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Downtown Orlando Project Discussion


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3 hours ago, JFW657 said:

How far back are you talking about?

I remember in the 80's I used to pay in person at the former OUC (now Aloft) building and my phone bill at the old Bell South building, but I never heard of them using the old JCPenney location.

Might it have been a third party bill collector?

I'm pretty sure they contracted with various businesses around town to collect payments for them.

A couple over around the trail that I'd be hesitant to walk inside of while carrying money, too.

Mid 2000's. They moved when the new building opened or when it was renovated. I can't recall. 

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3 hours ago, JFW657 said:

How far back are you talking about?

I remember in the 80's I used to pay in person at the former OUC (now Aloft) building and my phone bill at the old Bell South building, but I never heard of them using the old JCPenney location.

Might it have been a third party bill collector?

I'm pretty sure they contracted with various businesses around town to collect payments for them.

A couple over around the trail that I'd be hesitant to walk inside of while carrying money, too.

Oops... "back in the day" meaning mid 2000's ;). I'm positive it was OUC (google street view in 2007 shows the OUC parking signs on the side of the building, albeit blurry). I never went inside, I'd wait in the car. Hard to remember, there were simultaneous developments happening downtown at the time so you just kinda rolled with everything.

Found the answer: In July 2005, FDOT imposed an eminent domain action and took possession of OUC’s administration building parking garage. In 2006, OUC's customer-service center moved 44 W. Jefferson St. in anticipation of losing the parking deck. https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-2006-03-21-mouc21-story.html

Seems like OUC faced eminent domain twice according to their financial statement:

694951325_OUCeminentdomain.thumb.jpg.148f9f9b0c6b32f0e93270401a2b333e.jpg

 

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Yes, Aloft renovated the old OUC building. When you guys referenced the "JCPenny/Izea/AECOM" building I mentioned it also housed OUC for a period of time, but I couldn't recall why we were forced to use the off-site location even though the old OUC building was still "open" at the time.

2005-2006: Eminent domain on OUC's garage was never retracted because the original parking garage is no longer there. It's gone. I'm assuming FDOT needed more land to expand the I4/408 interchange (remember the bridge that led to nowhere for several years?) so the original garage was demolished. To give customers a place to park, OUC's customer service dept relocated to the JCPenny building - and the entire row along the building was dedicated for OUC customer parking (still wasn't enough). No on-site parking anymore which is why Aloft is valet-only.

2015: FDOT again imposed eminent domain action on OUC's Gardenia property, but this time it was for land only -- not the building.

I included the extra info because I never realized FDOT eminent domained OUC, not only once, but twice. The reason for OUC's move, per the OS article: "This building's 40 years old... If the DOT never came along, we'd probably be looking at a new building anyway. The headquarters would need extensive work, and building codes require infrastructure improvements when buildings reach the age of the OUC structure. A study showed that those projected expenses would rival building a new structure."

There was talk of demolishing the old building, but that was not a part of FDOT's ED - it was because the vacant property sat on the market for 3 years w/no buyer due to the lack of parking, cost to renovate, bring everything up to code, etc. https://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-xpm-2011-08-31-os-ouc-building-cheap-sale-20110831-story.html

Edited by nite owℓ
Oops, OUC Gardenia is near Millennia
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So about 2 months ago an E-cig guy bought the penthouse at the Plaza building for $2.7 mill and said he would announce a project later. Well its now later and the project is called London House and will be a private members club. First he is opening one in Dr Phillips.

U-Club is nearly dead but Citrus Club seems to be doing very well. If he does keep it for only members I do wonder how profitable it can really be, even owning the real estate (which presumably he doesn't in Dr Phillips).

Be interested to see how the first one goes before he moves forward with the downtown one. Its a great view up there so if he can find a way to make it busy its a great idea. Probably need to keep dues low and have a higher food/bev min instead.

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On 10/24/2019 at 2:31 PM, AmIReal said:

So the picture is clearing a little. The group is not actually trying to buy the entire block, but only the corner building at 1 N. Rosalind (the 7-11 building). A non-profit group out of San Fran placed an offer on that property. They now have a contract in place and have 18 months to raise the money and complete the deal. During that time, the local non-profit Orlando Land Trust needs to raise $3.5M to step into the San Fran groups place (they are "holding" the contract) and our local group would become the owners and transfer it to the City.

The big twist however, the developer (Bortz) still owns the City Centre building and the Lubbe House. Of course his entitlements to development were contingent on the entire block so his development plan is no longer valid. Bortz says otherwise, but that seems to be posturing. 

I assume there is nothing to prevent Bortz from taking new, down-sized plans to the city and still demo his property, but it would be under a different scenario than the deal was in 2015. 

I’ve been seeing the OLT marketing more and something about it just doesn’t sit right with me.  How is this not just a scheme to preserve the view for University Club and keeping the Rosalind Club from taking on a neighbor?

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1 hour ago, Jernigan said:

I’ve been seeing the OLT marketing more and something about it just doesn’t sit right with me.  How is this not just a scheme to preserve the view for University Club and keeping the Rosalind Club from taking on a neighbor?

There are probably folks at the UC and Rosalind Club who would benefit as you suggest (although the Rosalind ladies already have neighbors so that wouldn’t change).

Nevertheless, those of us who realize the lack of green space is growing ever more acute as the population grows (and given several folks on this board are on a mission to replace every tree west of Rosalind with concrete) welcome the club folks in trying to expand Eola Park whatever their motivation may be. Great cities have large ceremonial parks as part of the urban fabric. Orlando should be no exception.

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All we can do is a little at a time unless the city finds a way to fund it otherwise. It’s far from perfect but a baby step closer.

Remember the Land Trust (a national outfit) took this On even before the locals started raising money. I doubt they would have if the purpose was just to protect the views of rich folks. I also trust folks like Mayors Bill and Glenda to have the higher purpose in mind.

Edited by spenser1058
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2 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

All we can do is a little at a time unless the city finds a way to fund it otherwise. It’s far from perfect but a baby step closer.

Remember the Land Trust (a national outfit) took this On even before the locals started raising money. I doubt they would have if the purpose was just to protect the views of rich folks. I also trust folks like Mayors Bill and Glenda to have the higher purpose in mind.

No reason they can’t release a long term vision plan then at the least.  I’m being cynical but I’m open to being wrong.  It just doesn’t sit well if they do end up just preserving selfish interests and do it with others’ donations to boot.

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13 minutes ago, Jernigan said:

No reason they can’t release a long term vision plan then at the least.  I’m being cynical but I’m open to being wrong.  It just doesn’t sit well if they do end up just preserving selfish interests and do it with others’ donations to boot.

Here's the thing. If anyone builds on the lot, that means it can't become part of the park for 50 years or more (given the age of Parkside and the old Hartford Building). Anything we can save for the park now is safe for all time.

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15 hours ago, popsiclebrandon said:

So about 2 months ago an E-cig guy bought the penthouse at the Plaza building for $2.7 mill and said he would announce a project later. Well its now later and the project is called London House and will be a private members club. First he is opening one in Dr Phillips.

U-Club is nearly dead but Citrus Club seems to be doing very well. If he does keep it for only members I do wonder how profitable it can really be, even owning the real estate (which presumably he doesn't in Dr Phillips).

Be interested to see how the first one goes before he moves forward with the downtown one. Its a great view up there so if he can find a way to make it busy its a great idea. Probably need to keep dues low and have a higher food/bev min instead.

Disregard.

Edited by bqknight
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On 2/28/2020 at 10:59 PM, popsiclebrandon said:

So about 2 months ago an E-cig guy bought the penthouse at the Plaza building for $2.7 mill and said he would announce a project later. Well its now later and the project is called London House and will be a private members club. First he is opening one in Dr Phillips.

U-Club is nearly dead but Citrus Club seems to be doing very well. If he does keep it for only members I do wonder how profitable it can really be, even owning the real estate (which presumably he doesn't in Dr Phillips).

Be interested to see how the first one goes before he moves forward with the downtown one. Its a great view up there so if he can find a way to make it busy its a great idea. Probably need to keep dues low and have a higher food/bev min instead.

Its a tough business but I wish them well. I am sure there are a good number of successful people on this board, how many are members of a club? 

Outside of the major cities, it does not seem that clubs are doing well. 

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11 minutes ago, orlandoguy said:

There was an environmental remediation company working at the ol’ fuel station on the NE corner of Orange and Robinson today.

oooooo I like that, always thought someone should buy that plus the 2 buildings next door and build something not crappy.  well first choice would be a cool cafe/restaurant in the gas station but that seems unlikely

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14 minutes ago, popsiclebrandon said:

oooooo I like that, always thought someone should buy that plus the 2 buildings next door and build something not crappy.  well first choice would be a cool cafe/restaurant in the gas station but that seems unlikely

I guess this means we can’t turn it back into a Gulf station *sigh*. It’s sad there’s not a gas station in downtown proper anymore.

7-Eleven doesn’t have Top Tier gas (even Consumer Reports says that is what you should use). The nearest Chevron is down at Gore or you have to go to the Mobil across from Colonial Plaza.

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When I had the option (back living in Manatee County) I always used Mobil or Chevron with Techron.  The Exxon/Mobil Synergy was always the best, IMO. 

There's a small Chevron station at Mills/Marks that I pass by all the time on  one of my regular bike routes. 

Edited by dcluley98
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13 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

 It’s sad there’s not a gas station in downtown proper anymore.

I can try to understand your nostalgia for department stores, but gas stations? What's the attachment?!  With land values rising and the uptick of CNG and Electric vehicles, and increased fuel efficiency over the decades, we should be grateful that these smelly, dirty, low-density uses are being phased out. 

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5 minutes ago, smileguy said:

I can try to understand your nostalgia for department stores, but gas stations? What's the attachment?!  With land values rising and the uptick of CNG and Electric vehicles, and increased fuel efficiency over the decades, we should be grateful that these smelly, dirty, low-density uses are being phased out. 

It would just be much easier. While I welcome electric cars, we’re not there yet. As to ambience, surely we can come up with something attractive (maybe like the retro Texaco Universal used to have).

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7 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

The trees cut down on E. Central Blvd. by Casey’s are part of a refurbishment for the sidewalk and will be replaced:

https://www.thedailycity.com/post/downtown-trees

From The Daily City

Replaced with scrawny young saplings that will take another two decades to grow big enough to provide shade and beauty, I'd bet.

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