389 North (AKA Zoi House) | 41-Story Mixed-Use [Proposed]

[AndyPok1]

Not gonna lie.  If we were doing superlatives for Most Surprisingly Contentious Topic, I did not expect Orlando MLB to be it.

[Urban Mail Carrier]

The baseball thread brings out the testosterone.

[orange87]

2 hours ago, Urban Mail Carrier said:

The baseball thread brings out the testosterone.

 

[JFW657]

Be thankful we weren't talking about football!!

There could have been broken bones!!!!  

[spenser1058]

Oh my!

[HankStrong]

18 hours ago, JFW657 said:

Be thankful we weren't talking about football!!

There could have been broken bones!!!!  

*beats chest*

[Alyssa]

Oh my! Why is everyone so upset?

[Urban Mail Carrier]

Welcome!!! The comments are mostly civil and informative. Some ppl provide information with sources, others inject some politics, some make offensive Comments , still others interject ignorant statements. We try to police ourselves and get along. I myself have learned  a lot and enjoy the comments.

[Alyssa]

17 minutes ago, Urban Mail Carrier said:

Welcome!!! The comments are mostly civil and informative. Some ppl provide information with sources, others inject some politics, some make offensive Comments , still others interject ignorant statements. We try to police ourselves and get along. I myself have learned  a lot and enjoy the comments.

I appreciate it  So basically, the internet is what you're describing  

I think a MLB team in Orlando would be cool, but only if the stadium was completely privately financed AND the city provided the land under the agreement that the team must stay for a minimum amount of years.  I think it would have to be somewhere around Camping World Stadium for the majority of locals to routinely support it, but not sure how well-received it would be. 

I know the stadium would have to be on the small side(MLB average is just over 42k), but i'm not sure how many people they'd need to average for it to really be self-sustaining. I think Orlando could maybe pull a 25k season average with the normal, fluffed  numbers. 

 

[Urban Mail Carrier]

Thats exactly what we’ve been debating. Some of us believe that the ESPN Sports complex would be ideal, yet others are convinced that I drive is more fitting. I agree that the Stadium should be in downtown Orlando, however I believe that CWS can easily be converted. I admit that I’m not fully versed on Stadium economics. @Dcluley98 and @Andypok1 seem knowledgeable. I’m sure they’ll interject in the near future or u can read their comments one page back.

[jliv]

I think a ballpark attached to the convention center would be a good idea.  The park could double as an events venue for larger conventions, which would assuage the concerns of hotel interests worried about spending more tax money on sports venues.  For those concerned in general about taxpayers funding billionaire play toys, I’d probably argue that pro baseball would complement basketball nicely, as the schedules don’t overlap too much, and Orlando needs more activities than theme parks.  There is something to be said about the role pro sports play in civic quality of life, even if you aren’t a sports fan.  In fact, a ballpark would have much greater benefits than Camping World Stadium, as the pro baseball schedule means a venue in more frequent usage.

 

[smileguy]

12 minutes ago, jliv said:

I think a ballpark attached to the convention center would be a good idea.  The park could double as an events venue for larger conventions, which would assuage the concerns of hotel interests worried about spending more tax money on sports venues.  For those concerned in general about taxpayers funding billionaire play toys, I’d probably argue that pro baseball would complement basketball nicely, as the schedules don’t overlap too much, and Orlando needs more activities than theme parks.  There is something to be said about the role pro sports play in civic quality of life, even if you aren’t a sports fan.  In fact, a ballpark would have much greater benefits than Camping World Stadium, as the pro baseball schedule means a venue in more frequent usage.

I would say that the theme parks are a major reason that professional sports (and arts) struggle to keep the attention of Orlando-area residents. In other markets, people are spending their leisure dollars and time on season tickets and ballet subscriptions, not annual passes. 

[spenser1058]

4 minutes ago, smileguy said:

I would say that the theme parks are a major reason that professional sports (and arts) struggle to keep the attention of Orlando-area residents. In other markets, people are spending their leisure dollars and time on season tickets and ballet subscriptions, not annual passes. 

If convention-goers are a major source of baseball attendance, why did the Atlanta Braves move their new stadium  away from the World Congress Center area and out past the  Perimeter whete convention folk seldom wander? Just curious.

[jrs2]

1 hour ago, jliv said:

I think a ballpark attached to the convention center would be a good idea.  The park could double as an events venue for larger conventions, which would assuage the concerns of hotel interests worried about spending more tax money on sports venues.  For those concerned in general about taxpayers funding billionaire play toys, I’d probably argue that pro baseball would complement basketball nicely, as the schedules don’t overlap too much, and Orlando needs more activities than theme parks.  There is something to be said about the role pro sports play in civic quality of life, even if you aren’t a sports fan.  In fact, a ballpark would have much greater benefits than Camping World Stadium, as the pro baseball schedule means a venue in more frequent usage.

 

that could work much like the GWCC and the Ga Dome did.  If the OCCC builds a decent sized garage and they repurpose a chunk of the surface lot (N/S Bldg), then that could work.  The problem is that it would be too remote from I-Drive.   A stadium with frontage to a major roadway would be choice.

I'd prefer downtown as a first choice.  Choice 2 would be on I-Drive- maybe on the empty tract of land next to Ale House just north of Pointe Orlando.  Choice 3 would be the parking lot of N/S Bldg along with some parking decks for the OCCC or for both.  I'd like to see frontage on city streets, but that would only work downtown and north of Pointe Orlando.

[jrs2]

6 hours ago, Alyssa said:

I appreciate it  So basically, the internet is what you're describing  

I think a MLB team in Orlando would be cool, but only if the stadium was completely privately financed AND the city provided the land under the agreement that the team must stay for a minimum amount of years.  I think it would have to be somewhere around Camping World Stadium for the majority of locals to routinely support it, but not sure how well-received it would be. 

I know the stadium would have to be on the small side(MLB average is just over 42k), but i'm not sure how many people they'd need to average for it to really be self-sustaining. I think Orlando could maybe pull a 25k season average with the normal, fluffed  numbers. 

 

Welcome!  good forum.  don't fret the negativity on this thread...or on the Magic Entertainment Complex thread...or on a few of the other ones.  It's all in good fun.

[aent]

I personally struggle to see tourists being too interested in an Orlando baseball team...  isn't the majority of revenue season ticket sales? Expecting a full stadium from tourists week in and out, especially from a sport like baseball with so many games seems nuts to me...

Downtown seems like the way to go. The location seems fairly obvious too: immediately west of the soccer stadium, Orange County Health department owns most of that parcel, it will continue the sports district they're trying to build, and parking and amenities could likely be shared with the neighboring sports facilities. It'd also give more event days to help restaurants and retailers trying to make a living off events another venue with a whole bunch more events to feed off of.

[Urban Mail Carrier]

9 minutes ago, aent said:

I personally struggle to see tourists being too interested in an Orlando baseball team...  isn't the majority of revenue season ticket sales? Expecting a full stadium from tourists week in and out, especially from a sport like baseball with so many games seems nuts to me...

Downtown seems like the way to go. The location seems fairly obvious too: immediately west of the soccer stadium, Orange County Health department owns most of that parcel, it will continue the sports district they're trying to build, and parking and amenities could likely be shared with the neighboring sports facilities. It'd also give more event days to help restaurants and retailers trying to make a living off events another venue with a whole bunch more events to feed off of.

I like that idea and your right more events for the area restaurants. It would continue nicely the sports  district all the way to CSW. Only issue I have with it is why build another stadium when CWS already exists. If I can ask Why can’t CWS not be retrofitted and domed? Is it that expensive? Seems like money being thrown around and unnecessary construction. Also, how big is that parcel u suggested?

[dcluley98]

Maybe  the city could eminent domain that church property to the east of Exploria. . . 

 

*Ducks

Edited January 14, 2020 by dcluley98

[aent]

2 minutes ago, Urban Mail Carrier said:

If I can ask Why can’t CWS not be retrofitted and domed?

There are huge sacrifices in design if trying to design it for dual sports, especially of different shaped field. Even the same shape is tough: MLS was pushing heavily for soccer specific stadiums because previous soccer attempts using football fields failed, and many credit the near ban on using football stadiums for MLS's success. If CWS is reasonably retrofitted for MLB, we should expect to lose its football worthiness and lose the NFL Pro Bowl and the high class college football games that are played.

There's also the question of cost of the retrofit vs a new stadium: its likely outside of land cost, it wouldn't be all too different due to the amount of demolition and rebuilding it would likely require.

Another possibility is where that "Green District" project was proposed 2 years ago that claimed to have a commitment of sale of the parcels immediately west of the Amway Center and across from CityView.

[JFW657]

I was watching the WFTV News show Central Florida Spotlight this past Sunday afternoon.

Host Greg War Moth's guest was Hizzoner, the newly reelected Mayor Buddy Dyer.

Among the many innarresting subjects they spoke in depth about, was "the baseball thing".

During the interview, Dyer states that he's firmly in favor of a downtown stadium site.

The following video is from a weeknight news report, prior to the airing of the Sunday CFS episode, but it contains clips from that show which was, at the time, upcoming.

The news report doesn't include Dyer's actual remarks about his preference for a downtown site, but  War Moth mentions it.

 

[IAmFloridaBorn]

Orlando can do it.
It needs to be downtown or in the area 2 miles.
Sunrail Needs to play a part in this stadiums access if it happens.

[sunshine]

I rather them use the money to move Millenia Mall downtown. 

[spenser1058]

4 minutes ago, sunshine said:

I rather them use the money to move Millenia Mall downtown. 

sunshine is my hero!

[dcluley98]

Except not the mall, just the "stores in the ground floors." 

[HankStrong]

I'm not sure if this is some sort of trap or not.

I'm never quite sure if these posts come from some weird alternate dimension where colors come out as sound and trees raise your children.