Church Street Station

[downtowninvestor]

i thought it would be appropiate to start a topic on church street. The auction is comming soon so i guess we will find out who is going to own it. I hope Cameron Kuhn ends up with it so can actually do something with it like his plaza orlando.

[bulldogger]

For those that haven't followed this one, the bids must be in by April 4th for the official auction on April 5th.

I'm sure more than just those in town know about this, but of those in town, who do you think are possible players for this property???

Everyone knows Kuhn is interested. He has made it publicly known. How about Lincoln Property? CNL?

[Pieson]

could the new ownership of this area help spark, along with the other things going in this area, a new fantastic wave of development

I see an endless amount of potential here

[Chemmie]

Whoever buys it needs to re-open a Rosie O'Grady's back in the old spot!

[jack]

A major REIT is interested, but for now it is just gossip.

I think that property is prime location. But unfortunately for the retailers there will be change. There is no way someone will pay that kind of money and be able to cash flow it. It will have to be redeveloped. (which is good.)

Edited March 21, 2007 by jack

[sunshine]

In a perfect world, Disney or Universal will bid on it and really redevelop it.

[IsaacFL]

I think the whole block should be taken down and an urban multi-story shopping mall put in its place. It is the perfect location, especially if the commuter rail happens. I was recently at San Diego and they did that and it seemed to really revitalize that area of downtown.

Eventually all of the kid/college bars downtown need to be replaced with high end shopping and entertainment. That is what people that are paying top dollar for the condos downtown will be expecting.

[corpkid]

I think the whole block should be taken down and an urban multi-story shopping mall put in its place. It is the perfect location, especially if the commuter rail happens. I was recently at San Diego and they did that and it seemed to really revitalize that area of downtown.

Are you talking about Horton Plaza in San Diego? I went to San Diego (my first time - what a great city!) two weeks ago and stayed at the Westin right there at Horton Plaza. The whole time I was there I kept thinking "Why can't Orlando have one of these?"

Church St. station would be a PERFECT place for something like this. It doesn't have to be as big as Horton Plaza - just follow that Open Air mall concept. We have a LOT of retail all around (Millenia / Fl. Mall / Fashion Sq. / E. Colonial / SoDo (soon to come) / Winter Park Village ... You get the point.

I think a combo mall / entertainment complex (kind of like a large Beach Place in Ft. Lauderdale mixed with Horton Plaza Retail) would be perfect. It would have to have a lot of specialty retail (due to all the chain stores that are close by - market saturation). I'm thinking galleries, cool bars, restaurants, etc...

HORTON PLAZA

BEACH PLACE

[sunshine]

Church Street Station was a multi stories mall before.

[bulldogger]

It is an urban mall already. Pearlman just wanted to keep most of the mall off limits by using it for his own company. Those other places look like Pointe Orlando and it didn't work out too well apparently. That place in San Diego looks kinda cheeeeeeezy to me.

[tygger]

The buildings in this complex, besides their significance as the former Church Street Station Entertainment Complex, have historical significance to the city of Orlando.

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/community...ry_of_the_.html

I would HATE to see these buildings destroyed - there is SUCH potential here! When the new Arena is built on the west side, and the movie theater and PAC open on the East side, Church Street should DEFINITELY become the nightlife center of Orlando. The buildings have such character - the train depot is even on the National Register of Historic Places. We have so many fantastic new modern structures going up - wouldn't it be great to maintain a little historic flair to this street?

I hope the city does the right thing by insisting that these building be preserved/restored by whoever ends up buying this property. It's not like we're talking about a barn or a little shack. These buildings were THRIVING as recently as 15 years ago when Church Street Station was a huge tourist destination. I'm convinced the same could happen again - but this time with more of a local presence as the downtown population continues to grow.

[bulldogger]

I still run into Brits walking around that area in front of the Improv and they are looking for Rosie O'Grady's and when I tell them it is gone, they are all upset because they had such a good time 20 years ago and now that their kids are grown up, they want their kids to enjoy it the same way they did.

Is that too long of a sentence?

[Javalady1]

It is an urban mall already. Pearlman just wanted to keep most of the mall off limits by using it for his own company. Those other places look like Pointe Orlando and it didn't work out too well apparently. That place in San Diego looks kinda cheeeeeeezy to me.

Last time I was at Horton Plaza was in July 1996. It was anything but cheezy. It's in the heart of everything, close to the waterfront (boardwalk, shopping, etc), the convention center, trolley, restaurants and entertainment. Maybe it has suffered from sitting in the sun too long and needs a little highlighting!

[sunshine]

If they are going to redo the place, they should do something like Coral Gables.

[Chemmie]

I still run into Brits walking around that area in front of the Improv and they are looking for Rosie O'Grady's and when I tell them it is gone, they are all upset because they had such a good time 20 years ago and now that their kids are grown up, they want their kids to enjoy it the same way they did.

Is that too long of a sentence?

It's really sad. They had a good thing...

The city needs to sell it cheap and give tax discounts to whomever buys it, while not allowing them to destroy it.

[sunshine]

if a company want to destroy it and put a 1000 foot tower on it, is that ok?

[corpkid]

Horton Plaza does look cheesy from that view but it is thriving and isn't cheesy at all. That area was total crap before they built it I have been told.

I agree that the buildings should be kept - just added onto / expanded.

[bulldogger]

Horton Plaza does look cheesy from that view but it is thriving and isn't cheesy at all. That area was total crap before they built it I have been told.

I agree that the buildings should be kept - just added onto / expanded.

I could see a renovation to the inside to match the decor of the inside of 55W and the Esplanade since they will all be connected soon.

FYI... the Amanda Bynes movie Sydney White is filming in the Presidential Ballroom at Church Street Station right now, so if you are down that way and see a lot of college age kids dressed up, now you know why.

[sunshine]

who is amanda bynes?

[WeNeed2Progress]

What if they kept most of the facade and structure of the buildings and added to them? Almost like a 'Dolive' design, only using the actual buildings and building up from there. The added structures could take advantage of the empty spaces behind Church Street to the south and cover the massive Lincoln Plaza parking deck. The building where Absinthe and all would be look stellar with a glass tower rising out of it... well, not in a tacky sense. Yeah...

[sunshine]

Actually, the inside of the building are the place that needs to be saved. Absolutely gorgeous inside.

[bulldogger]

who is amanda bynes?

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004789/

They say that it is in post already.

[JFW657]

I think the whole block should be taken down and an urban multi-story shopping mall put in its place. It is the perfect location, especially if the commuter rail happens.

Speaking strictly for myself, I thank God you're probably the only person who feels that way.

There is no way in hell the city of Orlando will ever allow those buildings to be demolished.

I doubt they'd even let anyone drastically alter the interior, for that matter. And given the exquisite quality of the materials and workmanship that went into the interiors of those places, I doubt anyone in their right mind would even consider it anyway.

I'm fairly certain that whatever winds up going in there will be pretty much the same as what was there before, with the possible exception of the Exchange portion which wasn't built until the late 1980's. But even that would probably not change much because I'm guessing they'd want it to blend in with the rest of the property.

[jack]

The inside of the buildings are really nice. The only historic buildings are on Church St,and the rest were built in the 80's or 90's. The taller building (where Pearlman's offices were) can go. As well as the ballroom. Knok those babies down and build up.

[sunshine]

It is just a shame that the I4 is so tall that covered all this beautiful building from all the passer by.