Downtown Orlando Project Discussion

[bqknight]

11 hours ago, JFW657 said:

Is that the one that also had an entrance/exit on Pine St?

I actually liked that 7 Eleven.

I'll miss it.

That was the one on the bottom floor 55W, which is still there. This one only had an entrance through the main Plaza. It was probably one of the worst in the area, tbh - only behind the one on the corner of Rosalind and Central. 

Yes, I like 7-11 quite a lot actually.  

[codypet]

1 hour ago, bqknight said:

Yes, I like 7-11 quite a lot actually.  

Lets get him!

[JFW657]

1 hour ago, bqknight said:

That was the one on the bottom floor 55W, which is still there. This one only had an entrance through the main Plaza. It was probably one of the worst in the area, tbh - only behind the one on the corner of Rosalind and Central. 

Yes, I like 7-11 quite a lot actually.  

Oh that's right.... two completely different buildings.

Don't know what I was thinking.

The one in the Plaza I've never been inside of.

I tried to go in once, but it was closed. 

I like the one in 55W. 

[spenser1058]

I’m partial to the Summerlin sevvie - it has a “past” (as they said in “Steel Magnolias”).

[JFW657]

2 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

I’m partial to the Summerlin sevvie - it has a “past” (as they said in “Steel Magnolias”).

Many a late night after coming home from drinking, I've walked to that  Eleven to get a microwave burrito.

One night, well before Thornton Park Central was built and it was just a parking lot for the Orlando Women's Garden Club, as I was right about where the Starbucks is now, I happened upon a stray cat who was hanging out on the sidewalk. She meowed at me and sort of approached me, but I couldn't have pets where I lived so I kept going.

As I was heading back home, she was still there and approached me again. I petted her a little and continued walking. Looked back and she was following me. I thought maybe she lived in one of the houses off Summerlin and Pine/Church. So she and I walked up and down each side of those streets. I'd stop at each house. She'd go up the the porch then come back and we'd go to the next one.

I ended up taking her back to my apartment where I was not allowed to have her. I'd let  her sleep inside at night then put her outside during the day while I was at work. When I'd come home in the afternoon, she'd be waiting for me. 

After a few days, I took her to my folks' house where she became their cat for the rest of her life.

Turns out, she was pregnant already when I found her.

My sister took all of the kittens and kept them until they passed from old age. 

[AmIReal]

23 hours ago, JFW657 said:

Many a late night after coming home from drinking, I've walked to that  Eleven to get a microwave burrito.

One night, well before Thornton Park Central was built and it was just a parking lot for the Orlando Women's Garden Club, as I was right about where the Starbucks is now, I happened upon a stray cat who was hanging out on the sidewalk. She meowed at me and sort of approached me, but I couldn't have pets where I lived so I kept going.

As I was heading back home, she was still there and approached me again. I petted her a little and continued walking. Looked back and she was following me. I thought maybe she lived in one of the houses off Summerlin and Pine/Church. So she and I walked up and down each side of those streets. I'd stop at each house. She'd go up the the porch then come back and we'd go to the next one.

I ended up taking her back to my apartment where I was not allowed to have her. I'd let  her sleep inside at night then put her outside during the day while I was at work. When I'd come home in the afternoon, she'd be waiting for me. 

After a few days, I took her to my folks' house where she became their cat for the rest of her life.

Turns out, she was pregnant already when I found her.

My sister took all of the kittens and kept them until they passed from old age. 

Great story... I've ended up adopting many strays when I was in the Eola Heights area.

[popsiclebrandon]

Anyone know what is going on with that townhome project by Park Lake? I don't think anything has moved there in over a year. Most look 70-80% done too.

[AmIReal]

A couple interesting stats in this OBJ article about lack of retail downtown. 

"Currently, there are roughly 11,771 apartment units in downtown Orlando, eighth-most among Central Florida apartment submarkets, according to CoStar." ... "a flood of new residents are moving to the downtown submarket as evidenced by 2,037 apartment units currently under construction, the second-most of any Orlando submarket, according to CoStar"

I had not ran across this set of numbers previously. Anyone care to guess at the number of residents that will be in those 13,700 units?

https://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2021/09/08/florida-downtown-suburb-orlando-retail-real-estate.html

[dcluley98]

Well, it isn't necessarily a lack of retail space. A lot of it is that the "rent is too damn high" for a lot of businesses to be viable. There are a ton of empty GF retail storefronts and revolving door open and closes in downtown, especially with the pandemic affecting many businesses such as the restaurants and bars. 

I still think another grocery or urban target type store would work in northern area of DT between NQ and Creative Village/Livingston developments currently underway. That area is ripe for that type of store. I would love a walkable option for groceries/sundries/essentials/toiletries/household items. Certainly hope that happens in the next couple of years. 

 

Edited September 9, 2021 by dcluley98

[jack]

20 hours ago, AmIReal said:

A couple interesting stats in this OBJ article about lack of retail downtown. 

"Currently, there are roughly 11,771 apartment units in downtown Orlando, eighth-most among Central Florida apartment submarkets, according to CoStar." ... "a flood of new residents are moving to the downtown submarket as evidenced by 2,037 apartment units currently under construction, the second-most of any Orlando submarket, according to CoStar"

I had not ran across this set of numbers previously. Anyone care to guess at the number of residents that will be in those 13,700 units?

https://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2021/09/08/florida-downtown-suburb-orlando-retail-real-estate.html

1.25 people per unit. 17k per person. 

[Jernigan]

30k is the magic number for retail

[TRENCH]

not sure where to ask this but does anyone have the original plans for the duPointe buildings aka Bank of America? I know somewhere in this forum there were a bunch of photos of projects in downtown that never happened but i cant find them 

[spenser1058]

2 minutes ago, W7edwin said:

not sure where to ask this but does anyone have the original plans for the duPointe buildings aka Bank of America? I know somewhere in this forum there were a bunch of photos of projects in downtown that never happened but i cant find them 

I think @JFW657may have found those through some of his amazing sleuthing.

[Tim3167]

I did find this Sentinel article from 85. No rendering though https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1985-04-13-0290120159-story,amp.html

[JFW657]

7 hours ago, W7edwin said:

not sure where to ask this but does anyone have the original plans for the duPointe buildings aka Bank of America? I know somewhere in this forum there were a bunch of photos of projects in downtown that never happened but i cant find them 

 

7 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

I think @JFW657may have found those through some of his amazing sleuthing.

I don't think there was ever a rendering of the DuPont Center, but there was an actual physical model built, of which there were photos taken.

I didn't "sleuth" this off the internet, I have an old downtown development brochure from back around 1985 from which I photographed this photograph...

That hotel that never got built on the site where Society is currently going up, is only 18 stories not counting the gable roof, which looks to be the equivalent of about three stories, making it about the height of a 21 story building.  

Stack about 7 more floors on top of it and you should have the approximate height of the 28 story Society tower. 

[spenser1058]

My favorite that never got built (mostly because it’s so absurd) is The Refrigerator (aka today’s Fairwinds) which was proposed with four (!) identical towers on the site.

[JFW657]

6 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

My favorite that never got built (mostly because it’s so absurd) is The Refrigerator (aka today’s Fairwinds) which was proposed with four (!) identical towers on the site.

I think it was three towers that were not identical, but had the same silver, horizontal exterior cladding between the windows....

[IAmFloridaBorn]

8 minutes ago, JFW657 said:

I think it was three towers that were not identical, but had the same silver, horizontal exterior cladding between the windows....

Damn. Why didn't we get this ? 

[Tim3167]

This really could be its own thread. I think it was sometime ago.

As far as multi tower proposals went I was so hoping for Olympia Place. I would drive by that lot so many times looking for signs of anything. There was a model just inside the back door from the parking garage into the tower. I think the 2nd towers was going to be like 28 stories .

[spenser1058]

12 minutes ago, IAmFloridaBorn said:

Damn. Why didn't we get this ? 

I think that as it got nowhere they eventually suggested clones of the originals to get the costs down (a lot of it happened while I was in Nashville). I could swear I saw a version like that.

Anyway, iirc, the tower that got built was by Demetree. They’re a reputable builder but mostly multifamily and shopping centers. I always assumed it didn’t get anywhere because towers were a little out of their wheelhouse.

[JFW657]

19 minutes ago, IAmFloridaBorn said:

Damn. Why didn't we get this ? 

It was the early 80's. Not enough market for downtown office space back then. 

[spenser1058]

14 hours ago, Tim3167 said:

This really could be its own thread. I think it was sometime ago.

As far as multi tower proposals went I was so hoping for Olympia Place. I would drive by that lot so many times looking for signs of anything. There was a model just inside the back door from the parking garage into the tower. I think the 2nd towers was going to be like 28 stories .

Olympia Place was a project of Olympia & York, a Canadian conglomerate that got a little too close to the crash and burn of Robert Campeau and Edward DeBartolo.

Before it was all over, major retailers were brought to their knees (and set in motion a major wave of retail consolidation well before amazon was making noise).

The second tower was mostly collateral damage
 

Edited September 21, 2021 by spenser1058

[TRENCH]

1 hour ago, JFW657 said:

 

I don't think there was ever a rendering of the DuPont Center, but there was an actual physical model built, of which there were photos taken.

I didn't "sleuth" this off the internet, I have an old downtown development brochure from back around 1985 from which I photographed this photograph...

That hotel that never got built on the site where Society is currently going up, is only 18 stories not counting the gable roof, which looks to be the equivalent of about three stories, making it about the height of a 21 story building.  

Stack about 7 more floors on top of it and you should have the approximate height of the 28 story Society tower. 

yess this is what I was thinking of! thank you

46 minutes ago, JFW657 said:

I think it was three towers that were not identical, but had the same silver, horizontal exterior cladding between the windows....

I realized that there is a trend of multi-building projects getting scrapped, or being cut in half like the Wells Fargo building 

[eq1974]

12 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

Olympia Place was a project of Olympia & York, a Canadian conglomerate that got a little too close to the crash and burn of Robert Campeau and Eddie DeBartolo.

Before it was all over, major retailers were brought to their knees (and set in motion a major wave of retail consolidation well before amazon was making noise).

The second tower was mostly collateral damage
 

You can put me down on the list of those whose favorite unbuilt complex is this one.

[codypet]

So there's discussion about Olympia Place actually having a garage that was designed to accommodate a good chunk of that other development.  The garage is about half used today to the point where they're trying to "sell" extra spaces after hours to the Nora crowd.