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Winter Park & Maitland


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  • 2 weeks later...

Scott J reviews Ava MediterrAgean and is quite pleased. He notes the interior has been completely transformed from the Luma On Park days, the food is creative and tasty , the cocktails are great and service is everything one would hope for (in post-pandemic Orlando that’s rather like finding a unicorn). He noted the wine list was skimpy but hardly worth dwelling on when everything else is going right:

https://www.scottjosephorlando.com/reviews/136-mediterranean/6068-ava-mediterragean

It’s gonna take me a while to spell that, let alone pronounce it…
 

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  • 3 weeks later...

lol

 

With a 35,000-square-foot former library sitting empty in the heart of its downtown district, the city of Winter Park invited the business sector to bring forward redevelopment ideas for the space.

Hoping to see the old building with limited parking reimagined into something else — like a co-working hub, small retail or food hall — the city put out a request for proposals, giving interested parties a chance to tour the city-owned, three-story structure at 460 E. New England Avenue and a month to place bids detailing their vision.

By the time the solicitation process closed at 2 p.m. Thursday, the city had received just one proposal — much to the surprise of Mayor Phil Anderson.

“Wow,” Anderson told GrowthSpotter upon hearing the news. “I was hopeful that we would get more proposals but we will see what this proposal has in mind and we will decide how to go forward.”

But the public won’t be able to see what the bid entails just yet. Jennifer Maier, the city’s procurement manager, said the bids are exempt from state’s public record laws for at least 30 days following the closure of the solicitation period.

It’s up to the five-member city commission to decide if it wants to give the green light to the lone contender — a team consisting of Harbert Realty Services, general contracting company Brasfield & Gorrie LLC and architecture firm HuntonBrady Architects — or move in another direction, such as starting the bidding process over to see if a second go-around yields more results.

Before it gets to commission though, a five-member advisory committee they appointed to assist with this process will give its recommendation. The committee’s first meeting is scheduled for June 30 at 10 a.m. inside City Hall.

Damien Madsen, senior vice president and managing director of Harbert Realty Group, declined to give specifics on the proposal Thursday afternoon, but was also shocked to learn that his company’s bid was the only one submitted for the library property.

“Are you kidding me?” he told GrowthSpotter.

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6 minutes ago, popsiclebrandon said:

lol

 

With a 35,000-square-foot former library sitting empty in the heart of its downtown district, the city of Winter Park invited the business sector to bring forward redevelopment ideas for the space.

Hoping to see the old building with limited parking reimagined into something else — like a co-working hub, small retail or food hall — the city put out a request for proposals, giving interested parties a chance to tour the city-owned, three-story structure at 460 E. New England Avenue and a month to place bids detailing their vision.

By the time the solicitation process closed at 2 p.m. Thursday, the city had received just one proposal — much to the surprise of Mayor Phil Anderson.

“Wow,” Anderson told GrowthSpotter upon hearing the news. “I was hopeful that we would get more proposals but we will see what this proposal has in mind and we will decide how to go forward.”

But the public won’t be able to see what the bid entails just yet. Jennifer Maier, the city’s procurement manager, said the bids are exempt from state’s public record laws for at least 30 days following the closure of the solicitation period.

It’s up to the five-member city commission to decide if it wants to give the green light to the lone contender — a team consisting of Harbert Realty Services, general contracting company Brasfield & Gorrie LLC and architecture firm HuntonBrady Architects — or move in another direction, such as starting the bidding process over to see if a second go-around yields more results.

Before it gets to commission though, a five-member advisory committee they appointed to assist with this process will give its recommendation. The committee’s first meeting is scheduled for June 30 at 10 a.m. inside City Hall.

Damien Madsen, senior vice president and managing director of Harbert Realty Group, declined to give specifics on the proposal Thursday afternoon, but was also shocked to learn that his company’s bid was the only one submitted for the library property.

“Are you kidding me?” he told GrowthSpotter.

What! Are you telling me a city that routinely changes the rules, denies most of everything real estate related only got one bid. I am shocked. 

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Remember, years ago, when there were preliminary designs for a redevelopment of the Winter Park City Hall / Winter Park Post Office? Now there's talks of preserving that overcrowded, suburban-looking City Hall. 

414215-ACi-USPS-Downtown_Central_Park_Station-Winter_Park_City_Hall_Complex.thumb.webp.7d7a9da96a07bd9ac5f8edc4ce743770.webp

Preserving the old out-of-place, suburban-style library—and letting it sit empty for a decade or two—is par for the course in Winter Park.

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The City Hall is somewhat uninspiring but I do like it better than the library.  Both could be replaced, imho, but it depends on what would replace it. When WG replaced their City Hall, they opted to forget the Nixon revenue-sharing version from the ‘70’s and went with one in the same deco style as the one that replaced and somewhat like the post office but that was totally botched when it was divided in two early this century.

WP could go Mizneresque like Rollins or they could go avant-garde like the new library on a replacement City Hall. For that matter, they could return to the New England motif they’ve gotten away from in recent decades.

I’m still not sure what I’d do with the old library - I suppose it depends on the eventual use.

@orlandocity87 has a point, though - I may be dead and cremated long before Winter Parkers ever make up their minds.

 

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9 hours ago, orlandocity87 said:

Remember, years ago, when there were preliminary designs for a redevelopment of the Winter Park City Hall / Winter Park Post Office? Now there's talks of preserving that overcrowded, suburban-looking City Hall. 

414215-ACi-USPS-Downtown_Central_Park_Station-Winter_Park_City_Hall_Complex.thumb.webp.7d7a9da96a07bd9ac5f8edc4ce743770.webp

Preserving the old out-of-place, suburban-style library—and letting it sit empty for a decade or two—is par for the course in Winter Park.

Pepperidge Farms remembers. The way the City went about stopping this project after the fact is so ridiculous. 

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16 hours ago, jack said:

Preserving the old out-of-place, suburban-style library—and letting it sit empty for a decade or two—is par for the course in Winter Park.

I thought I read recently in Growth Spotter that only one contractor placed a bid to redevelop the old library into housing. Can someone verify??

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On 6/22/2022 at 3:44 PM, spenser1058 said:

Just one. They may go back to the drawing board. In WP, things normally drag on forever.

My understanding is that the WP History Museum's lease at the farmers' market is coming to an end, and that the City asked them to submit a proposal.  Does anyone have progress on the Alfond expansion or new Rollins museum? This location begs for a cultural/tourism related draw.

It's been a few years since I have been in Winter Park every day.  Any word on if the new Rollins garage has made parking at the SunTrust Truist Garage any easier? I wonder if merchants are seeing more visitors who can find parking, or less business lost as Rollins community members aren't crossing Fairbanks as there used to be.

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It would certainly make sense for the History Museum over there. Maybe it’s just me, but Grant Cornwell doesn’t seem as expansionist-oriented as some past Rollins presidents.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing as it’s not unusual for schools to alternate in that regard (Dr. Cartwright at UCF is much less the community-facing sort than Dr. Hitt was - it’s been suggested Dr. Cartwright is much more focused on academics - given Dr. C’s background in optics, a strength of UCF’s, it could pay real dividends).

Back to Rollins, it will be interesting to see in what direction they’re headed.

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Will parking sensors along Park Ave solve WP’s downtown parking woes?

“Winter Park is testing if sensors can help it get a grasp on its parking crunch along famous Park Avenue. The sensors were installed Thursday at some parking spaces in the shopping district as a pilot, to see whether they can effectively identify available spaces, said Clarissa Howard, a city spokesperson. The new sensors do not issue parking tickets, she said.”

From The Sentinel 


https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/orange-county/os-ne-winter-park-sensors-20220708-atuuqnnhzvanrlrnyt5aec4ueq-story.html

Edited by spenser1058
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  • 2 weeks later...

Now that Orlando’s working on dismantling the Virginia/Corrine Speedway (no matter how many years it takes), Winter Parkers are ready to slow down the Fairbanks to Aloma Raceway. It also has curves that would make Daytona proud.

The trick with this one is that FDOT’s involved (it’s SR 426), so stay tuned for an extra level of bureaucracy. This being Winter Park, look forward to the public hearings being Must See TV!

https://bungalower.com/2022/07/25/winter-park-residents-want-city-hall-to-fix-aloma-avenue/

From Bungalower 
 

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On 7/26/2022 at 11:12 AM, JFW657 said:

I'd like to see them add embankments to those Winter Park curves....

image.jpg

:yahoo: 

yep. Virginia/Corrine could use one of those right near Lieu Gardens entrance...it would help me not spill my drink all the time...

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I always thought it was funny how that road changes names every time it makes one of those big turns- from Fairbanks to Osceola to Brewer to Aloma in less than a dozen football field lengths. I used to know a couple families who lived on Brewer Ave but told everyone they lived on Fairbanks because no one knew where Brewer was.

I also thought it was funny that Bungalower called it Brewery Ave...

Edited by AmIReal
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