ARCHIVE: Downtown Orlando Master List

[mrh3]

I'm not loving the site plan. Seems to be that this would be an ideal opportunity to render the superblock a final mortal blow and restore the grid. Oh well, a boy can dream can't he?

[spenser1058]

I'm not loving the site plan. Seems to be that this would be an ideal opportunity to render the superblock a final mortal blow and restore the grid. Oh well, a boy can dream can't he?

Normally, I'd agree with you, except there never (certainly not in my lifetime and I'm no spring cheeken) really was a grid. The O-rena was built on the site of Exposition Park, the old fairgrounds. In that sense, you can say this is to at least some extent organic. What excites me is Craig Ustler and his clan being part of the mix. Assuming he is a full partner in the development team, this is someone who not only knows downtown but has its best interests at heart. I'm not thrilled to lose Carr, but at the moment I'm still optimistic.

[prahaboheme]

I'm digging the canopy amphitheater -- it looks like a poor man's Millennium Park. The article mentioned that with funding in place, the park space and public buildings would be built first...this seems like a reasonable thing to do. Development of the private commercial parcels can evolve over time with the neighborhood.

[Magicfan95]

This is a project that will probably change between now and teh time it becomes a reality. Who knows what it will really hold in the end, but the ideas are certainly nice.

My guess is we won't see completition of any project there for at least 10 years.

[mrh3]

Well if that's the case, I think that best existing urban model for Orlando would be Chicago. In many ways Chicago has dense non-cohesive urban districts and it appears that with Uptown/Eola South/Sodo/CBD/and now Creative Village that's what Orlando is headed toward. If you look at that aerial schematic there is very little interaction between the existing urban core and the Creative Village, especially with that Palm Beach Trust lot vacant. I really look forward to seeing it all fill in, but it's going to be a very wide spread moderate density urban core and perhaps that what Orlando needs.

[bic]

55 Columbia St.

Proposed 6-story (100') 138,000 sq. ft. office building on Columbia St. between Lucerne Terrance and S. Orange Ave., in the neighborhood of ORMC and Winnie Palmer.

Link to More Info

[bic]

Oasis and Robinson

Proposed 2-phase mixed project at the corner of E. Robinson and N. Summerlin, on the site of the Day Building, a 7-story 84,000 sq. ft. office building constructed in 1976. Phase I consists of a 63,500 sq. ft. 100-foot tall building with ground floor retail, three levels of parking, and three levels of office. Phase II requires the demolition of the existing Day Building, constructing in its place a 181,000 sq. ft. building 135-feet tall with ground floor retail, 3 levels of parking above the ground floor, six levels of office space and up to 30 residential dwelling units. Phase II also includes a pocket park to provide a buffer for the residents of the 30-units from the Phase I office building.

[prahaboheme]

I really like this development, the brick massing is a refreshing change to all the precast. Robinson/Summerlin is a perfect location for this type of development. Who is the developer?

[bic]

I really like this development, the brick massing is a refreshing change to all the precast. Robinson/Summerlin is a perfect location for this type of development. Who is the developer?

Yep, this is just the right kind of infill for that neighborhood. I've been wondering when we were going to see some development on the north side of Lake Eola. It's also nice to see a couple of proposals show up on the MPB agenda again, even if they are relatively small...hopefully it's a sign that things are starting to pick up again.

The developer is Orlando-based Pan Coastal LP. Apparently there was an article in the OBJ about this development we all missed back in May: link.

[prahaboheme]

I remember many years ago with the 201 South Eola Condos infill project and the Thornton Park Central project kick started the residential boom for the neighborhood, and the larger projects followed. Those continue to be the most successful developments in the neighborhood (along with arguably the Publix development). The North side of Lake Eola is entirely untapped potential to grow the urban footprint. Couple this with a brick style development, which is arguably unique to the Orlando metro in Florida (outside of North Florida), and you have a product for success.

[prahaboheme]

I stumbled upon this link of the Orange Ave / Michigan Ave corridor planning project which has seven proposed developments, most we haven't seen here:

http://www.cityoforlando.net/planning/cityplanning/PDFs/OrangeMichigan/seven%20projects.pdf

[prahaboheme]

GAI June updates:

[Jernigan]

GAi is coming along very nicely - thanks for the photos! It will be interesting to see if Constitution Green becomes more lively once the building is occupied. It's a beautiful green that is just in the middle of no where, relatively speaking.

[tc01]

Are they building Constitution Green as I speak ?

[prahaboheme]

Constitution Green is the green lot beside the under construction GAI Building. The city leases Constitution Green from a private owner. I asked the city about this lot a few months ago, they have no plans to buy the property, and at some point a developer may build on it.

I think it would be a great opportunity for the city to build a sculpture park here, akin to say, the new St. Louis Citygarden. That is unlikely, though.

[prahaboheme]

This is new on the downtown development website -- Orlando Urban Trail:

Location: Gertrude's Walk and the former Dinky Rail Line

Description: Orlando Urban Trail is a biking and walking trail through the core of Orlando. Conducted in phases, the Trail will ultimately link Downtown Orlando and end at Mead Garden in Winter Park.

Link to Image

[prahaboheme]

New pathway slated for downtown Orlando: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/os-trail-downtown-orlando-lynx-20100708,0,3480475.story

[bic]

FYI, Google Maps has updated its satellite imagery of Downtown Orlando and it looks to be current as of a couple of weeks ago. Check out that new arena!

[prahaboheme]

New restaurant concept coming to Mills -- Banana Modern American Diner. Same group to bring the Funky Monkey Wine Co.:

Biz Journal Article

[spenser1058]

Scott Joseph reports the short-lived Blue Smoke Burger Bar, which was the attempt to breath life into the Black Olive at The Plaza, is history. From what I've heard, it won't be missed due to challenges the last few weeks with both service and food quality.

[Jernigan]

Bluesmoke Burger Bar was terrible. The food was actually okay - but the guy who ran it simply had no clue what he was doing. He failed with 2-3 other ones. Our table had the worst customer service I've ever encountered in my life. While he could have come out nad helped, he was in his office tweeting away about how awesome the crowd was. We were the ONLY ones there.

What kind of idiot says, "Well, Italian didn't catch on...so let's try and tackle the upscale burger market" - that's all you need to know.

This stuff personally annoys me because there are people all over afraid to open or invest in something because of the failure rate. I don't want to say it's easy to succeed since I have never tried - but it is not nearly as hard as these fools make it look.

[bic]

So on the July agenda for the MPB is Magnolia Circle, the mixed-use project just south of the Orange County Courthouse that was approved in 2006. Its approval has since expired so it's back for a re-up. The project consists of a 30-story (326') tower with an 8-story podium at its base. It would include 200 condo units and 13,000 sq. ft. of retail/restaurant space.

However, Loopnet is showing that this lot is for sale for $3.6 million so I doubt we'll ever see this come to fruition.

[prahaboheme]

This looks much too similar to the Vue.

Although, I do like how Magnolia would fork and then have the rotary option allowing you to turn back around. That would certainly help with the "dead end" feeling at this end of Magnolia.

[palmtree73]

Is this supposed to be The Vue's fraternal twin? While it would be nice to have some diversity of styles, I think this works. I like the way it uses the traffic circle on Magnolia as a motor court. What would the address of this building be? If it's N. Magnolia instead of Livingston, that's going to confuse your visitors since Magnolia is a broken street that continues a half block down on Livingston.

One other thing that may be problematic is the triangular lot next to it on Rosalind if someone can figure out how to shoehorn another tower on that lot. Too bad they didn't vacate Palmetto Ave. to combine the properties and come up with a design that follows the curve of Rosalind.

[prahaboheme]

Palmetto could really turn into a pedestrian mall focused on restaurant space.