Lake Eola Neighbourhood.

[idroveazamboni]

Pictures taken during the 2016 Thanksgiving holiday weekend. 

[JFW657]

Nice pics for THE Orlando Photo Thread.

 

[John Hargrove]

I wish we had a sub-forum for photo posts. One megathread is sort of cumbersome but millions of individual posts scattered between normal discussion also seems not great.

Thanks for the pics, they're great!

Edited November 28, 2016 by castorvx

[TRENCH]

4th of July at Eola 2016

[UngaBungalow]

I'm hearing whispers about a possible new apartment tower near the Anthony's Pizza - Thornton Park location but haven't seen any sort of paper trail yet. Anybody hear anything? Someone is apparently assembling parcels on that corner. 

[AndyPok1]

I'll bite.  And yeah, we need that beer

Quick digging... There's many parcels owned by something named the 'Beattie Family L P'

The 5 we care about are the 3 on Summerlin, the 1 on Eola, and the 1 on Hill.

The address on file is the home address of the recently deceased local quasi-celebrity orthodontist Jack Beattie and his wife.

 

Here's the location... the area circled in black have been in the family since pre-1999 when Jack transferred them to this (presumably) trust.  All are vacant except for 117 N Summerlin which is the house/office building just south of the public parking lot.

The 4th property which is 112 Summerlin directly north of Anthony's was bought for 600K in 2015.  That combined with the other properties gives them a full rectangle lot measuring 100x400 that has access to both Summerlin and Eola.  For comparison, Citi Tower is on a 120x250 lot.

 

--

Also, the other properties they own are on the corner of Livingston and Mills directly south of the YMCA.  They own practically half the block:

--

Only other remotely interesting thing I learned from this is that the BelFontaine condo property at Eola and Washington has 12 units, and 9 of them are owned by two groups (with the other 3 all owned by people named Caruso with only 1 being a homestead)

[spenser1058]

Dr. Beattie was an orthodontist and the tradition has continued with his kids. Growing up, Orlando was still small enough that it was a rite of passage for most middle class kids to go to one of a handful of orthodontists. Meeting someone new in junior high school (OCPS didn't switch to middle schools until the 90s, I think), one of the first questions you asked was "Who's your orthodontist?" Mine was Dr. Edgerton, not far away at Mills and Amelia across from the Y.

Bel Fontaine is pretty much owned by various Carusos, just under different names. One of the brothers, for example, owns several units under the name Spring Lake Group, LLC. The Carusos are, of course, one of the FFO citrus families (Southern Fruit). Probably the most influential Orlando grove family after Dr. Phillips, they also assisted in developing things like Southside Center (the Publix shopping Center at Orange and Michigan) and the Southern Oaks subdivision. Most recently, it was part of the Caruso family that sold Constitution Green to the City.

If you ever drank a can of Bluebird orange juice, that was some of the Carusos' handiwork. They are a huge, boisterous, extended Catholic family. Interestingly, they tend to fly under the radar a lot more than the Dr. Phillips clan with none of the fascinating scandals the Phillips' had over the years.

[HankStrong]

When does that book come out again?

[jack]

The good doctor passed away last year but the children or his widow have not decided to sell as far as I know. 

[John Hargrove]

3 hours ago, HankStrong said:

When does that book come out again?

My thoughts exactly. 

[popsiclebrandon]

Nice work Andy. What is the zoning on those? Do they need to go through any zoning hearings to build a tower there? If they add the properties on Washington that becomes a huge project.

[spenser1058]

My understanding was that Bel Fontaine along with some other lots was days away from a sale in 2008 just before the crash and then did not go through. At the time, the indication was some sort of tower. How tall, whether residential, commercial or mixed, I was never told. It was from someone with, ummm, 0 degrees of separation though so I assume it was legit.

[jack]

It was close and it included the entire block. 

[orlandoguy]

I would be so sad if the Bel Fontaine got torn down. I love the building, mainly because its persevered all these years as a relatively humble property facing probably the most desirable lake in the city. Plus the name is so mod. [emoji4]

[JFW657]

Same with that little two story office complex behind it on Washington Street that used to be apartments.

It's just nice having some of those older, simple buildings around that recall the past and help retain a little of that small town, old Orlando feel. Especially around Lake Eola. 

 

[nite owℓ]

On 1/5/2017 at 6:49 AM, spenser1058 said:

Interestingly, they tend to fly under the radar a lot more than the Dr. Phillips clan with none of the fascinating scandals the Phillips' had over the years.

I remember reading one of the prominent members of the Phillips family was an openly gay man - which was rare for that time period in Orlando.

[spenser1058]

Lake Eola Park notes the seating area for the amphitheater is closed for "retrofitting  and safety improvements" - has anyone heard more about that?

 

[Nick@Night]

Lake Eola Park notes the seating area for the amphitheater is closed for "retrofitting  and safety improvements" - has anyone heard more about that?
 

Walked by there Thursday morning and it was fenced off. Saw a forklift pulling up a section of benches.

Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk

[Boomer136]

Many moons ago there was talk of tearing up the trees, putting in a shade structure and enclosing the seating area for noise reduction, to make ticketed events more feasible and provide increased security.

Edited July 11, 2017 by Boomer136
grammar

[JFW657]

3 hours ago, Boomer136 said:

Many moons ago there was talk of tearing up the trees, putting in a shade structure and enclosing the seating area for noise reduction, to make ticketed events more feasible and provide increased security.

An idea not totally without merit, though the view of the bandshell would've been totally obscured from Rosalind. Best left the way it is.

Plus, I'd rather have the trees.

[UngaBungalow]

They're tearing up 10 sycamores and putting in more benches. They're considering adding some shade structures but not any time soon. The idea is rehabbing the whole layout along the lines of what DTO was asking for. 

[JFW657]

Hopefully "tearing up" = carefully digging up and replanting elsewhere in the park. 

[Boomer136]

17 hours ago, JFW657 said:

An idea not totally without merit, though the view of the bandshell would've been totally obscured from Rosalind. Best left the way it is.

Plus, I'd rather have the trees.

Depends on what the shell is, an object d'art for passers by or a viable performance space destination.

[idroveazamboni]

I don't live in Orlando but with 420, Citi and Modera building adding an additional  @880 units/ 1,300 residents to the area this will be good for neighbourhood density. I wonder how Modera will blend into South Eola 

[UngaBungalow]

19 hours ago, JFW657 said:

Hopefully "tearing up" = carefully digging up and replanting elsewhere in the park. 

right? I don't think so though. I've heard the word "diseased" thrown around in regards to those trees so I think they're just getting cut down. Hopefully I'm wrong though.