Metro Orlando Headlines

[sunshine]

Investment opportunity is high in Orlando

By Jerry W. Jackson {sodEmoji.|} Sentinel Staff Writer

Posted January 3, 2007, 10:30 AM EST

Orlando ranks among the top 10 office markets for investment opportunity in the country, according to a report out this week by Grubb & Ellis, the big Chicago-based integrated real estate service company.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/or...iness-headlines

[ORLANDOJBBOY]

the OIA renovations for Airside 1 and 3 are on point.

OSI's new projects are great projects; parking garage and hangars to support existing carriers.

as for DT: CPIII and TT are reliable info. 400 N. could be if EA does in fact come DT, its only a question as to where. 385 N. Orange-- yeah, whatever.

PTP-- Urban Flats has had their sign up for a few weeks-- what a huge tenant. Who are the other tenants?

Other tenants would be:

Set to open first quarter 2007.

Amstar Cinemas 12-screen theater

Corona Cigar Bar (cigars and full bar w/food menu)

Beauty Spot

Coldstone Creamery

Benot Cafe Sushi

Bola Restaurant

PJ's Wine & Coffee Bar

Salon Elysee

Salsaritas Restaurant

Scottrade Securities Brokerage

[JRS1]

Other tenants would be:

Set to open first quarter 2007.

Amstar Cinemas 12-screen theater

Corona Cigar Bar (cigars and full bar w/food menu)

Beauty Spot

Coldstone Creamery

Benot Cafe Sushi

Bola Restaurant

PJ's Wine & Coffee Bar

Salon Elysee

Salsaritas Restaurant

Scottrade Securities Brokerage

I want to know who will be opposite Urban Flats. Then, I want to know who the two interior parlors in the N and S towers will go to. Then, the rear parlor in the N tower. I don't know if there is a rear parlor in the S tower. (street level, of course).

[jack]

The Cigar spot is opposite. Mercantile bank will be behind Urban Flats. Behind Corona will be Bola. On the N intrerior is PJ then Beauty Spot, COld Stone, and Bento. On the S side Salsaritas, Salon Elysee. The rear is Scott Trade and two vacant suites.

Edited January 4, 2007 by jack

[MaXxlife]

Amanda Bynes to make movie in Orlando

Posted on Jan 4, 2007 7:32:53 AM

Amanda Amanda Bynes, of TV's What I like About You, and such frothy teen B-hits as She's the Man, is coming to Orlando to make a movie. It's called Sydney White, at this stage, and is about a girl who pledges her mom's old sorority, only to find it fallen on hard times (shedding tiny, tiny tear). She leads a gang of misfits and turns them into a primo Greek house...hey, this is VAN WILDER 2, no? Whatever. She's the best comedienne of her generation. She just finished shooting Hairspray. And shooting starts Feb. 12. She was last here, if memory serves, getting slimed on Nickelodeon's Slimetime Live, plugging Big Fat Liar. This is O-Town's first studio feature since Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector, and promises to be a bigger budget endeavor than that, with Morgan Creek involved.

Link

[neon9]

Yep - most hotels in Orlando are near booked for New Years, and it's the busiest day of the year (other than the 4th of July) for the theme parks. Given that we have one of the biggest hotel markets in the country, most hotels being near 100% occupancy affirms the fact that Orlando is a major destination. Of course, while Times Square/SoBe/Vegas are considerably up on us with the 'hip' factor, in terms of raw numbers, Orlando is a major player.

It seems like everyone 'drops' something, I was just in Atlanta and they have the Peach Drop. Can't we have an Orange drop, or does someone else do this?

[sunshine]

I think we have Orange drop in downtown.

Miami has Orange drop.

Lift a glass of cheer at the end of another year

Published December 29, 2006

Not everyone watches the ball drop in Times Square. Church Street Entertainment in downtown Orlando hosts its own "Orange Drop" at midnight along with a fireworks display. Church Street Entertainment's 7th annual Street Party also gives patrons all-access to Big Belly Brewery, Chillers, Latitudes and Antigua. Ticket packages range from $45 to $99 for 21 and older. Call 321-663-2431.

[ORLANDOJBBOY]

Yes we do, there is a lighted orange that is on a poll at the top of latitudes that drops like the ball

[pip]

Other tenants would be:

Set to open first quarter 2007.

Amstar Cinemas 12-screen theater

Corona Cigar Bar (cigars and full bar w/food menu)

Beauty Spot

Coldstone Creamery

Benot Cafe Sushi

Bola Restaurant

PJ's Wine & Coffee Bar

Salon Elysee

Salsaritas Restaurant

Scottrade Securities Brokerage

So, is it "Bento" Cafe Sushi instead of "Benot". I know the OBJ article calls it "Benot", but "Bento" seems to make more sense to me. Perhaps a typo in the article.

[pip]

So anyone know if this Bola Restaurant is related to the the new Bola Restaurant on I-Drive?

here's some pics i'm pretty sure are from the I-drive one i found from the winter park based lighting company that set it up.

http://www.impactlightinginc.com/bola.htm

[Pieson]

Amanda Bynes to make movie in Orlando

Posted on Jan 4, 2007 7:32:53 AM

Amanda Amanda Bynes, of TV's What I like About You, and such frothy teen B-hits as She's the Man, is coming to Orlando to make a movie. It's called Sydney White, at this stage, and is about a girl who pledges her mom's old sorority, only to find it fallen on hard times (shedding tiny, tiny tear). She leads a gang of misfits and turns them into a primo Greek house...hey, this is VAN WILDER 2, no? Whatever. She's the best comedienne of her generation. She just finished shooting Hairspray. And shooting starts Feb. 12. She was last here, if memory serves, getting slimed on Nickelodeon's Slimetime Live, plugging Big Fat Liar. This is O-Town's first studio feature since Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector, and promises to be a bigger budget endeavor than that, with Morgan Creek involved.

Link

thats awesome

I wonder though what they are going to use as their college backdrop, maybe rollins or UCF

always excited to see filming done here in orlando

ahhh I miss the old days of Nick, which did almost all of their filming here in orlando....sigh

[corpkid]

That looks pretty hot! Anyone been to that Bola (on I-Drive)? How is it?

Edited January 4, 2007 by corpkid

[JRS1]

So anyone know if this Bola Restaurant is related to the the new Bola Restaurant on I-Drive?

here's some pics i'm pretty sure are from the I-drive one i found from the winter park based lighting company that set it up.

http://www.impactlightinginc.com/bola.htm

wow! that is a great looking place. fantastic lighting.

[demon]

That looks pretty hot! Anyone been to that Bola (on I-Drive)? How is it?

Is Bola the place that looks like an art deco pharmacy by Hawaiin Rumble Mini Golf?

thats awesome

I wonder though what they are going to use as their college backdrop, maybe rollins or UCF

always excited to see filming done here in orlando

ahhh I miss the old days of Nick, which did almost all of their filming here in orlando....sigh

Maybe they'll use both or all 3 (Valencia).

When I was a teen I always enjoyed watching Superboy, especially when they filmed downtown & showed the skyline.

[gibby]

I remember one episode where they were moving around some steel on the Center Place property with a crane and he had to move it out of the way or something.

[Chemmie]

Is Bola the place that looks like an art deco pharmacy by Hawaiin Rumble Mini Golf?

Bola is next to Friday's Front Row. It used to be Italliani's, owned by the TGI Friday's group, and was suprisingly pretty good chain italian. Then it was Aussie Steakhouse for a bit... never ate there, though.

[sunshine]

Church Fighting To Demolish 82-Year-Old Homes In Downtown Orlando

POSTED: 4:26 pm EST January 4, 2007

UPDATED: 5:46 pm EST January 4, 2007

http://www.wftv.com/news/10672690/detail.html

[Pieson]

'It's a good thing,' home builder thinks

Stewart community to be built here

Lifestyle diva Martha Stewart is bringing her taste in homes and decor to Central Florida real estate.

The first Stewart-inspired development in Florida will be built by KB Home on 31 acres southwest of Windermere, company representatives confirmed this week.

The model homes should be completed by May for a grand opening of the Avellino community, designed for 143 homesites and a "new urbanism" look," said George Glance, president of KB Home's Orlando division.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/or...iness-headlines

[neon9]

The model homes should be completed by May for a grand opening of the Avellino community, designed for 143 homesites and a "new urbanism" look," said George Glance, president of KB Home's Orlando division.

and this means what, I wonder? They don't know what new urbanism is but they hear alot about it so they got someone to drive by a place that someone else said was an example of it and they'll copy that style?

Not with the actual design of the site, cause 143 homes on 31 acres miles from services and businesses doesn't cut it.

[prahaboheme]

^exactly. New Urbanism is so simple, yet so misunderstood.

Best example of new urbanism: Seaside

Better example: Celebration

Good example: Baldwin Park

Bad: KB Homes

[MaXxlife]

Happy new year predicted for homes

The Orlando area's market will stay No. 1 in Florida, a new report says.

Jerry W. Jackson {sodEmoji.|} Sentinel Staff Writer

Posted January 6, 2007

The Orlando area is Florida's strongest real-estate market as the state heads into the new year, while Fort Myers and Miami are the weakest, according to a new, three-year forecast that has mostly good news for the region.

Metro Orlando's advantages include strong population growth, driven by "robust gains in employment," and relatively low levels of new-home inventory, according to the report, which is to be released next week by Attorney's Title Insurance Fund Inc.

"Orange County's economy will grow strongly through 2009," and population growth "holds up well over the forecast horizon," said Orlando-based economist Hank Fishkind, who prepared the report for Attorney's Title, the state's leading title-insurance underwriter.

Fishkind said Friday that Fort Myers and Miami are the weakest markets in the state because of large inventories of unsold homes and lower rates of household formation.

In four-county Metro Orlando, Lake County could experience one of the weaker real-estate rebounds, as the report notes there is "little growth in the rate of formation of new households," and "housing starts are expected to slow through 2007 and remain stable through 2009."

Still, the Lake County economy overall is expected to expand strongly through 2009 as it integrates with the metro area's three other counties, the report predicts.

"They really have an [excess] inventory problem there," Fishkind said of Lake County's housing stock.

In Orange and Seminole counties, there is relatively little "standing inventory" of new homes, the report notes, and household growth in those counties "gives rise to sustained strength in housing starts."

Trouble in Osceola

Osceola County's new-home starts plunged from about 8,000 units in 2005 to about 4,000 last year, and it will likely remain at about that level through 2009, the forecast suggests. Though the county has little standing inventory of single-family homes, "high inventories of new and converted condominium units will keep prices stable as the market continues to slip."

The report, which analyzed 33 of the state's largest counties, predicts that, in Metro Orlando, "trends in the existing-home markets are expected to be similar to those of the new homes' marketplace."

Doug Buskers, a residential-real-estate sales agent in the Longwood office of Exit Real Estate Results, agrees with Fishkind that Metro Orlando is a strong market in comparison with much of the rest of the state, where speculative building was more rampant. But he said it is hard to generalize because demand varies so much at a local level.

"It depends on your market. Windermere is different from Pine Hills. So you really have to pay attention to your local area and educate your clients about that, " said Buskers, who moved to Central Florida three years ago from the Washington area.

"I do think this is a vibrant market overall and should be the rest of the year. But that doesn't mean prices will appreciate like before," he added. "We'll still see some adjustment downward."

Fishkind said that, in analyzing the data, he was also struck by how widely the various counties differ in terms of housing stock, buyer demand and other factors.

"There is very strong differentiation, even within a metro area," Fishkind said. "Lee County is overbuilt. Collier County, right next door -- not so overbuilt."

Market 'coming back'

Jeff Alexander, a Lake Mary resident and president of Homecrete Homes, a specialty builder based in Stuart on the Treasure Coast, said he concurs that the Orlando market has advantages over some areas of the state -- including more room for growth.

"The Treasure Coast is what's known as a scattered-lot market," Alexander said. "There are just no big tracts of homes, the way it is in the Orlando area."

Alexander, who has been in the home-building business since 1979 but moved to Florida from Chicago about six years ago, said residential construction in Florida is returning to more-conventional and cyclical patterns based on supply and demand.

Link

Edited January 6, 2007 by MaXxlife

[sunshine]

Orlando's skyline will keep rising with 'a steady flow of new projects'

Jack Snyder {sodEmoji.|} Sentinel Staff Writer

Posted January 8, 2007

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/...story?track=rss

Real estate/downtown outlook

Posted January 8, 2007

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/...0,6704390.story

[Pieson]

two questions relating to those articles

it mentions in the second one about the creative village.....any one know the current status on that project

also it talks about the new venues as if they are still strong and viable where in previous articles recently they have been pesimistic about our new venues

im still very much so confused about all the going ons with that

from what I can gather right now, the only one that is actually looking strong is the OPAC

also, is the high construction cost lately a perm. thing, or will it ever go back down again

it seems to me to be our greatest impediment right now to getting projects off the ground

[bulldogger]

I think we should have sports (and events ) supporters in town give money to the arena in the same way that arts supporters are doing it. Donations will pay for part of the construction and then those people and companies can get a plaque on the wall. Also, maybe the Magic should start pre-selling boxes just like developers have to do to get a condo tower built.

[neon9]

two questions relating to those articles

it mentions in the second one about the creative village.....any one know the current status on that project

also it talks about the new venues as if they are still strong and viable where in previous articles recently they have been pesimistic about our new venues

im still very much so confused about all the going ons with that

from what I can gather right now, the only one that is actually looking strong is the OPAC

also, is the high construction cost lately a perm. thing, or will it ever go back down again

it seems to me to be our greatest impediment right now to getting projects off the ground

I think the creative village is just an idea at this point, or more of a pipe dream if you ask me.

Construction costs are largely predicated on 2 things, labor and energy costs. Labor always slowly increases, and energy has shot up for the past few years, especially oil. Some raw materials are going down, wood for a while and steel has for a month or 2 I think. So that's helped, but generally, just like anyone else they can count on higher prices over time.