Jump to content

Uptown


orlandoguy

Recommended Posts

  • 11 months later...

South Eola/ Thornton Park is FINALLY starting to see retail not only fill in but also stick. I wonder if it's due to the landlords or if we're actually getting retail density at long last. If the latter, I wonder if this is going to be the retail hub for downtown going forward and if there will be any chain retail to augment the indies (besides Publix, of course.)

I also wonder if the Farmers' Market is helping to build the expectation of retail in the area.

I would also suggest South Eola/TP feels more walkable than North Quarter and I would be more willing to explore. North Orange on a road diet, please (assuming it's not already happening, I don't go up there much.)

Edited by spenser1058
Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

South Eola/ Thornton Park is FINALLY starting to see retail not only fill in but also stick. I wonder if it's due to the landlords or if we're actually getting retail density at long last. If the latter, I wonder if this is going to be the retail hub for downtown going forward and if there will be any chain retail to augment the indies (besides Publix, of course.)

I also wonder if the Farmers' Market is helping to build the expectation of retail in the area.

I would also suggest South Eola/TP feels more walkable than North Quarter and I would be more willing to explore. North Orange on a road diet, please (assuming it's not already happening, I don't go up there much.)

It is night in day in just about every way. We're about to hit 5 years in our Thornton location and had trouble getting to 5 months in NQ (luckily our rent was essentially free so we didn't lose). The population density is much higher, we're much closer to office workers, we're in a heavy event area as well. Pride alone brings in about 600 customers in a few hours to our tiny shop. Wine Walk used to be useful and bring people in but that has become a joke unfortunately. There is nothing like that in the NQ to draw people and create those waves. It isn't pedestrian friendly and there isn't much to do that close to Colonial really. NQ is going to have to carve its niche out as cheaper residential and office. Not enough bodies to support much more than currently exists.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Camden Orange Court should consider reverting a few of their street level residential units back to retail at it's northern end to take advantage of Residence Inn patrons next door.  This may be a good jump start for more retail up there.  Mini market; that kind of thing.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

North Quarter is pretty dead for how many people live there. Only a couple of good restaurants seem to do well. . . NQT and Shin are great. Everything else seems to struggle. There is a new mezcal place that may work out.  I don't know why it is so dead, but always thought a smaller grocery concept could change it somewhat, so that residents walk for trips instead of taking a car. I drive at least once a week to grocery or drugstore or other random thing.  We don't need another 7-11 because we got one a couple of blocks away. I don't even know what North Quarter Market is supposed to be. can't tell what is going on there. It's not like a real grocery store with a produce, meat, or bakery section. That's what we want!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

GF lives at Nora, she moved from the Waverly and loves it way more.  We occasionally eat at NQT but really nothing much else there. She works at Orlando Health so pretty much does her grocery shopping out that way and does most of it at Aldi. We walk more to Ivanhoe/Mills/Virginia stuff than we do anything in the NQ.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Remember the 1000 North Orange triangular tower proposal back during the boom?  Maybe if they still built a project there, with retail ala a small grocer plus mixed use tower?  Enough room?  Maybe not. 

NORA probably should've been a higher-rise project with a grocer at it's base b/c of it's location.  Maybe The Sevens should've...

Dunno.  something to keep people there.  A grocer is always a good business for that purpose.  Maybe a Starbucks or DD or Panera?  A CVS?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think there are enough Coffee Shops and Sandwich shops that haven't really done it. The local real restaurants are what have worked well. A real grocer or an urban Target would be what would fit the bill. Urban Target makes a lot of sense as there isn't anything like that anywhere near DT and the influx of young students at UCF/CV downtown along with the younger residents in all the apartments in the area would be good demographics for that!

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/17/2017 at 10:56 AM, popsiclebrandon said:

GF lives at Nora, she moved from the Waverly and loves it way more.  We occasionally eat at NQT but really nothing much else there. She works at Orlando Health so pretty much does her grocery shopping out that way and does most of it at Aldi. We walk more to Ivanhoe/Mills/Virginia stuff than we do anything in the NQ.

I'd love to hear more about what she loves more about the area (or is it the building/amenities).

Outside of that popsicle store, Lake Eola is our gem.  ;)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, dcluley98 said:

What I like about North Quarter is that it is close enough to downtown to go there, but far enough away that you aren't stuck in it, LOL. 

I sort of felt that way about Post Parkside.  Far enough away to have 2-way streets, buffer from Wall Street/Church Street noise and 7-day a week amenities like the park and Publix.   I could get on the 408 in less than 5 minutes with no real traffic getting there.  That said, I lived there before World of Beer and some of the other night life.    

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think what North Quarter needs is some kind of outdoor attraction.

Some place that's cool to hang out at.

Seems like they could utilize that park up next to the Chamber of Commerce. 

Put in something like a Saturday farmer's market. Recreational activities.

Build a gazebo (I'm big on those in parks) where anyone who wants to can play (acoustic/non-amplified) music, read poetry, do performance art, etc. 

Plan organized activities that attract people. 

Take advantage of the park's proximity to Lake Ivanhoe. Maybe build some type of elevated foot bridge over the I-4 access road. Redesign the adjacent shore to provide more people/activity space.

Once The Yard gets completed, which itself will be a draw, provide some sort of trolley or pedicabs to shuttle people back & forth to tie the two areas together.

The area has to become seen as a cool place to hang out before people will go there to spend their time. Just having retail and restaurants isn't really enough to jump start a place that has for decades, been a ghost town.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 hours ago, Jernigan said:

I'd love to hear more about what she loves more about the area (or is it the building/amenities).

Outside of that popsicle store, Lake Eola is our gem.  ;)

She likes the building much more, way less traffic and random road closures that make your life hell. Central gets closed like every week now and its super annoying. There is very little interesting restaurants or night life in downtown anymore, all the interesting stuff is off Mills/Virginia and this makes getting there much easier.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Nobody goes there anymore - it's too crowded." - Yogi Berra

Traffic downtown is getting to be a bit of an adventure. Three weekends in a row where traffic is on alert? Memo to Buddy: some of us work on Saturday and have to get in and out of downtown so a 10K every weekend is pushing it.

Nevertheless, for me it's not a problem if I'm not working as I just walk.

As for places to eat (keep in mind I'm old so you Young Turks might get bored), my favorite dining spot is now Maxine's on Shine (behind the Y), although Muddy Waters is a close second and I still like Dexter's TP. My watering hole is the Harp and Celt on Magnolia. 

Truth be told, I've learned to cook in my old age and still live for PubSubs so a stroll through Eola Park to Publix is hard to beat (not to mention a stop at everyone's favorite Popsicle store...) Since I can also walk to the Y and to church, I guess I'm content in my dotage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Agree with everyone mentioning Grocers. I would love to have a small bodega/grocer/cvs nearby that I could walk to so I can avoid going to Publix.

The Farmacy could have filled this void, but they had a small selection and were overpriced. I get the concept but I just want to buy some fresh veggies and meat not whatever craft/artisanal blueberry sausage they had on hand.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.