Downtown Orlando Project Discussion

[spenser1058]

5 minutes ago, smileguy said:

The development is supposed to sit on 50 acres just north of the Orlando World Center Marriott.

Wow zip code 32801 has gotten YUGE! Guess whoever did that press release doesn’t do Orlando much. Great catch, @smileguy.

[jrs2]

On 10/16/2022 at 8:30 PM, Uncommon said:

Nobu hotel and restaurant in downtown Orlando? Color me skeptical. 10-1 odds if this ends up happening at all that it's going to be built near Disney or in the tourist area.

https://floridayimby.com/2022/10/nobu-hotel-orlando-to-offer-luxury-accommodations-in-orange-county-fl.html

"Nobu Hotel Orlando is a new development slated for Orlando, Florida. The venture is a partnership between actor Robert DeNiro, film producer Meir Teper, and Japanese chef Nobu Matsuhisa.

The hotel could open in 2025, per GrowthSpotter. The venture’s website reports that the resort will comprise 300 rooms (including eight villas) and 50 “stylish” homes. At this time, the cost of renting a room is not available. Yet, similarly-styled hotels in the area charge over $1,000 per night.

The venture is slated for Orlando, FL. The hotel’s renderings are not available at this time.

Amenities comprise conference areas, meeting space, and an on-site Nobu restaurant. The hotel sits on a 50-acre site, and AIC Hotel Group (Nobu’s parent company) acquired the site for $32.75 million in 2018.

Sources report that construction could start on the venture in May 2023. They also report that as of October 13, 2022, the venture was in its conceptual design phase. Nobu Hotel Orlando could cost around $75 million to complete.

Nobu Hospitality owns the venture. Based in New York, the organization presently has 14 hotels under the Nobu banner in the U.S. It describes its accommodations as “modern cool luxury and minimal Japanese tradition into the concept of a lifestyle hotel.” Nobu Hotel Orlando’s exact address hasn’t been disclosed. However, it’s slated for Orlando, Florida, 32801, in Orange County."

interesting.  Nobu would go north of World Center, while the Fairmont project would go to the south of World Center & 536 (perhaps incorporating an adjacent BL station).

[codypet]

Did we talk about this yet?  I know we mentioned that it was falling apart in the past.

https://www.yourcommunitypaper.com/articles/historic-robinson-house-to-be-moved/

[spenser1058]

36 minutes ago, codypet said:

Did we talk about this yet?  I know we mentioned that it was falling apart in the past.

https://www.yourcommunitypaper.com/articles/historic-robinson-house-to-be-moved/

Thanks for posting this. It’s good they found a solution to save a piece of history rather than bulldozing it.

I also had no idea Trinity Lutheran had that much soccer field space back there.

Edited October 20, 2022 by spenser1058

[codypet]

19 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

Thanks for posting this. It’s good they found a solution to save a piece of history rather than bulldozing it.

I also had no idea Trinity Lutheran had that much soccer field space back there.

The moved a bunch of houses back there years ago to clear that space. 

[JFW657]

On 10/20/2022 at 10:01 AM, codypet said:

Did we talk about this yet?  I know we mentioned that it was falling apart in the past.

https://www.yourcommunitypaper.com/articles/historic-robinson-house-to-be-moved/

Nice to hear some good news for a change. 

[jrs2]

from that same source, check this out:  they approved the Cameron Kuhn project for Garland this week:

https://www.yourcommunitypaper.com/articles/37-story-tower-approved-for-downtown/

was there a thread for this, I can't remember?

[JFW657]

1 hour ago, jrs2 said:

from that same source, check this out:  they approved the Cameron Kuhn project for Garland this week:

https://www.yourcommunitypaper.com/articles/37-story-tower-approved-for-downtown/

was there a thread for this, I can't remember?

Also toward the end of that article, an apparent bit of finality for a much ballyhooed project proposed for Orange & Livingston.....

Quote

Sometimes, a project given final approval by City Council doesn’t come to fruition. A plan given final approval by City Council in 2020 called for construction of a 39-story tower at 367 N. Orange Ave. However, the parcel where that project was planned was sold for $2.56 million this April. According to a City spokesperson, the applicant for the project does not represent the new ownership, so entirely different plans could be submitted for that parcel.

Can't say I'd be heartbroken over it.

Especially if something more fitting for that corner were to come about. 

[codypet]

@JFW657Did we hear what punishment if any did the old owner receive for cutting down the tree?

[JFW657]

3 hours ago, codypet said:

@JFW657Did we hear what punishment if any did the old owner receive for cutting down the tree?

Probably got the dreaded.....

Then, maybe...

 

[eq1974]

2 hours ago, JFW657 said:

Probably got the dreaded.....

Then, maybe...

 

To be fair, NOBODY EVER expects the Spanish Inquisition 

[JFW657]

54 minutes ago, eq1974 said:

To be fair, NOBODY EVER expects the Spanish Inquisition 

No, they really don't.

Because our chief weapon is surprise.

Surprise and fear.

Surprise, fear, and ruthless efficiency.

Surprise, fear, ruthless efficiency and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope.   

[AmIReal]

Wednesday was the kickoff reveal of DTO 2.0 next phase. The presentation is lengthy and very image heavy, but I think it is a pretty valid (and not attractive) look at where we are. Page 34 seems to sum it up.

https://www.projectdto.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/20220922_City-Council-Workshop_Final.pdf

Edited October 29, 2022 by AmIReal

[Uncommon]

48 minutes ago, AmIReal said:

Wednesday was the kickoff reveal of DTO 2.0 next phase. The presentation is lengthy and very image heavy, but I think it is a pretty valid (and not attractive) look at where we are. Page 34 seems to sum it up.

https://www.projectdto.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/20220922_City-Council-Workshop_Final.pdf

Downtown needs a lot of work. It's better than it was in the past for sure but it's still very far behind similar-sized cities like Tampa-St. Pete, Charlotte, Austin, Kansas City, and Nashville (among cities I've been to).

[codypet]

Somebody made a presentation before the City went Public about the new Under I plans.  This is banking heavily on the old Under I being a thing.  Going as far as to call it a Major Civic Gateway.  Whoops.

Also the Classifieds building block is becoming a park?  First I'm hearing of that.

Also that parklet at Central and Rosalind is not included here.  Interesting.

Edited October 30, 2022 by codypet

[spenser1058]

As @codypetnotes, it’s a reasonable assumption that nobody under the dome above the intern level even seems to have read this. After all, as Craig Ustler has acknowledged, most of this stuff isn’t new and we’ve even seen it in other presentations. For the last twenty years, Buddy and the Cocoon City Council have just put such things on a shelf. It’s reasonable to assume they’ll do the same for the next twenty years.

We knew there was a problem in the Mayor Glenda days - she was maligned 17 ways from Sunday (along with Eola Heights residents) by the bar owners for daring to suggest that saturating dive bars in the core, already a problem in her administration, would only make matters worse.

For the barkeeps, Glenda’s move to Tally meant they just needed someone to take up the ill-fated cause.  Fortune stepped in when Buddy was obliterated by Charlie Crist in the AG race. Buddy seemingly had no interest in going back to private practice and was easily persuaded to jump into the last minute special election for mayor.

Buddy always wanted to be governor, which makes sense because in the last twenty years he’s shown little interest in urban planning and redevelopment, and even less in the mundane mayoral responsibilities of taking care of potholes (see Summerlin and Delaney). The only problem was, Darth Crotty torpedoed any chance for Buddy to jump into another statewide race with his arrest, knowing the mug shots wouldn’t look great in campaign ads.

So, while Buddy has just been marking time since the venues, downtown just withered. Finally, with the shootings and grumbling from both the left and the right, Buddy does what he always does just before another election - he commissioned a survey and a firm to put together a plan. They’ll make noise about it until he’s safely re-elected next November by the 9% who care about such things, believing he’s finally going to fix things, although with less money since even the bar owners that caused this mess have had enough. Not to worry, the developers who build shoddy towers and could care less what the neighborhood’s like will fill his coffers at least one more time.

If you really want change downtown, the current mayor and council need to go. No one will run against an incumbent in Orlando. That problem is easily solved by term limits (which would also solve the problem of mayors being largely ineffective after a couple of terms - ask Mayor Bill). 

One of the hardest working, most effective legislators in Tally, Anna Eskamani, has already said she wants to be mayor one day. She won’t run, though, until there’s an open seat. She’s not alone. 

We once were on the leading edge of change in Florida in urban redevelopment. Other cities looked to Orlando as a model. For the last couple of decades, we’ve been bringing up the rear. 

There is no group more passionate about downtown than UP’ers. It’s time to lead the change to make it successful again. If we don’t, it will stagnate for two more decades until this mayor and council decide to retire with their pensions. Doesn’t that sound more like Akron than Orlando? We can do better.

 

Edited November 1, 2022 by spenser1058

[JFW657]

40 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

As @codypetnotes, it’s a reasonable assumption that nobody under the dome above the intern level even seems to have read this. After all, as Craig Ustler has acknowledged, most of this stuff isn’t new and we’ve even seen it in other presentations. For the last twenty years, Buddy and the Cocoon City Council have just put such things on a shelf. It’s reasonable to assume they’ll do the same for the next twenty years.

We knew there was a problem in the Mayor Glenda days - she was maligned 17 ways from Sunday (along with Eola Heights residents) by the bar owners for daring to suggest that saturating dive bars in the core, already a problem in her administration, would only make matters worse.

For the barkeeps, Glenda’s move to Tally meant they just needed someone to take up heir ill-fated cause.  Fortune stepped in when Buddy was obliterated by Charlie Christ in the AG race. Buddy seemingly had no interest in going back to private practice and was easily persuaded to jump into the last minute special election for mayor.

Buddy always wanted to be governor, which makes sense because in the last twenty years he’s shown little interest in urban planning and redevelopment, and even less in the mundane mayor responsibilities of taking care of potholes (see Summerlin and Delaney). The only problem was, Darth Crotty torpedoed any chance for Buddy to jump into another statewide race with his arrest, knowing the mug shots wouldn’t look great in campaign ads.

So, while Buddy has just been marking time since the venues, downtown just withered. Finally, with the shootings and grumbling from both the left and the right, Buddy does what he always does just before another election - he commissioned a survey and a firm to put together a plan. They’ll make noise about it until he’s safely re-elected next November by the 9% who care about such things, believing he’s finally going to fix things, although with less money since even the bar owners that caused this mess have had enough. Not to worry, the developers who build shoddy towers and could care less what the neighborhood’s like will fill his coffers at least one more time.

If you really want change downtown, the current mayor and council need to go. No one will run against an incumbent in Orlando. That problem is easily solved by term limits (which would also solve the problem of mayors being largely ineffective after a couple of terms - ask Mayor Bill). 

One of the hardest working, most effective legislators in Tally, Anna Eskamani, has already said she wants to be mayor one day. She won’t run, though, until there’s an open seat. She’s not alone. 

We once were on the leading edge of change in Florida in urban redevelopment. Other cities looked to Orlando as a model. For the last couple of decades, we’ve been bringing up the rear. 

There is no group more passionate about downtown than UP’ers. It’s time to lead the change to make it successful again. If we don’t, it will stagnate for two more decades until this mayor and council decide to retire with their pensions. Doesn’t that sound more like Akron than Orlando? We can do better.

 

TL/DR/DC. 

[spenser1058]

17 minutes ago, JFW657 said:

TL/DR/DC. 

Which of course is why downtown’s now in the mess it’s in. 

[JFW657]

33 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

Which of course is why downtown’s now in the mess it’s in. 

I confess.

It's all my fault.     

I guess I just don't know my own strength.   

[codypet]

8 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

As @codypetnotes, it’s a reasonable assumption that nobody under the dome above the intern level even seems to have read this. After all, as Craig Ustler has acknowledged, most of this stuff isn’t new and we’ve even seen it in other presentations. For the last twenty years, Buddy and the Cocoon City Council have just put such things on a shelf. It’s reasonable to assume they’ll do the same for the next twenty years.

We knew there was a problem in the Mayor Glenda days - she was maligned 17 ways from Sunday (along with Eola Heights residents) by the bar owners for daring to suggest that saturating dive bars in the core, already a problem in her administration, would only make matters worse.

For the barkeeps, Glenda’s move to Tally meant they just needed someone to take up the ill-fated cause.  Fortune stepped in when Buddy was obliterated by Charlie Christ in the AG race. Buddy seemingly had no interest in going back to private practice and was easily persuaded to jump into the last minute special election for mayor.

Buddy always wanted to be governor, which makes sense because in the last twenty years he’s shown little interest in urban planning and redevelopment, and even less in the mundane mayor responsibilities of taking care of potholes (see Summerlin and Delaney). The only problem was, Darth Crotty torpedoed any chance for Buddy to jump into another statewide race with his arrest, knowing the mug shots wouldn’t look great in campaign ads.

So, while Buddy has just been marking time since the venues, downtown just withered. Finally, with the shootings and grumbling from both the left and the right, Buddy does what he always does just before another election - he commissioned a survey and a firm to put together a plan. They’ll make noise about it until he’s safely re-elected next November by the 9% who care about such things, believing he’s finally going to fix things, although with less money since even the bar owners that caused this mess have had enough. Not to worry, the developers who build shoddy towers and could care less what the neighborhood’s like will fill his coffers at least one more time.

If you really want change downtown, the current mayor and council need to go. No one will run against an incumbent in Orlando. That problem is easily solved by term limits (which would also solve the problem of mayors being largely ineffective after a couple of terms - ask Mayor Bill). 

One of the hardest working, most effective legislators in Tally, Anna Eskamani, has already said she wants to be mayor one day. She won’t run, though, until there’s an open seat. She’s not alone. 

We once were on the leading edge of change in Florida in urban redevelopment. Other cities looked to Orlando as a model. For the last couple of decades, we’ve been bringing up the rear. 

There is no group more passionate about downtown than UP’ers. It’s time to lead the change to make it successful again. If we don’t, it will stagnate for two more decades until this mayor and council decide to retire with their pensions. Doesn’t that sound more like Akron than Orlando? We can do better.

 

I personally think Anna is destined for bigger things than Mayor.  

[spenser1058]

22 hours ago, codypet said:

I personally think Anna is destined for bigger things than Mayor.  

Oh, me too, but if she sets the new standard (like George Washington) of moving on up and out, it’s a win-win and the best thing to ever happen to the city. Particularly if she and a less geriatric council pass term limits.

Did I mention the new UK prime minister is only 42? 42 and running an entire country of 68 million while a cast of geezers here can’t run a city of 300K effectively.

Meanwhile, over in Edgewater, there’s an 18-year-old running for mayor.

Edited November 1, 2022 by spenser1058

[bqknight]

Curious as to why the "study area" doesn't expand into South Eola, at least to Summerlin. It's arguably the most "walkable" part of downtown and should look to be expanded upon/enhanced to connect more seamlessly to the "downtown core". 

The drawing on Page 10 also brings up something I was thinking about while on a walk the other day, should the area where Radius/Skyhouse/Courthouse is be named/branded? The area still needs work, but with Society opening up, there's tons of potential there and I don't really consider the Central Business District. 

[AmIReal]

On 10/29/2022 at 10:52 PM, codypet said:

Somebody made a presentation before the City went Public about the new Under I plans.  This is banking heavily on the old Under I being a thing.  Going as far as to call it a Major Civic Gateway.  Whoops.

Also the Classifieds building block is becoming a park?  First I'm hearing of that.

Also that parklet at Central and Rosalind is not included here.  Interesting.

Pretty much every municipality and company (at least those of any size) do these "vision" documents. They aren't generally based on concrete future plans- that is not really the purpose. Page 103 of this document says it is "A focus on dreaming big while developing overarching networks, frameworks, and strategies".  So much of it is pie in the sky thinking- see the "greenway" walk in the previous DTO document- but does NOT indicate that will happen.  The next phase looks like it will contain projects, policy and programs.

But to the Under I plan, I'm hopeful that the eventual plan will be to improve the gateway between Church and Pine (about 4.5 acres), with ride share/ parking on the rest. That may not be what we get now, but as more garages are built west of I4 I think these spaces will be needed less.

5 hours ago, bqknight said:

Curious as to why the "study area" doesn't expand into South Eola, at least to Summerlin. It's arguably the most "walkable" part of downtown and should look to be expanded upon/enhanced to connect more seamlessly to the "downtown core". 

That area is not defined as the CBD. Also, most of that area is residential and has different needs than the CBD. However, I'm really surprised the City has never done a visioning for South Eola like they've done for SoDo, Parramore, Curry Ford, Semoran, etc. Btw, from the City's 2021 Indicators report, "South Eola has a Walk Score of 91, which is considered a Walker’s Paradise where daily errands do not require a car." The best in the area. Good for them.

 

Edited October 31, 2022 by AmIReal

[bqknight]

2 hours ago, AmIReal said:

 Btw, from the City's 2021 Indicators report, "South Eola has a Walk Score of 91, which is considered a Walker’s Paradise where daily errands do not require a car." The best in the area. Good for them.

 

It's the main reason I stay put in the area, even as rents continue to rise. I can walk to Publix to get my groceries, walk another block and do my dry cleaning, plenty of coffee shops and options to eat. Especially as we get out of the Summer months, not having to get in your car to run the simplest of errands is invaluable to me. 

[jrs2]

Um, not sure where the thread is, but a new coffee house opened in that 12 story apartment building adjacent to DuPont/BOA/City National.