Church Street Plaza | 28-Story Office/Hotel [Phase 1 Under Construction]

[IAmFloridaBorn]

Some low quality long shots with my mediocre mid-range mobile device. Haha. 

[jgardnerucf]

Good bar-b-que over there.

[IAmFloridaBorn]

Some more shots.

 

Some wide angle

Some 6x zoom

And some before sunrise shots. 

Enjoy

[Jernigan]

Per Bungalower (by way of Puff n Stuff), the Orchid Garden and Ballroom will be closing in November to prep for demo 

[leondecollao]

28 minutes ago, Jernigan said:

Per Bungalower (by way of Puff n Stuff), the Orchid Garden and Ballroom will be closing in November to prep for demo 

They are not booking anymore events at the venue after November 3rd so while not official, seems like steps are being made to start on tower 2

[DreS0803]

Good sign

[orlandouprise]

if it looks like tower #1, no thanks. Take that squatty BS somewhere else...

[cwetteland]

4 hours ago, orlandouprise said:

if it looks like tower #1, no thanks. Take that squatty BS somewhere else...

Squatty is the least of it's issues.  I'll take squatty over that facade.

[JFW657]

It's not a bad looking building as I see it, but I'd just as soon they left the Ballroom and the Orchid Garden alone.

I don't think a second tower will really be a good fit there.

Especially if they have to tear down a couple of existing buildings to cram one in.

[Jernigan]

So much outrage over this on social.   I think I get it but also just don’t get it.  

[codypet]

11 hours ago, Jernigan said:

So much outrage over this on social.   I think I get it but also just don’t get it.  

Seems like these people have outrage when its way too late to provide input.  Where were all these people when the proposal was happening?

[JFW657]

So where exactly is all this outrage if I wanted to find it?

And possibly participate... 

 

[Uncommon]

1 hour ago, codypet said:

Seems like these people have outrage when its way too late to provide input.  Where were all these people when the proposal was happening?

In their defense, it seems like so many projects are proposed for Orlando that never actually end up happening. Up until the news of the demo, I had zero faith that phase 2 would be considered. Now I’m cautiously optimistic. But I can’t blame others for thinking, “Meh this is Orlando, it’s probably not gonna get built. Nothing to worry about.”

[codypet]

I would agree with you except I literally went through the same thing with the Robinson road diet.  I had a bunch of coworkers who stated it would never happen, and therefore I was the only one at the meeting.  I found out, its coming, and its coming in the next 3 years.  When I came back and said its happening, they were outraged.  My response will be you should have come to the meeting then.   I feel like people play armchair outrage, and don't really actually engage in improving the community.  Then they blame their political leaders about being out of touch with the constituents.  They may be, but your voice was never heard by them to know for sure. 

1 hour ago, JFW657 said:

So where exactly is all this outrage if I wanted to find it?

And possibly participate... 

 

Bungalower's article's comment section.

[JFW657]

I think most people figure, and probably correctly, that no matter how many meetings they attend or how loud they complain, their voices will be ignored in the end anyhow. It's the old adage "money talks and bs walks". 

The big developers have the big money and that's what it all boils down to.

[JFW657]

34 minutes ago, Uncommon said:

In their defense, it seems like so many projects are proposed for Orlando that never actually end up happening. Up until the news of the demo, I had zero faith that phase 2 would be considered. Now I’m cautiously optimistic. But I can’t blame others for thinking, “Meh this is Orlando, it’s probably not gonna get built. Nothing to worry about.”

I'm pessimistic about what you're optimistic about, with the same result in mind.

I'm hoping this thing never sees the light of day.

To make it worse, the Bungalower article refers to it as a twin to the first tower. I understand that just because it was called that in a local news article, doesn't necessarily mean it will look exactly like the first one, but otoh, it might. I can't imagine how tacky it would look if two mirror images of that building were standing there right next to each other.

[HankStrong]

1 hour ago, codypet said:

I would agree with you except I literally went through the same thing with the Robinson road diet.  I had a bunch of coworkers who stated it would never happen, and therefore I was the only one at the meeting.  I found out, its coming, and its coming in the next 3 years.  When I came back and said its happening, they were outraged.  My response will be you should have come to the meeting then.   I feel like people play armchair outrage, and don't really actually engage in improving the community.  Then they blame their political leaders about being out of touch with the constituents.  They may be, but your voice was never heard by them to know for sure. 

Bungalower's article's comment section.

This has nothing to do with religion, but it is the THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS mentality. 

PREFACE: I happen to be a firm believer that having your friends, loved ones, and others in your thoughts is a good thing.  I think how you think of others shows a lot about you as a person.   However, it doesn't stop at thoughts and prayers or whatever you believe in.  It stops when you reach out to those people and help them however you can.  Sometimes, all you can do is think good things about/for them.  You can't help the situation in any way with your wallet or your physical presence (or you don't have the ability to do either), so you do what you can by putting out that positive love or kindness.

This really translates to a dishonorable mentality when people just think they don't have to ever actually do anything, they can just think about it.  They can sit and be angry or sit and be sad or sit and have a better plan about what to do.  They just sit, though, and don't act.  It's a lazy mentality that seems to dominate lately.  People get enraged about something, but when you ask them to volunteer they just would prefer to be enraged without effort.  If you don't contribute, you don't deserve an opinion about it in my book.  When I lived in a HOA I would go to the meetings when something that I had an opinion about came up.  When I didn't go, I didn't complain when they decided something I didn't agree with.

Edited May 28, 2019 by HankStrong

[codypet]

42 minutes ago, HankStrong said:

This has nothing to do with religion, but it is the THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS mentality. 

PREFACE: I happen to be a firm believer that having your friends, loved ones, and others in your thoughts is a good thing.  I think how you think of others shows a lot about you as a person.   However, it doesn't stop at thoughts and prayers or whatever you believe in.  It stops when you reach out to those people and help them however you can.  Sometimes, all you can do is think good things about/for them.  You can't help the situation in any way with your wallet or your physical presence (or you don't have the ability to do either), so you do what you can by putting out that positive love or kindness.

This really translates to a dishonorable mentality when people just think they don't have to ever actually do anything, they can just think about it.  They can sit and be angry or sit and be sad or sit and have a better plan about what to do.  They just sit, though, and don't act.  It's a lazy mentality that seems to dominate lately.  People get enraged about something, but when you ask them to volunteer they just would prefer to be enraged without effort.  If you don't contribute, you don't deserve an opinion about it in my book.  When I lived in a HOA I would go to the meetings when something that I had an opinion about came up.  When I didn't go, I didn't complain when they decided something I didn't agree with.

Right on!  Growing up the same thought process was explained to me about Voting.  If you choose not to vote, then you shouldn't complain if things don't go the way you like it.  (Regardless of your political thoughts)

Edited May 28, 2019 by codypet

[spenser1058]

4 minutes ago, codypet said:

Right on!  Growing up the same thought process was explained to me about Voting.  If you choose not to vote, then you shouldn't complain if things don't go the way you like it.  (Regardless of your political thoughts)

Those who don’t “do” politics have politics done to them.

[Xander]

2 hours ago, JFW657 said:

I'm pessimistic about what you're optimistic about, with the same result in mind.

I'm hoping this thing never sees the light of day.

To make it worse, the Bungalower article refers to it as a twin to the first tower. I understand that just because it was called that in a local news article, doesn't necessarily mean it will look exactly like the first one, but otoh, it might. I can't imagine how tacky it would look if two mirror images of that building were standing there right next to each other.

IF they tear down some of the most historical buildings in downtown to build a twin to that dud, it'd be quintessential Orlando, honestly.

[Tim3167]

I think there continues to be some misunderstanding on the historical nature of these buildings  being knocked down.

I’m pretty sure that ballroom was a 1994 add on. The Orchid Room itself I’m a little more fuzzy on. This could be part of the original historic complex but if that’s so I would think some protections would be in place.

[spenser1058]

8 minutes ago, Tim3167 said:

I think there continues to be some misunderstanding on the historical nature of these buildings  being knocked down.

I’m pretty sure that ballroom was a 1994 add on. The Orchid Room itself I’m a little more fuzzy on. This could be part of the original historic complex but if that’s so I would think some protections would be in place.

Orlando Fashion Square is more “historic” than either the Ballroom or the Orchid Garden (well, maybe not if you’re a big fan of Paris Hilton).

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-downtown-orchid-garden-renovated-20140926-post.html?outputType=amp

From the Sentinel 

[Xander]

10 minutes ago, Tim3167 said:

I think there continues to be some misunderstanding on the historical nature of these buildings  being knocked down.

I’m pretty sure that ballroom was a 1994 add on. The Orchid Room itself I’m a little more fuzzy on. This could be part of the original historic complex but if that’s so I would think some protections would be in place.

They also mentioned possibly axing Cheyenne, which would be such a massive loss. I really hope they don't do this.

[spenser1058]

9 minutes ago, Xander said:

They also mentioned possibly axing Cheyenne, which would be such a massive loss. I really hope they don't do this.

JFW once did a really good job of pulling up some pics of the predecessor to Cheyenne but for the life of me I don’t think it was ever protected.

Having said that, my personal opinion is that Cheyenne is the most unique building of the group. It also had the most exposure regularly because of its cable show (TNN, maybe? the Generation  Z folks may now scratch their heads...).

Cheyenne is definitely the one I’d miss most. However, the truth is the whole complex was always more ersatz N’awlins and the Gulf Coast than it was Historic Orlando (as far as Cheyenne goes, it looks nothing like you’d have found in Kissimmee in its cowtown days). Nevertheless, we do have a fondness for our plastic environments - that’s our #1 industry, after all!

 

Edited May 28, 2019 by spenser1058

[JFW657]

I think whether or not the buildings meet the technical definition of historic, kind of misses the real issue here and that is, that the Church Street Station section of downtown Orlando has a certain established atmosphere and identity, which is that of a quaint, old fashioned block of buildings that harkens back to a long gone, historical period and which the local populace has grown used to and fond of. Technically historic or not, these money grubbing boobs ought to be more respectful of that fact and the local community as well. I don't think most long time Orlandoans really want to see much of that atmosphere demolished to make room for another cheesy looking glass box.