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Rida Development Corp's Mixed-Use Complex [Under Construction]

MaXxlife

By MaXxlife
in Orlando

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sunshine City

sunshine

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I just think this is a missed opportunity to build something in the center of downtown. This seems more like a project at Creative village. If the rental market is as good as the newspaper said, why not go big and build something taller...

 

What is the occupancy rate at Skyhouse?

 

The old rendering looks more like a "main & main" project that will actually attract people from I-4 to go check it out...

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Jernigan Town

Jernigan

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I continue to be more baffled that its a residential project than its size. Why would you want to live on the tracks versus in Skyhouse or anywhere else at all? It's all walkable so does the shorter walk to the train or bus outweigh the noise and vibration from overnight freight?

To leverage COMMUTER rail, I would think an office tower, that can market being on the tracks the same way companies like the health systems and Tupperware are, would be the best fit.

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tm68 Whistle-Stop

tm68

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I don't have a problem with the residences, or residential services, being there at all.  Would liked to have seen a tower for the residential portion but this is not a residential area like south eola  or even church street yet.

 

If the market could support a 35-40 story "signature" office tower at this time, that's what would get built.  It seemingly can not in 2014.

 

Can it be taller/bigger/more ambitious?  Certainly.  But this is a $200 million dollar project -- it's not a small deal.

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steve_o Whistle-Stop

steve_o

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I tend to feel this is all short sighted (somewhat typical in Orlando).  If the market cannot support a 35-40 story "signature" building now, then wait longer.  Orange Ave should be built to be the signature thoroughfare for downtown.  Its a shame to waste such a large plot of prime land to make a quick buck when there is so much empty space in every direction.  

 

Its sad that at one point the design team of Rockefeller Ctr was at this site working on appropriate park space between office/hotel high-rise buildings but somehow we ended up with another suburban infill project.  Better/more urban projects are being constructed on Alafaya Trail!

 

This is Orlando.  Go big or go back to Kissimmee!

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tm68 Whistle-Stop

tm68

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Haha.

 

Being objective:  the lot has been vacant for twenty-years.  before that, it was a mid-rise hotel.

 

The reality is that downtown is not sim-city, nor is orlando filled with developers willing to invest $500m+ into downtown projects, yet.  We will get there.

 

For now, this development is solid and meets city guidelines.  Also predict that the vacant lot caddy-corner will get developed sooner as a result of this projects, as that land now increases in value and importance, so maybe that lot will see something taller or relatively "bolder."

 

If I was to personally complain about anything with this project, it would be the wood-frame apartments.  But then again, I won't be living there so not too worried as they will eventually fill-up anyway.

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tm68 Whistle-Stop

tm68

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My guess is simple:  it's connected to Lynx Central Station.

 

It is transit-oriented because no other development in downtown can currently say it is directly connected to Sunrail.  This is it.  And I understand that is probably why so many feel "let down" by this development and a missed opportunity.

 

But, this is a "baby-step".  There will be many more developments, and expansion of Sun Rail, in the years/decades to come.

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JFW657 Metropolitan Area

JFW657

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Haha.

 

Being objective:  the lot has been vacant for twenty-years.  before that, it was a mid-rise hotel.

 

The reality is that downtown is not sim-city, nor is orlando filled with developers willing to invest $500m+ into downtown projects, yet.  We will get there.

 

For now, this development is solid and meets city guidelines.  Also predict that the vacant lot caddy-corner will get developed sooner as a result of this projects, as that land now increases in value and importance, so maybe that lot will see something taller or relatively "bolder."

 

If I was to personally complain about anything with this project, it would be the wood-frame apartments.  But then again, I won't be living there so not too worried as they will eventually fill-up anyway.

 

FYI & not to be nit-picky or a know-it-all (ok, ok I am...), but that lot has been empty for 30 years & before that it was a row of single story store fronts with a single story nightclub on the NW corner next to the tracks across from SE Steel.

 

;)

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truebluecfl Whistle-Stop

truebluecfl

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Haha, I do think its great that something is going up there (despite all the criticism), I just don't understand how a 6 story apartment building with retail, a dog park, 2 parking garages, and a couple mid-rise office buildings can be toted as Central Station. The walkway that leads directly to the courthouse from the sun rail and lynx station is the only thing I see that makes it Central. When I think of a central station I think commerce, not parking, apartments, or dogs. I understand that I am not the developer, and that a larger scale project would cost even more than 200 million they're putting into it. The project could turn out much better than we all think. But that amount of open land in a prime location, I'd like to see a tall signature hotel, some 20 story office buildings, a food court/cafe area for commuters from the bus and sun rail. A normal park in the center of walkways to the court house with open space for vendors or festivals.

 

The developers even said they wanted to bring that uptown feel to the area. I simply think that it will be out of place.

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jrs2 Metropolis

jrs2

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Hey, all, I'm jrs1 and was on these boards for several years up until a couple of years ago.  I lost my PW tried to recover it; it didn't work; got frustrated and pretty much quit UP for a while.  So, I sat through and created a new username and PW and got it working. Anyway:

 

I have mixed feelings about this tract of land. Regarding the "market" I think the developer did a poor job of securing financing.  Skyhouse did their due diligence and they got financing based on their reputation.  A Skyhouse type building could have gone there, so there is a market for it; there just isn't a market for a bank to lend dollars to a developer other than the Skyhouse people. Banks seem to be afraid to lend for highrises in downtown right now.  But that's why Skyhouse got the money-- b/c Novarre has a rep for being a good risk...don't know about Rida.

 

That being said...I say get that cursed ground built out with whatever.  Last I checked, there is an even larger tract that is mostly vacant just to the north of Amelia.

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jack Burg

jack

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Okay, I will bite. There are two true office high rises. Suntrust and Bank of America. Both were built in the late 80's. If we wait for the market to improve for another office high rise, we may be waiting another 30 yrs. 

 

Class A rental rates are around $25 a foot. New construction would have to be in the low $30's. What does that mean? You would need a business owner that needed to pay a lot more in rent to justify building. And most likely, it would need to be a single tenant building. That means it would be on the small side. 

 

On to Skyhouse. It is an anomaly. I mean that in the sense that if Crescent built the same product, it would probably be 10% more. Why, Novarre has taken a manufacturing approach. Use the same team and build Skyhouses all around the country. But it is still the most expensive building to rent in downtown. 

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jrs2 Metropolis

jrs2

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^^

what gets me is that GDC is building NORA- all concrete.  This will be much like Camden in structure. 

 

^^

On the office highrises issue-- it depends on one's definition of highrise.  traditionally it is any building 12 or more stories.  All I know is that if I'm on the Conroy overpass and I can see a building downtown which is like 10 miles away, then it's a highrise.  If it has a cable elevator versus a piston driven elevator, then it's a highrise.  Maybe not by Chicago or NYC standards where the Almanac used to only list buildings that were 400' or taller back in the day...

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