Orlando Fashion Square [Renovation in Progress]

[RedStar25]

Instead of pins do they use designer shoes?

[jrs2]

^^

lol.  only if it was at Millennia I think

not many people know this but if you go up the ramp of the garage on the JCP side and stay on level 2, you can go up one flight of stairs (and maybe the elevator) to the top level and never get wet going in and out of that mall.

Edited December 5, 2015 by jrs2

[jliv]

Made a stop at the Fashion Square over the weekend for some quick shopping, and...wow....talk about a dying mall.  It's been over a decade since I stepped foot in the place, and have memories of the place going back four decades.  Seems like they need to tear the whole thing down; I've seen this same thing happen many times over, and the band-aids mall owners try to keep properties like this afloat are usually examples of throwing good money after bad.  Wouldn't it be more prudent to release the tenants from their leases, acquire any of the outparcels needed, bulldoze the existing structures, and develop the whole lot into a sister village to Baldwin Park?  The in-town location seems more appropriate for mixed-use, neo-traditional development.

[metal93]

Would be great if they replaced the mall with urban development that is denser, less car-oriented, and less manufactured-looking than Baldwin Park, especially as it is along Colonial Drive, which in the future would see greater transit development.

[John Hargrove]

3 hours ago, metal93 said:

Would be great if they replaced the mall with urban development that is denser, less car-oriented, and less manufactured-looking than Baldwin Park, especially as it is along Colonial Drive, which in the future would see greater transit development.

Funny you say that about Baldwin Park. I was trying to describe it the other day and went with, "it feels a bit like a movie set." 

[JFW657]

1 hour ago, castorvx said:

Funny you say that about Baldwin Park. I was trying to describe it the other day and went with, "it feels a bit like a movie set." 

Isn't that also what Celebration feels like? 

[Boomer136]

I know some scenic folks and set dressers that would be insulted by the comparison. Most movie sets look more lived in. I once overheard the direction "make it look like the HOA here aren't Nazis."

[alex]

I don't think Baldwin Park is that fake looking, just new. At some point, Thornton Park, Delaney Park, College Park, Winter Park, etc. were all brand new. 

Now I agree that Celebration--from the name and location to the architecture and fake snow--took it a little far. 

[nite owℓ]

16 hours ago, castorvx said:

Funny you say that about Baldwin Park. I was trying to describe it the other day and went with, "it feels a bit like a movie set." 

I remember Baldwin Park was on your list of neighborhoods to check out... did you ever whittle down your options?

 

3 hours ago, alex said:

I don't think Baldwin Park is that fake looking, just new. At some point, Thornton Park, Delaney Park, College Park, Winter Park, etc. were all brand new. 

Now I agree that Celebration--from the name and location to the architecture and fake snow--took it a little far. 

IMO, the homes in Baldwin Park are tightly packed together with an extreme uniformity in height/size so it makes the cookie cutter redundancies in architecture more noticeable. Meanwhile, the other "Parks" seem to have a greater variation of single story/multi-story homes mixed in, and the vegetative buffer between each home helps segment each property to stand out individually.

I think the "movie set" phenomena occurs because new developments tend to use the same builders and closely similar plans reworked for each home VS back in the day it was more a free for all - BYOB (bring your on builder) and "stay within these set range of agreed upon limitations"... That inadvertent formula helped each home stand out with it's own unique fingerprint, rather than blend into a rigid blueprint of planned development.

Edited December 29, 2015 by nite owℓ

[HankStrong]

I grew up in an immediately post-WWII neighborhood.  There were about 300 homes in the subdivision (if you could call it that) and there were only 2 styles (2-story & 1-story) in the entire neighborhood.  Each of those 2 styles came in 2 sub-styles (gables out, gables sideways) so this isn't a new phenomenon.

[John Hargrove]

3 hours ago, nite owℓ said:

I remember Baldwin Park was on your list of neighborhoods to check out... did you ever whittle down your options?

Still working that out. I think we'll end up in Eola South, finances permitting. 

[Jernigan]

Many big box stores and malls need to get torn down but I think this one could be a worthwhile exception.  Don't get me wrong - the sea of parking has no place in the City but there are already plans to build into the parking lots and I hope that happens.

The building itself already houses a movie theater and now a bowling alley as well as some office space in the shape of the Entrepreneurial Center.   If developers got it right with the infill in the parking lot and with the integration of the bike trail - this could be a nice activity center.  

Think about smaller convention centers that fit in well with the area around them.  This wouldn't be much different.   

I would move the Herndon OCLS branch and the Herndon post office both to this civic hub.

[jrs2]

any word on the hotel or the apt buildings going across from Dillard's?

[JFW657]

Nothing I've heard.

Was there today from around 11am to around noon or so. It wasn't exactly dead for a Wednesday morning. Probably a good 200 maybe 250 people in there.

Looks like a TGIFriday's might be going in there.

 

 

[HankStrong]

The last time I was there I noticed a sign promoting a new TGI Fridays.

[Boomer136]

^Yes, my Friday's friends have known about this new store for a long time. Considering when I heard of it I'm surprised it's not open already. 

[Jernigan]

It's essentially going to be in the hotel lobby so no hotel = no Fridays for now 

[popsiclebrandon]

I always wanted to try the endless apps challenge and see just how far I can push my mind and body without hating myself forever.

[jrs2]

^^

That TGI Friday's in the hotel lobby is a great combo, if and when it gets done.

[JFW657]

Took this pic of the wall mural rendering they have up where the TGIF is supposed to go...

 

 

[JFW657]

Reported this evening on channel 9....

"Two years after a major renovation project was announced for Orlando’s Fashion Square Mall, the project is still delayed.
 
People driving on Colonial Drive can see a construction site, but no work is happening. UP Development, the developer behind the project, told Channel 9 that work has stopped for now, but plans are moving forward.
 
Residents Charles Lobaito and Ann Steffen said the mall used to be the premier mall in the neighborhood, and they don’t understand why it’s taking so long.
 
The company plans to transform the 44-year-old mall and bring a seven-story hotel to the space.
 
“It’s going to be great when it happens,” Frank Herring, of UP Development, said.
 
Herring said it could be another six months to a year, and there’s uncertainty about the future of Macy’s and Sears. He said they can’t proceed without a clear picture of what’s next for the stores on either side of the hotel site.
 
“A mall by its very definition is very interconnected and organic. The pieces have to work together and be planned together,” Herring said.
 
The company has already invested about $20 million in improvements, store relocations and the addition of a Dick’s Sporting Goods store, among other things.
 
The company said it’s still committed to the mall, but the wait is far from over."

Link w/video:

http://www.wftv.com/news/local/wait-far-from-over-for-customers-of-orlandos-fashion-square-mall/164835807 

 

[Pete C]

Surprisingly, Macy's is going to survive the chopping block. Last year Macy's announced 36 stores would be closing, and that list was made public in January. Colonial is not on the list.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2016/01/06/macys-announces-layoffs-restructuring-after-disappointing-2015/78373358/

 

[spenser1058]

Sears is a lost cause, as Eddie Lampert has no interest in preserving the business. For macy's it's also a matter of time because the 43 year old store is a white elephant. Just as the downtown Ivey's and JCP stores closed while still profitable due to issues with the physical plant, Macy's will be going. If anyone downtown cared to encourage them, we could have a shot. As it is, look for Lake Nona or WP to snag it (has anyone pondered what will happen when Don Reid Ford sells eventually? Ford's been after them for years to move, upgrade or both, and the Reid brothers aren't getting any younger.)

[JFW657]

There is another piece of video where the developer says that there definitely will be a hotel at Fashion Square, though the design might change a little. 

I suppose if they find out one or both stores are leaving, they're either planning to replace them with new major retail tenants or repurpose the spaces they occupy. Maybe divide them up into smaller spaces to accommodate smaller retail/other tenants.

 

 

[Jernigan]

Permit submitted for the apartments in the parking lot near Anthem College.   Can't come soon enough.   Will include improvements to Cady Way Trail