Orlando Fashion Square [Renovation in Progress]

[codypet]

Wow those pics actually make it look like its in better shape than it was a year ago.

[spenser1058]

I was always amazed that the OFS Penney’s and the West Oaks store opened just a few years apart but the store fixtures at West Oaks were 100% nicer in Ocoee.

[spenser1058]

Chuck Whittall  and Unicorp (who own the land) are suing the folks running OFS for letting it head into serious demolition by neglect.

The photo of the side of macy’s was just sad.

Stay tuned.

From The Sentinel 

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-bz-orlando-fashion-square-lawsuit-20210727-qpmyxo6qvbblxhidylzf3xma74-story.html

 

Edited July 27, 2021 by spenser1058

[Uncommon]

22 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

Chuck Whittall  and Unicorp (who own the land) are suing the folks running OFS for letting it head into serious demolition by neglect.

The photo of the side of macy’s was just sad.

Stay tuned.

From The Sentinel 

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-bz-orlando-fashion-square-lawsuit-20210727-qpmyxo6qvbblxhidylzf3xma74-story.html

 

I hope Unicorp wins. Fashion Square is a pathetic shell of itself. I’d love it if Whitall made it into a mixed use community with lots of park space and outdoor amenities (with shade and misty fans of course).

[jrs2]

36 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

Chuck Whittall  and Unicorp (who own the land) are suing the folks running OFS for letting it head into serious demolition by neglect.

The photo of the side of macy’s was just sad.

Stay tuned.

From The Sentinel 

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-bz-orlando-fashion-square-lawsuit-20210727-qpmyxo6qvbblxhidylzf3xma74-story.html

 

isn't this a continuation of the drama between UP and the lenders, from a few short years ago, where the bank sued them and they counter sued stating the bank didn't lend them enough $$$ so they could proceed with the renovation which included the hotel?

[spenser1058]

47 minutes ago, jrs2 said:

isn't this a continuation of the drama between UP and the lenders, from a few short years ago, where the bank sued them and they counter sued stating the bank didn't lend them enough $$$ so they could proceed with the renovation which included the hotel?

I think it’s different players this time and, unlike is often the case, Unicorp is pretty trustworthy and tends to do what they say. It is amazing just how long this saga’s been going on but apparently it was a convoluted ownership process from the beginning.

Edited July 27, 2021 by spenser1058

[Gtothree2748]

Revised design plans released for the redevelopment of OFS property. Macy’s building and parking garage to be the only structures from original mall spared of demolition. It will be broken down to four phases and include up to 1,400 residences. 
 

https://www.growthspotter.com/news/retail-dining-developments/gs-news-fashion-square-framework-20210928-fpibh6puyfd5xnmes3dzupxcqa-story.html

Edited September 30, 2021 by Gtothree2748

[spenser1058]

1400 residences? The Maguire Target is gonna be slammed!

[codypet]

There's the answer to the Floor & Decor question.  Wonder what they do with Planet Fitness?

That said this all could be the FiatChryslerAutomobiles way of planning things.  Say things are perpetually 3 years out and then it never materializes or its way late.

Edited September 30, 2021 by codypet

[Uncommon]

It’s a bluff and negotiation tactic. Bancorp likely will not redevelop the property on their dime, only to lose and turn over the property to Whittall in 50 years.

[JFW657]

Looks cold, barren and uninviting.

IOW, typical Orlando crapitecture.

Just like "(Un)Creative Village". 

I hope that it, as proposed, dies.

Just make it all plain old apartment/condo complexes and write it off as another memory and opportunity lost.  

[spenser1058]

1 minute ago, JFW657 said:

Looks cold, barren and uninviting.

IOW, typical Orlando crapitecture.

Just like "(Un)Creative Village". 

I hope that it, as proposed, dies.

Just make it all plain old apartment/condo complexes and write it off as another memory and opportunity lost.  

Or, I know, how about building a shopping mall anchored by Macy’s!

[JFW657]

1 minute ago, spenser1058 said:

Or, I know, how about building a shopping mall anchored by Macy’s!

I wish malls would make a comeback.

With a variety of stores that aren't almost all women's apparel and shoe stores. 

[spenser1058]

11 minutes ago, JFW657 said:

I wish malls would make a comeback.

With a variety of stores that aren't almost all women's apparel and shoe stores. 

Not ready to give drag a try yet?

[JFW657]

11 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

Not ready to give drag a try yet?

No,

I've never been a fan of any kind of racing, period.

Drag, street, NASCAR, Grand Prix, formula, etc., etc. 

I've never understood how something could be both loud and boring at the same time.  

Not sure what that has to do with shopping malls, though.    

[jrs2]

4 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

Not ready to give drag a try yet?

LOL.  Like Divine in Pink Flamingos?

3 hours ago, JFW657 said:

No,

I've never been a fan of any kind of racing, period.

Drag, street, NASCAR, Grand Prix, formula, etc., etc. 

I've never understood how something could be both loud and boring at the same time.  

Not sure what that has to do with shopping malls, though.    

LOL.  I went to Daytona 500 when they opened up the new redo stadium thingy and I watched the start of the race, about two laps, and went inside the stadium to the club level (BHN), ate, drank, and went to a section much like at Amway the Budweiser Baseline Bar area- they've got one too.  The thunder of the race is impressive; you need earplugs tho.

Grand Pricks would be fun in a Euro sort of way with the cars meandering the winding path on city streets etc.

As for Fashion Square, personally I think if they can build at least two adjacent apartment buildings with maybe a direct connect into the mall, they could salvage the mall and generate on site foot traffic which would attract others there.  Then, open a coffee shop or two, a bar or two, and a few stores and a supermarket.

[spenser1058]

4 minutes ago, jrs2 said:

LOL.  Like Divine in Pink Flamingos?

When I went through my last growth spurt at 19-20 or so, I was skinny enough (before I started with weights) to pull off a decent look in drag (I had something of a baby face though I would have needed a nose job) but as I topped out at 6’4” there was no way I could do heels. Thus ended my brief foray into drag (I also never liked softer, sheerer fabrics so I was the mostt LL Bean drag queen imaginable).

[IAmFloridaBorn]

14 hours ago, Gtothree2748 said:

Revised design plans released for the redevelopment of OFS property. Macy’s building and parking garage to be the only structures from original mall spared of demolition. It will be broken down to four phases and include up to 1,400 residences. 
 

https://www.growthspotter.com/news/retail-dining-developments/gs-news-fashion-square-framework-20210928-fpibh6puyfd5xnmes3dzupxcqa-story.html

Ugh. 

[codypet]

19 hours ago, JFW657 said:

No,

I've never been a fan of any kind of racing, period.

Drag, street, NASCAR, Grand Prix, formula, etc., etc. 

I've never understood how something could be both loud and boring at the same time.  

Not sure what that has to do with shopping malls, though.    

Lots of space in this mall.

@JFW657Sorry, you walked right into this one.

Edited October 1, 2021 by codypet

[Jernigan]

Now that the building is being split up, doesn’t that make the bike trail route look sort of absurdly non direct?  
 

Would be great to have the trail go through the project - would be a win win just ask Winter Garden

[spenser1058]

2 minutes ago, Jernigan said:

Now that the building is being split up, doesn’t that make the bike trail route look sort of absurdly non direct?  
 

Would be great to have the trail go through the project - would be a win win just ask Winter Garden

@Jerniganis my hero!

Anyway, while we’re on OFS, remember the pic of how bad macy’s exterior looks and it was being blamed on the mall folks?

Keep in mind, macy’s has a long-term deal at OFS (it’s believed to end in 2023 when the mall turns 50 and apparently the lease is very low). 

In the Charlotte forum the other day, there was a discussion about the macy’s in South Park Mall (apparently it was a Hecht’s first) being poorly maintained and it was noted that’s often the case in some other Southern malls.

Is it possible the mall folks at OFS aren’t handling the maintenance for macy’s and the retailer is?
 

[FLheat]

Anyone been in Macy's lately, I walked through there two weeks ago to get to T-Mobile and the men's department had about 1/3 the inventory they normally have, it was kind of depressing.

[spenser1058]

30 minutes ago, FLheat said:

Anyone been in Macy's lately, I walked through there two weeks ago to get to T-Mobile and the men's department had about 1/3 the inventory they normally have, it was kind of depressing.

I wouldn’t be shocked at all if this store were to close as the sweetheart lease deal they have gets closer to expiring. If Volusia Mall and Sanford couldn’t make it, I wonder how this store is.

Supply chains are also still a mess, particularly to China and other Asian countries. I imagine it would make more sense to keep macy’s at Millenia well-stocked if that’s a problem than the fading Fashion Square store. That’s definitely just a guess, though.

Edited October 5, 2021 by spenser1058

[codypet]

How is Dillard's justifying staying open even as a clearance store?

[spenser1058]

1 minute ago, codypet said:

How is Dillard's justifying staying open even as a clearance store?

I haven’t been in Dillard’s in decades - they’re just sad generally and the OFS store was one of the first to fall afoul of the city’s rights ordinance so you breeder folk will have to puzzle that one out. They also made a complete mess of Ivey’s. Hopefully, they’ll go back to Arkansas with the Huckabees.