Orlando, and a lot of major Miami groups — Related, PMG, others — are moving into that space there. They have dedicated multifamily divisions that can absorb those opportunities within their existing structures.

For us, that would mean creating a new division and going through another round of growing pains. We have already gone through that phase as a company in building our hospitality investment platform. At this point, we prefer to focus on what we know best: building a hospitality product that works as an investment.

Looking ahead, what are your top priorities for UNCG over the next few years?

Our main priority is to execute on the pipeline we have already put in motion. Delivering The Flats in Orlando and our upcoming projects with Meliá is central to that. Once we deliver roughly 500 units in 2026, the market will be able to see the full expression of our model operating at scale.

Strategically, we will continue to concentrate on Orlando. The fundamentals are there: strong tourism, a growing space industry, a large transient population, and a clear demand for flexible, service-driven lodging options that sit between traditional hotels and short-term rentals. We plan to refine and improve our hybrid product with each new project, staying ahead of guest expectations on space, price, and service.

At the same time, we will keep leveraging our reputation to secure the right land, structure smarter deals, and partner with operators who bring world-class technology and execution. If we stay focused on what we do best and deliver consistently, the next chapter for UNCG will be about scale and longevity rather than just proving the concept.