Downtown Orlando Project Discussion

[gibby]

The E-W route does not match the most recent route shown on the Lymmo Study website. I'm going to assume that the Sentinel has the map wrong. Their map does kinda match the E-W "study area" map so I think that might be the mistake. The most current route that I saw did not use Anderson at all and did have a stop at the arena. Also, the article mentioned dedicated lanes throughout but I'm not sure if that's accurate. Can someone clarify?

[John Hargrove]

Well, the east-west route was a nice idea.

It's like the panhandlers hired lobbyists. Didn't realize the getting was so good.

[smileguy]

Gibby - hope this helps.

I got an update on this yesterday from Laura Minns from Lynx. The E/W corridor starts (if you will) at Central and Garland and heads East on Central to Summerlin. Then it turns south, and back west on Church St to Rosalind, then West on South St. (with stops @ Sunrail and SW corner of Amway) Turns North on Terry back to Church (CityView) and takes Church to Westmoreland, back to Central, and to Hughey. THere are 3 alternates between Central & Hughey and Central & Garland - Central, Pine, and Bob Snow.

At least 50% of this system is planned to be fixed guideway/dedicated lane. That may be why they are taking it so far west, to increase that ratio (its a funding requirement). The parts that aren't fixed-guideway will still have signal priority.

[jnorlando]

Hello all-not sure if someone has posted these already, but these appear to be renderings for the apartment complex Florida Hospital is building in the Village. I found these on the Baker Barrios website.

[mrh3]

Another missed opportunity for ground floor retail. That would have been a great way to enhance the street life of the area.

[prahaboheme]

It's a residental side street backed up to I-4, sort of tucked away behind Orange and Princeton. I'm not sure retail would succeed at this location. The additional residential units will certainly help out street life, I suspect.

[gibby]

First floor retail along Winter Park Street would be great. That road takes folks from College Park to Sunrail.

[spenser1058]

Atlanta developer starts work on $40M downtown apartments

http://www.bizjourna...do-project.html

(Pic from Orlando Business Journal)

Edited November 29, 2011 by spenser1058

[bulldogger]

The article says the name of the company is Pollack Shores. The apartment complex will still be called Steel House.

[spenser1058]

The article says the name of the company is Pollack Shores. The apartment complex will still be called Steel House.

Thanks for the correction. The article was updated after my initial post.

[nite owℓ]

4 lanes of traffic on Colonial & Orange + I4 + Trains= one loud intersection & a pedestrian's nightmare. Hopefully they'll do something to soundproof those apartments & install traffic calming streetscapes.

[mrh3]

Great Article about urban spaces and the thought process of urban development.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/arts/design/alexander-garvin-looks-at-public-spaces-in-new-york.html?hp

[Jernigan]

Steel House project reflects shift to 1-bedroom apartments in Orlando

Might be a good time to spin off Steel House into it's own thread?

[spenser1058]

Mad Cow Theatre reschedules season after Church Street move delayed

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/os-mad-cow-schedule-changes-20111208,0,3204479.story

Good to see it's still progressing albeit delayed.

[smileguy]

Mad Cow Theatre reschedules season after Church Street move delayed

http://www.orlandose...0,3204479.story

Good to see it's still progressing albeit delayed.

Mad Cow Theatre announces $400K donation from Harriett Lake and construction update

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/os-mad-cow-theatre-new-facility-20111212,0,7873641.story

Some pretty strong numbers here for the past 10 years... its stability like this that we need more of.

Mad Cow currently hosts 12,000 to 15,000 patrons at more than 200 performances and events annually. With an estimated economic impact of $1.2 million each year in direct and event-related spending, Mad Cow and its patrons support an estimated 35 FTE jobs.

[prahaboheme]

Mad Cow architectural renderings:

[bulldogger]

This is excellent. Is this going to take up 1 or 2 stories?

[prahaboheme]

Looks to be only one (I could be wrong) because Five Guys is on the ground level.

[John Hargrove]

Excellent. With this addition, the church street market (not counting 55W retail) will be at 100% occupancy. They're using all of the available second floor space according to those drawings.

Second floor -- Mad Cow, Baby Grands (two performance / music places next door to each other.)

First floor -- Amura, Gino's, Five Guys, Touch (kind of surprised Touch hasn't folded yet.)

Across the street in 55W, we still have basically nothing going on. Heat went out of business earlier this year. I haven't talked to anyone in-the-know on how well Rusty Spoon is doing but they appear to be busy every evening. 7-Eleven is of course a permanent fixture.

There were talks in the news recently about CNL Commercial being in negotiations for some of 55W's retail space, but that was almost 4 months ago.

[FLheat]

Finally, the old OUC building will be put to use:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-downtown-hotel-ouc-20111214,0,7918455.story . I previously had read they were planning on adding a pool to the front on Orange (I don't know how they will fit it in that small area), but I have not been able to find any further update. It will be nice to see some activity in that area.

Also on the topic of old buildings, demolition of the old Amway is supposed to start today. I don't see any activity, but it will be a long, six-month project to maximize recycling efforts.

[Jernigan]

It's been mentioned before that this will be a very nice and pretty upscale plaza between the Grande Bohemian, the DPAC and now this.

Does anyone think it kind of puts the City Hall out of place? Not that I can think of a better place for it...but it almost seems like a bad symbol to have it surrounded by a ring of upscale commercial and not civic buildings and open space.

I guess a big part of this will be how good they are at making the plaza in front of DPAC an experiential place that will draw people to come and gather even when there are no shows going on.

[spenser1058]

It's been mentioned before that this will be a very nice and pretty upscale plaza between the Grande Bohemian, the DPAC and now this.

Does anyone think it kind of puts the City Hall out of place? Not that I can think of a better place for it...but it almost seems like a bad symbol to have it surrounded by a ring of upscale commercial and not civic buildings and open space.

I guess a big part of this will be how good they are at making the plaza in front of DPAC an experiential place that will draw people to come and gather even when there are no shows going on.

Actually, that was the whole idea. It was all about the "Reinventing Government" idea and business/government partnerships. Over time, I believe I read the CNL buildings flanking City Hall revert back to the city as it needs more space (whether that's done by option or leases or what, I don't know). Interestingly, Bill Clinton is still touting that sort of idea (although not specifically) in his praise for Orlando in his new book and on his book tour.

[prahaboheme]

Interesting topic. The public/private urban planning model harkens to European civic space design much more so than the typical US government center model (where government exists in isolation).

Orlando's City Hall / DPAC masterplan reminds me a bit of Berlin's Pariser Platz/Unter den Linden district (all rebuilt within the last 21 years after the Wall fell). Pariser Platz is home to embassies, the Brandenburg Gate, the Holocaust memorial, all tightly packed in around upscale hotels and boutiques. Stretching out from the Platz down Unter den Linden is a neighborhood of civic buildings (museums, government buildings, the national cathedral, a university) intermixed with private use development. Ultimately this creates a vibrant, 24-hour space.

If my memory serves me, Paris' City Hall is adjacent to a very large, upscale department store.

[DeepEyez]

I don't think that the developments around Orlando City Hall will take away from City Hall. I think if anything, as someone said before, it'll be a reminder of public-private partnership in elevating the city.

I wonder if they'll be any groundbreaking developments in the space north of Orlando City Hall and south of Colonial. There is so much land in that area that is unused especially in the area around the Courthouse.

[mrh3]

Just a random thought after hosting a few friends from from Orlando this week. How likely would it be to cover a portion of Lake Eola and set up an outdoor ice skating rink a la Bryant Square Park in Manhattan? It might take some $$$, but I think it could be a hit!

Edited December 28, 2011 by mrh3