Mills/50

[alex]

8 minutes ago, dcluley98 said:

Could do worse.

A pumps-in-the-front gas station is literally the worst (i.e. least urban) thing you could build in a community other than like a highway or a chemical plant.

Sometimes I feel like this board needs to be renamed GasStationsGroceryStoresJobsAndSandwichesPlanet.org.

[spenser1058]

1 minute ago, alex said:

A pumps-in-the-front gas station is literally the worst (i.e. least urban) thing you could build in a community other than like a highway or a chemical plant.

Sometimes I feel like this board needs to be renamed GasStationsGroceryStoresJobsAndSandwichesPlanet.org.

Don't forget sunshine's favorites - burgers tacos and beer!

[alex]

1 minute ago, spenser1058 said:

Don't forget sunshine's favorites - burgers tacos and beer!

Yeah, but us evil Millennials actually like those things 

[codypet]

Is this approved or what's being brought forward for approval?  If its the latter then this is a ploy to get people riled up so that Wawa will make "concessions" like making the station adhere to the streetwall guidelines.  The natural thought process is the neighborhood's not gonna want such a massive gas station here, especially with entrances facing the houses in the back.  This way Wawa looks like they're meeting everyone halfway and the neighborhood says its better than what was originally proposed.   I suspect when all is said and done there will be fewer driveways and this will be more in tune with what's envisioned for the neighborhood.  Wawa knows they're going to have to beautify this, they're just hoping to get past the No Way people who don't want a gas station at all.

Edited May 31, 2018 by codypet

[dcluley98]

Alex, I was referring to the WaWa brand, not the design.  I would argue that RaceTrac and/or 7 Eleven are both worse options than WaWa. The design, as mentioned is not good, especially the pumps on the corner. I don't know if they had to put them there because of the underground tanks from prior use or something. As for the Tacos and Beer, they have the beer, maybe could park a taco truck out front where they should have an urban streetwall, haha. 

[Jernigan]

It’s not an urban Wawa and it doesn’t need to be - this isn’t the CBD.   People drive to most they other shop around.   That said, if it looks halfway like this site plan, the city is to blame.   I wouldn’t settle for the Wendy’s facade either.  7-11 across the street isn’t terrible.   Same goes for the drive through at the Starbucks across the street...stick to good urban form and if the gas station or coffee shop doesn’t like it, oh well.

Too many of our urban “advocates” are going to spin their wheels complaining that it’s a Wawa or that it’s a gas station.  The city isn’t going to pick winners or losers based on brand and gas stations aren’t in the same category as strip clubs or porn stores as much as we’d like them to be.   

The focus needs to be totally on applying existing code (and if the code is lacking, fix it before the next project) and refusing any variances.

[codypet]

33 minutes ago, Jernigan said:

It’s not an urban Wawa and it doesn’t need to be - this isn’t the CBD.   People drive to most they other shop around.   That said, if it looks halfway like this site plan, the city is to blame.   I wouldn’t settle for the Wendy’s facade either.  7-11 across the street isn’t terrible.   Same goes for the drive through at the Starbucks across the street...stick to good urban form and if the gas station or coffee shop doesn’t like it, oh well.

Too many of our urban “advocates” are going to spin their wheels complaining that it’s a Wawa or that it’s a gas station.  The city isn’t going to pick winners or losers based on brand and gas stations aren’t in the same category as strip clubs or porn stores as much as we’d like them to be.   

The focus needs to be totally on applying existing code (and if the code is lacking, fix it before the next project) and refusing any variances.

IMO The Wendy's facade worked because there was a suburban Wendy's already there and they were renovating.  When the Sodo Wendy's rebuilt, they went to urban street wall.

[spenser1058]

16 minutes ago, codypet said:

IMO The Wendy's facade worked because there was a suburban Wendy's already there and they were renovating.  When the Sodo Wendy's rebuilt, they went to urban street wall.

I guess that excuse may have let them slide through but I wonder how much was renovating and how much was replacement. That Wendy's was in an ancient Burger King that was basically holding together with French fry grease.

[Mark Baratelli]

On 5/12/2018 at 6:06 PM, klstorey said:

Pottery Barn is on Park Ave. There used to be on at Mall at Millenia but I think that one might've closed. 

The Apple Store in Florida Mall used to be the Pottery Barn. The Pottery Barn in Millenia is still open. It's Crate & Barrel is the one that closed in Millenia which will soon house an Hermes store (!!!). I go to the malls a lot. 

[spenser1058]

Someday the Mainers at LLBean will stop being askeered of southerners and open one of their really cool stores here (currently the closest one is DC.) Hopefully, before I depart this mortal coil. If I were really lucky, they'd replace half of the generic ugliness of Colonial Plaza with one of their huge, cabin-like stores. Oh well, I can dream anyway.

 

 

 

 

[alex]

16 hours ago, Jernigan said:

It’s not an urban Wawa and it doesn’t need to be - this isn’t the CBD. 

This either/or urban/suburban fallacy is something that holds cities like Orlando back.

[Camillo Sitte]

On 5/31/2018 at 2:00 PM, Jernigan said:

Note to @UngaBungalow - This wasn’t really ever rumored to be a Kobes! 

Actually, though a different parcel, within days of the arso...I mean the suspicious fire, the owners swore up and down that they were going to rebuild a newer and even better Kobe.

15-years later...

But Kobe owner Nguyen did in fact tell the Sentinel that the location was going to be a Kobe: "The old Barney's was an investment property, [but] we still plan to open as a Kobe, but right now it has a low priority."

Edited June 5, 2018 by Camillo Sitte

[Jernigan]

I recall the Kobe coming soon sign as much is anybody on the old Barney’s but Bungalo or started the renewed Kobe rumor simply because one of the permits for the site last year had a Kobe’s email address which while that is the owner’s email address the site plans had already come out for a mixed-use

[spenser1058]

UP'er Brendan and Ricky Ly ponder whether Little Saigon can endure the coming of Starbucks and Wawa to Mills/50:

Big trouble in Little Vietnam: Developers at the gate?
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/opinion/central-florida-100/os-ed-big-trouble-in-little-vietnam-central-florida-100-20180608-story.html

From the Sentinel

[Jernigan]

I mean if they turn the giant solar array shaped fuel island cover into a mural it will be the most Mills/50 thing ever.   Gas pumps?  I see painted art boxes.

[codypet]

Wasn't it CVS that wanted to demo the plazas at Mills/50 before they bough Eckerd?

I went to school with Ricky.  I didn't realize he was on here.

[spenser1058]

8 hours ago, codypet said:

Wasn't it CVS that wanted to demo the plazas at Mills/50 before they bough Eckerd?

I went to school with Ricky.  I didn't realize he was on here.

It was indeed. Then JCPenney sold most of Eckerd to CVS and they didn't have to build new. Brendan is our UP'er. Sorry for the confusion.

Edited June 12, 2018 by spenser1058

[alex]

17 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

UP'er Brendan and Ricky Ly ponder whether Little Saigon can endure the coming of Starbucks and Wawa to Mills/50:

Big trouble in Little Vietnam: Developers at the gate?
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/opinion/central-florida-100/os-ed-big-trouble-in-little-vietnam-central-florida-100-20180608-story.html

From the Sentinel

The irony is that a fair amount of properties in the neighborhood are Vietnamese-owned.

[spenser1058]

Bungalower notes the Asian supermarket in the old Rooms To Go/Helmly's is shrinking by half to create space for a Vietnamese electronics store.

It will be interesting to see if they offer the more famous brands but it's great that more hard goods retail is inching its way westward toward downtown.

http://bungalower.com/2018/06/11/asian-grocer-downsizing-mills-50-shop-hosting-big-party-on-june-22/

I still miss Bill Baer and Baerthoven!

https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g34515-d144055-i106370831-The_Orange_County_Regional_History_Center-Orlando_Florida.html

From Trip Advisor

 

Edited June 12, 2018 by spenser1058

[codypet]

I did not know that was a Room's to Go, but the architecture is distinctly that.

[spenser1058]

28 minutes ago, codypet said:

I did not know that was a Room's to Go, but the architecture is distinctly that.

It was actually the first one. It replaced Helmly's Furniture at that location. 

[JFW657]

I vague remember the RTG store there.

There was a tile store nearby, too.

[spenser1058]

11 minutes ago, JFW657 said:

I vague remember the RTG store there.

There was a tile store nearby, too.

Was it a Color Tile? I seem to remember that but I am sooooo not handy so never would have had a reason to go. But I do remember Frisch's, Uncle John's Pancake House and the Top Value Stamp store.

I remember the front of the Top Value Stamp catalog had a Mustang that only required 3000 books of stamps or something. Ipondered ways to get all those books of stamps by the time I got my driver's license. Sadly, Winn-Dixie stopped giving stamps long before I made it.

[JFW657]

2 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

Was it a Color Tile? I seem to remember that but I am sooooo not handy so never would have had a reason to go. But I do remember Frisch's, Uncle John's Pancake House and the Top Value Stamp store.

I remember the front of the Top Value Stamp catalog had a Mustang that only required 3000 books of stamps or something. Ipondered ways to get all those books of stamps by the time I got my driver's license. Sadly, Winn-Dixie stopped giving stamps long before I made it.

I don't remember if it was a Color Tile, but I think it was in one of these two buildings...

Probably the one on the right.

[codypet]

The Goodwill looks like an old Color Tile we had in PA when I was growing up.