Orlando Centroplex's Future

[cwetteland]

Is the old arena at UCF what they refer to as the venue?

Yes, "The Venue" @ UCF is in the old arena ... and hosts smaller concerts. I think the Smothers Brothers and Kenny G are booked in there in the next few months. It's hosted things like Blue Oyster and Fog Hat and the like.

"The Arena" can be configured at half court or full court for the larger events. I saw BB King a few weeks ago in the half court config and it was pretty decent. Motley Crue and Robin Williams are booked into the Arena next week (separate events of course).

They do a good job of keeping a steady stream of events for the community flowing through there. It helps financially and it also get the community on campus. The UCF PAC when built will add to the community building.

[prahaboheme]

Picture this... little redneck Johnny and his daddy are at the rodeo and little Johnny says to daddy, "Can we eat Thor, tonight, pleeeeaaase, Daddy?"

"Alright, son. We can eat Thor, but don't tell your momma."

Kissimmee matches the theme, but they don't have the money to pull something like this off.

Oh really? Clearly you've never been out to the Osceola Heritage Park on a cool February day for the Silver Spurs Rodeo, Fair, and Beauty Pageant! It is the see and be seen event of the year in K-town.

[bulldogger]

I've been to the Silver Spurs Rodeo. I went to secondary school in Osceola County. I used to run cross country through cow patties. Lots of fun. Mmmm the sweet smell. I'm talking about something bigger than life.

A three ring circus of bull$hit is what I want to see. Oh wait, I already see that.

[OrlandoMagic3]

What is going there will change Orlando economically for the better.

[Boomer136]

I like the museum idea as well.

[prahaboheme]

Here is a very rough vision of my idea for this area:

The filled in green is a new pedestrian mall that begins at the already established, and very underutilized Lake Dot and runs South to a visible axis point (a monument or landmark building where the current W Livingston St now sites); the red lines are reconnected streets disrupted by the Centroplex; the new pedestrian mall should be enclosed by dense mid/high rise commercial/residential mixed used properties (think Thornton Park Central but larger). This plan saves the Bob Carr and the tennis courts, but demolishes the outdated arena and school board (which can move to empty office space downtown).

[JFW657]

Those plans sound very preliminary & will probably change drastically by the time anything ever gets finalized & built there, IF that ever even happens.

My guess is that IF something like that were to get built, the highrise portion would go out the window in favor of more of the same style of ho-hum mid-rises you see everywhere else.

Think Camden or another SoDo.

Maybe since it's west of downtown they'll call it WeDo.

[Boomer136]

Here is a very rough vision of my idea for this area:

The filled in green is a new pedestrian mall that begins at the already established, and very underutilized Lake Dot and runs South to a visible axis point (a monument or landmark building where the current W Livingston St now sites); the red lines are reconnected streets disrupted by the Centroplex; the new pedestrian mall should be enclosed by dense mid/high rise commercial/residential mixed used properties (think Thornton Park Central but larger). This plan saves the Bob Carr and the tennis courts, but demolishes the outdated arena and school board (which can move to empty office space downtown).

Saving the Carr gets my vote... as if that matters. But I like it!

[smileguy]

Saving the Carr gets my vote... as if that matters. But I like it!

I am for keeping the Carr, but only if its taken back to the original 1926 structure. At least in the front of house.

[Boomer136]

I am for keeping the Carr, but only if its taken back to the original 1926 structure. At least in the front of house.

You'd have to shrink the audience house to get lobby space, which might not be a bad idea. 2400 is a bit big for most of the stuff minus broadway, which of course will be at the new DP3AC. Shortening the length of the last seat would be good for intimacy and sound.

Of course that facade is still there behind the glass

By the way, a color rendering of what it was:

[jack]

Here is a very rough vision of my idea for this area:

The filled in green is a new pedestrian mall that begins at the already established, and very underutilized Lake Dot and runs South to a visible axis point (a monument or landmark building where the current W Livingston St now sites); the red lines are reconnected streets disrupted by the Centroplex; the new pedestrian mall should be enclosed by dense mid/high rise commercial/residential mixed used properties (think Thornton Park Central but larger). This plan saves the Bob Carr and the tennis courts, but demolishes the outdated arena and school board (which can move to empty office space downtown).

You are pretty close to what the vision is/was. Except the School Board will stay. The green space shifts a little because Terry Ave would be extended.

[JRS1]

I am for keeping the Carr, but only if its taken back to the original 1926 structure. At least in the front of house.

isn't the original facade preserved behind the 2-3 story glass lobby enclosure? I thought the same thing the other day... restore it and get some of that old opera house nostalgia back and perhaps augment it for a specific purpose-- i.e., specific kinds of small shows or events...

[JFW657]

You are pretty close to what the vision is/was. Except the School Board will stay. The green space shifts a little because Terry Ave would be extended.

Yeah, I seriously doubt for an instant that they'd tear down that school board building. The public outcry over the waste of money would be even more resounding than it was when they built the thing to begin with.

And it certainly would be a waste.

[prahaboheme]

^It would not be a waste if it proved profitable.

[jack]

Remember, the School Board owns their own buildings and their own land. It would be cheaper for them to stay where they are.

[smileguy]

Remember, the School Board owns their own buildings and their own land. It would be cheaper for them to stay where they are.

They do. It would be great to get more high-school aged children in the area. Maybe an arts or community-service oriented charter school would bring new life.

[JFW657]

^It would not be a waste if it proved profitable.

OCPS owned the parcel that building sits on anyway.

If OCPS sold the property & the new owners tore it down, even if OCPS made a profit, people would still question why they spent millions of taxpayer dollars on the building to begin with.

If OCPS could've sold the parcel for the same amount of money without the building on it, & saved the millions it cost to build it to begin with, then the building costs would, in effect, reduce the profit they made.

[JFW657]

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[JFW657]

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[OmniKnight]

bring back gladiator style combat based entertainment

[bulldogger]

bring back gladiator style combat based entertainment

You could take it a step further than the TV show and let some people be spectators as anyone who wants to join can get suited up in safety gear, sign a release and go for it. You could change the name from O-Rena to The Gauntlet.

[OmniKnight]

You could take it a step further than the TV show...

I was thinking more like this:

[Boomer136]

Bread and Circus. Might not be a bad plan politically these days...

[Draculus]

Article in the Sentinel today.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/os-centroplex-venues-plan-20100321,0,4953294.story

OrlandoSentinel.com

Orlando hopes stimulus money will attract buyers for old arena land

By Mark Schlueb, ORLANDO SENTINEL

9:43 PM EST, March 21, 2010

Click here to find out more!

For nearly four years, Orlando officials have insisted they'll be able to sell the Centroplex — 68 acres of land home to the current Amway Arena and Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre — for at least $90 million.

Even as real-estate values crumbled, city officials were so confident of the land's value that they borrowed money against it. They needed the money to help pay for the construction of a new arena and arts center and interim renovations at the Citrus Bowl stadium.

Now they'll get a chance to find out whether that gamble will pay off.

This week, the city will solicit proposals from developers interested in turning the 68 acres into the "Creative Village" of digital-media companies that Mayor Buddy Dyer envisions.

If successful, it could open an entirely new corner of downtown Orlando to high-tech companies paying high wages. But if there's little interest from buyers, it could mean a big chunk of land in the heart of the city will remain largely fallow for years to come.

Why now, when the real-estate market is still limping along? Because there might be federal stimulus money available to developers that would make the project more enticing, and that funding might not be around a year from now.

"We're probably a little bit ahead of schedule," Dyer said, "but with SunRail coming on board and with the unprecedented opportunity to potentially access stimulus dollars, we want to see what's out in the marketplace right now."

Economic Development Director Frank Billingsley hopes a development project on the land would be eligible for federal stimulus grants for job creation, education and transit-oriented development.

The city doesn't have to accept any proposal but hopes to kick-start its Creative Village.

The Dyer administration wants a cluster of companies working in film and television production; theme-park-related technology; simulation; video-gaming software and digital simulation; music; special effects; art; and graphics. It would be anchored by University of Central Florida Center for Emerging Media and its Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy.

Under the city's development guidelines, proposals would have to include uses to support those companies' so-called "knowledge workers."

"We're after high-quality, urban design with a mix of uses," Deputy Economic Development Director Brooke Bonnett said. "Education, commercial and residential all need to be included."

The land is best known as the home to the city-owned Amway Arena — home court of the Orlando Magic — and the Bob Carr. But it also includes a handful of other city-owned buildings: the UCF school housed in the former Expo Centre, Nap Ford Community School, the Downtown Recreation Complex, the Orlando Tennis Center and a parking garage.

Though a 68-acre parcel so close to a downtown core presents a rare opportunity for developers, it's not all available for development.

The Creative Village still will need roads, so ones that exist on the property now must remain or be rerouted only at a minimum. And Lake Dot, which is also part of the package, likely will continue to be needed to handle stormwater runoff.

The Nap Ford and UCF schools, along with the recreation complex and tennis center, would have to be upgraded or replaced at their current location or nearby, presumably at the developer's expense. And the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre must be left intact until the new Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts is completed, which remains five years away.

All of those factors reduce the number of buildable acres — and the Centroplex's value.

The city never had the land appraised, reasoning that it would be a waste of money to do so when it wouldn't be sold for several years.

Commissioner Phil Diamond said he assumed the Dyer administration picked $90 million as the value of the land because that's how much more was needed to pay for the new community venues.

"I don't think there's anybody out there right now who would pay $90 million," Diamond said, noting a glut of vacant condos and offices downtown.

If the city does find interest in the land, it's unlikely that developers would offer $90 million upfront. Rather, the city would profit as individual parcels are sold to companies that move in.

After waiting several years, the city is now moving quickly. Today, the City Council will hold a workshop on the plan. Developers will have only until April 26 to submit proposals — a remarkably short time to put together plans for a large site.

But city officials say state law allows the land to be advertised for only 30 days, and many developers have already had their eye on the Centroplex.

"Since 2006, we've been getting calls from people who are interested in the property and what the process will be," Bonnett said.

Mark Schlueb can be reached at [email protected] or 407-420-5417.

Copyright 2010, Orlando Sentinel

[prahaboheme]

Let the bidding war begin:

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