JRS1

what more did you here?

I was told that the upper levels- you can't hear much. I was at the DOP last night on their pool deck with tours of the building. I went to the 22nd floor 1,400 sq ft unit; it was nice; it was up there; can't hear a whole lot from there with the window open; definitely not with the windows closed (sliding doors to the balcony I should say). the pool deck is on the 14th floor per the elevator. it's a nice building; nice pool deck; nice units; it's a neat forum for events that pool deck is. But I think Dynetech's lofty perch on the 30th, Stirling Sotherby's on the 16th floor penthouse, the Plaza's 11th floor deck, The Vue's pooldeck, and Star's 18th floor rooftop pool deck are the other "venue" hot spots that I would make sure if I was a small meeting planner, would rent out to give the maximum "effect" to patrons.

The new Westin Orlando North in Lake Mary will has 253 rooms, a Shula's 347 Grille, and will open on Nov. 22, 2009. It's on 46A near Colonial Towne Park in Lake Mary/Sanford. That makes two heavy hitter hotel brands in northern Seminole County. I think that's pretty healthy for CFLA, and speaks volumes for Heathrow and Seminole County as a whole business-wise. It makes Orlando more diversified ala business travelers.

most of the pylons are already in the ground for the parking deck

I'm thinking GOAA needs to widen the Arrivals entrance ramp on A & B sides at OIA. It will be hard to do. Once you are on final approach, if you stay right you go to Departures, middle, Arrivals, left, Rent-A-Car and parking. They need to widen it at least one lane going in and going out b/c when leaving Arrivals, the two thru lanes taper back to one exit lane and traffic bottlenecks. Not good.

THE SQUARE: Unicorp is the developer. They are the company developing the Dellagio project off of SLR. There a a few tenants over there already and there's a few more buildouts underway. I have a feeling they won't do anything with the former Mercado property for a while until they have a majority of the Dellagio leased. That must have been a huge expenditure; that place is gorgeous.

actually, this new format does suck now that I think about it. if they would just bold the text, that would be better.

I'm not quite used to this new format at UP. Anyway, there's 14 eateries at Pointe Orlando now. I didn't realize that. Restaurant Row is impressive on SLR from Dellagio/Viscaya all the way to Rialto/Whole Foods Plaza. But I-Drive has a healthy assortment too from SLR down to the OCCC. That's pretty impressive as well. It's a great place now,but they need to fill in the remaining development gaps, starting with Mercado and the losts behind Point Orlando where Westin was once proposed to be built on.

^^ well said. HSR will make money from OIA to Disney. If the Tampa leg falters, they'll simply lessen the number of scheduled trips to Tampa to a bare minimum and then most of the remaining business will be the Disney leg, which won't be affected. Which I am perfectly fine with, b/c Orlando will benefit. But, what Disney needs to do is invest millions in rerouting a Monorail extension to the HSR station and building uber infrastructure there as well such as a welcome center or whatever; they can't drop the ball on this one... they need the Monorail link at that station. I just want this darn thing built. and Sunrail. trust me, if Sunrail gets built, they will expand it with a LRT line to... somewhere.

Praha, I'll tell you what, I think that Orlando will embrace rail just with Sunrail alone. I mean, all of the entities supporting it is staggering... from out two major medical centers to every township along the rail line to the four counties involved. wow. all we need is, what, 21 votes to pass it. and to know that it will link to an HSR at some point... wow. the problem statewide I see with HSR is that Miami has spent $$$ on the MIC and one of its functions is to link with HSR. I don't think HSR will get there, if ever, for many years to come, which is a shame. I thought for sure the first link should've been from Disney to Miami ala the OCCC and OIA. But, it is what it is.

I'll tell you where else I get that same feeling: Florida Turnpike between I-4 and 441/528. It is 8 lanes wide with sound walls and lights. it will be that wide all the way to Buleah Rd. by 429 and then I think 6 lanes wide all the way to the SR 50 Oakland exit for Clermont commuters. wow. Here's where else I get that feeling: 414 extension from 441 west. the highway is already 6 lanes wide and it is elevated most if not all of the way. you can see downtown easily over the treetops. that's a cool effect. it might be the most elevated hwy in CFLA. great addition to the highway network, except, that they need to comllete the interchange with 429-- God only knows when that will happen.

imagine that... something German being more chic... but yeah, I agree... I'll take it... Hilton's marketing machine is going to be focusing on Disney for the Waldorf project, and the OCCC and I-Drive for the Hilton Orlando project... something that neighborhood has not had before. up until now, it's merely been Rosen, Peabody, and Orlando CVB. And, Hilton will be focusing on the Hilton Grande Vacations project at Midtown, which will also market Disney--- these being the newest Hilton projects in town. Hilton's no slouch... they also took over the 800 room Adam's Mark in Daytona which fronts the Ocean Center which just finished a huge first class expansion directly across the street from it. They are positioning their properties rather well for success.

^^ that article didn't speak anything new to me. opponents can just as easily hide behind the existing deal as being bad as reason not to support it still. I've been hearing from people on other boards about this whole Amtrak Florida thing, in using them to run commuter trains w/o having to purchase any tracks in exchange; I guess they do it in some other states. ^^ as for a station, HSR's design is the station that's supposed to go just east of Hyatt OIA in a rather large intermodal facility- one for the existing terminal, and one for the proposed South Terminal Complex in a similar orientation. It's supposed to also link with an LRT accdg. to plans. I would assume that the LRT, which supporters have stated would go from Taft to Lake Nona to the east and I-Drive to the west, would link with the proposed Sunrail station at Orange Ave. & Sand Lake Road, but that depends on the LRT alignment and whether they keep the proposed intermodal station where they proposed for it to go- as of 2 years ago. All I know is that if we get HSR, then that will bolster OIA incredibly so much more than what it is now; it will be incredible. The HSR will really step up the Orlando tourism corridor; wow. If I were Disney, I'd start planning for a Monorail link to the station; they would have to I think. wow. this would really send the ORL into the next dimension of its transportation quotient, which at this time, is decent- but used to be below average only a few years back.

sorry, guys, I thought I deleted from cheesy metal awning down... instead, I duplicated everything I posted. sigh... I hate writing anything negative on local projects. anyway, not like the one in NYC, of course. But, I would say that aside from the themed luxury hotels at Disney, I would definitely include Waldorf up there with Ritz, JW, and Peabody. Not grand, but it is very toned down instead with nice finishings on the interior; brass etched elevator doors; marble floors; marble arched hallways; nice dropped chandelier ceilings fronting the first meeting room you get to from the Hilton's convention hall corridor; nice bar area; good looking restaurants; also fronts/overlooks golf course and pool deck, which is also conservative-looking.

I went to the Hilton Orlando. very nice inside. skywalk works great. self park costs $12 after 30 min. ouch. the only thing I don't like about it is that you can see the road from the pool deck. you shouldn't be able to IMO; it should be isolated from street traffic; I also went to the Waldorf-Hilton. nice. Waldorf has all marble floors; marble arches around the lobby; decent bar area; nice convention area overlooking the golf course;