Mandalay Bay & Mandalay Square

[Florida]

Nice disclaimer there!

[DaiDreamer5]

I live just up the street from the Sunland site and there has been no activity since the Mandalay signs were posted at Micosukee and Blair Stone Rds. This report should not be read as an endorsement of anybody's plans to trespass!

Trespassing is wrong!!! Beware of Ghosts, Asbestos, and Cops!

[Florida]

I second that... especially the Asbestos.

[Captain]

I was just up at Sunland last night. Here's a full report of what's gone down:

The garage across the street is totally gone, foundation and all. Though it looks like they are now digging up some pipework in the driveway.

The vacant parking lot east of the garage has also been dug up and the remains piled across the street next to and in front of Sunland itself.

Aztec Environmental is doing the asbestos abatement and lead paint removal. They have set up port-a-potties, a truck and trailer and a couple of dumpsters. They also have a backhoe on hand. They have re-chained the front gate, but the huge double-gates on Blair Stone have oddly been left unchained. There are still holes in the rear of the fence as usual and it's still possible to enter the building if you feel so inclined. Not much seems to have been done inside. There are bales of hay in the lobby and some discarded asbestos suits. They also cleaned up the front entrance and cleared all the stuff away. It actually looks kinda nice all cleaned up.

There is a black tarp circling the back of the building. The hopscotch slabs and part of the filled-in pool were dug up to plant the tarp. Otherwise, not much has changed it seems.

I'll be keeping my eyes on new developments and will post here as I learn of them or if someone asks.

Ciao!

[Florida]

Thanks for the report Capitan. That was very nice.

[Captain]

Hi-ho. Time for a new update on the progress being made on Sunland.

Aztec Environmental is making use of the fire hydrant across from Sunland to hose things off and such. It looks like they used it to wash off the pipes they've dug up and who knows what else. They have created the typical little plastic "suit-up" area at the front entrance and have cut down a lot of the shrubbery in front of the building and behind it.

The second floor (which is often percieved as the first floor from the front of the building) has been sealed with plastic. They have removed all the flourescent light fixtures on the second floor and bundled the bulbs up and placed them in the lobby. All the blinds have been removed from the windows on the second floor to make their work on sealing it with plastic easier. The blinds and light fixtures have been piled into the elevator shafts on the ground and second floors.

They have begun stringing their own lights along the hallways and have new utility poles setup outside which will no doubt soon have juice running to them to power their generators, lights and other equipment (right now it looks like there are no lines running to these poles yet). They have also used thin peices of wire to loosely mend the rips in the fence in the back, but the bottom ends of the fences are so loose it's easy to crawl under, which is how this "reporter" got in.

There are still people visiting the building and I ran into three groups of visitors in my short time there. I'll continue to provide updates on the progress as I unearth details myself.

[insituphoto]

Do you give tours?

[Florida]

He does excellent updates!

[Captain]

Of course I give tours! But you gotta know the risks of going into a place like that.

Looks like it was heavily vandalized recently, so it may not be possible to gain access much longer.

[insituphoto]

Of course I give tours! But you gotta know the risks of going into a place like that.

Looks like it was heavily vandalized recently, so it may not be possible to gain access much longer.

Please contact me off-board to make arrangements.

[Florida]

I still can't get over how much an acre of land costs in this city. I remember the days when you could get a decent piece of property for $15,000.

[stjoe]

those days are over. Land is expensive...they don't make anymore of it.

Plus, the population only gets larger.

[Captain]

I don't seem to be able to do much on these boards! Including finding someone's e-mail or IM to contact them otherwise! My e-mail is: [email protected].

And I was right, they've mended the fences around Sunland and have commenced sealing the upper floors for abatement. I'm sure they'll start work on all that very soon.

[Florida]

Capitan,

Once you have over 10 posts you'll have access to all e-mails and IM contact information.

tj

[Sandman]

This project is gaining interest from developers outside of the panhandle. I talked to one last week that was looking at its possibilities.

The South Florida markets are saturated with very large development companies and national homebuilders who develop themselves, so allot of the medium range companies are eyeing our area.

I will be posting additional information shortly.

[Florida]

Thanks for the update Sandman. It will be interesting to see how our market prices vs the rest of the state's larger cities affect our growth.

[poonther]

This project comes before the City's Type A/Pre-Sumittal meeting on this Thursday, June 8 and the City's Post Application meeting on June 19th. It says they are proposing 33 residential lots.

Interesting news Sandman, keep us informed please.

[Captain]

They've cut down all the trees around Sunland and now have powerlines running to the building to power the workers machinery. It's just a matter of time now. The 2nd, 3rd & 4th floors have been sealed in the back of the building it seems. I'll attach a few pictures I took.

[Florida]

Nice pictures Cap!

[BHCav]

I will actually miss Sunland. It's a true Tally landmark. Not if if that was a good thing or not though.

[Glenn]

Captain, Thanks so much for the pictures & for keeping us all updated on Sunland!

[Captain]

It's been over a week since I reported, so I thought it was about time. There's very little to say, but it looks like they're making some progress on Sunland. They have electricity running to their machinery now and have lighting strung up on the ground, third and fifth floors of the central section of the building (which is very eerie-looking at night). The lighting on the ground floor actually extends from the middle to almost the docking/loading area. They also have a bright spotlight shining up onto the central east side of the building for some reason (or they did when I went, anyway). They've begun removal in the central section of the building, sealing most of it off.

For those who may be antsy to do some urban exploration of the building while it still stands, I can tell you it's still possible to get in, but they've made more of a maze of things. Some interior doors have been chained or padlocked. Much of the central section has been sealed, but it is still possible to access all parts of the building, though I'd advised against wandering into areas that are being worked on for obvious health/safety reasons.

I took some pictures with a disposable (since my digital takes craptastic night shots) so as soon as I get those developed, I'll scan them and throw them up here. Until then!

[poonther]

Looks like they are back in for a proposal for this project. It's new name is Victoria Grand and they want it to be 344 apartments.

DRC Meeting 10.23

[BHCav]

Looks like they are back in for a proposal for this project. It's new name is Victoria Grand and they want it to be 344 apartments.

DRC Meeting 10.23

Good. The name Mandalay Bay was ... well, you know.

[Florida]

I didn't mind the name Mandalay Bay but I do think the concept of Apartments seems more reasonable and hopefully the prices will be as well.