Downtown South (Sunrail/Amtrak, SODO, Orlando Health, Lymmo, Orange/Michigan Avenues)

[gibby]

I saw Driving Miss Daisy there.

[nite owℓ]

4 hours ago, Camillo Sitte said:

Yeah, it's certainly a bit better than it has been in recent years but the whole area needs a top-to-bottom redevelopment.  And not to hate, but I am  thoroughly unimpressed with what is happening at Curry Ford and Bumby. YMMV.

My friends and I saw Airplane! in the Conway Twin [where the Dollar Store is now], I got my learner's permit at the DMV which used to be located where Gabriel's Subs used to be before they moved.  One of my favorite restaurants was the original South Seas Seafood where you had to wait for an hour or more for a table, which used to be  next door to an Entenmann's which both used to be where the Walgreen's is today and before South Seas built their  giant flying saucer restaurant [and almost immediately went out of business], which is where the WaWa is now. My parents dropped off maybe twenty rolls of film a week for processing at the Eckerd's, which used to be next door to the Winn-Dixie. And in high school the Dino's pizza joint [hands-down best pizza in Orlando], located next to the DMV, was our daylight hours Al's or Peach Pit, depending on your age [Ronnies was reserved for group dates and after-dance chilling] .

I wish the area would have developed along the lines of Edgewater in College Park, but Curry Ford is too wide and too busy for that. I would not however be unhappy to see the area redeveloped along the lines of what is happening on Orange between Michigan and Gore.

 

To me, that stretch of Curry Fords feels more like Corrine Dr than Orange/Michigan. Homes in that lower quadrant are still somewhat affordable to Millennials, so perhaps as the neighborhood turns over I can see it becoming more like Audubon park.

On a side note, now that I think of it I went to high school with one of the Gabriels kids and my Realtor was Ronnie's daughter. She said after Ronnie's was torn down to redevelop the plaza, customers would stop by and take little pieces of the concrete as mementos.

 

Edited February 21, 2018 by nite owℓ

[codypet]

19 hours ago, Camillo Sitte said:

Really?

Huh. Because I live in one of the four neighborhoods that I mentioned and I [used to] shop there. I’ve even walked there a few times. And I know for a fact that many of my neighbors still shop there though like me they would prefer a more pleasant, higher quality experience. Now granted, my data set is about n20, so not exactly scientific.

If the Colonial and Paramount Publix stores can profitably coexist within a mile or so of each other, so too could the Markerplace Publix and a new store where the current Winn-Dixie is, replacing the old and slightly less decrepit store at Conway and Curry Ford. I assure you that my fellow Bel Air, Lancaster, and Davis residents would gladly go there rather than fighting Orange  and Michigan traffic to get to the Marketplace Publix or SoDo Target, etc.

I doubt that’s going to happen anytime soon though. But it would be nice and I would love to be proven wrong.

 

If traffic is really what's preventing them from going to Publix then they could just as easily go to the Publix at Curry Ford and Conway.  Read my initial post:

"This issue is that space NEEDS a grocery store that's not a Dollar General.   Its not an affluent enough neighborhood to support anything fancy (Trader Joe's/Fresh Market) so that tiny Winn Dixie fit the bill I seriously doubt Publix is going to bring anything that resembles the College Park Publix there, but something needs to be there to support the neighborhood"

If they put a Publix there that'd be great.  It would have to be on the scale of College Park because of the size of the store.  We know they'll put two stores very close together because two large format Dr. Phillips Publix coexist directly across the street from each other.   What needs to go in there is a mid-range store.  Nothing expensive like Whole Foods and I sure hope nothing like Dollar Tree.   If the rumors are correct, that'd likely replace the Walgreen's at Primrose when the Walgreen's closes and moved up to Conway/Curry Ford.

[JFW657]

On 2/4/2018 at 12:18 PM, jgardnerucf said:

  On 2/4/2018 at 7:50 AM, nite owℓ said:

The ABC turned out nicely with all the finishing touches. Does anyone know if the original building will be renovated to match the expansion?

________________________________________________________________________________________

Parking lot, just like all the other ABC renos

 

Maybe not.

There's a sign facing Orange Ave that says parking for the new building is in back.

Maybe the spot where the old building was will get something new.

[Jernigan]

On 10/31/2017 at 8:48 AM, metal93 said:

For 2504 S Orange they're going to tear it down and build a new McDonald's in the modern style. They've been doing this to a ton of their restaurants. No more tacky McDonald's roof from the 70s-80s and big sign up front, and I imagine the City will force them to be more urban and place the new restaurant right up to the sidewalk on Orange.

 

[jgardnerucf]

From November 2017...

 

[nite owℓ]

Not a fan of the exterior... the red blade creates kind of a dead area on the other side, the sidewall may be there for safety reasons since it fronts a busy road, but it doesn't look very inviting or ped friendly. Lastly, the parking lot traffic flow looks even worse than the existing one IMO. People get very aggressive in the current parking lot and the new design will only amplify the problems lol

[Jernigan]

[popsiclebrandon]

Is that really what new McDonalds are going to look like? That is impressively bad. They should hire the Wendy's redesign company.

[bqknight]

13 hours ago, Jernigan said:

 

That McDonalds was my GO-TO after Pulse. I'll miss the fish tank and tacky interior.

[JFW657]

3 hours ago, nite owℓ said:

Not a fan of the exterior... the red blade creates kind of a dead area on the other side, the sidewall may be there for safety reasons since it fronts a busy road, but it doesn't look very inviting or ped friendly. Lastly, the parking lot traffic flow looks even worse than the existing one IMO. People get very aggressive in the current parking lot and the new design will only amplify the problems lol

If you compare the rendering to the site plan, it looks like they don't represent the same building. Assuming that the rendering is the proposed design for S. Orange, and assuming the view is looking SW from Orange, that would put the main entry doors on the opposite end of the building than as shown on the site plan. 

Also, I'm thinking maybe the wall is in front of a handicap access ramp? Something that doesn't seem to be shown on the site plan either.

Maybe the rendering and site plan are more of a generic thing, incorporating general overall design elements, but not an exact representation of the building planned for that specific location?

49 minutes ago, bqknight said:

That McDonalds was my GO-TO after Pulse. I'll miss the fish tank and tacky interior.

Maybe in the new McD's, they'll replace all those historic pics of old downtown Orlando with a large mural of modern downtown Orlando. That would be cool.

[jgardnerucf]

That is not the right rendering for that location.

[Jernigan]

Here’s the full report on the McDonalds:  

[JFW657]

26 minutes ago, jgardnerucf said:

That is not the right rendering for that location.

Flip the rendering around...

...and it more closely matches what is shown on the site plan.

Backwards lettering and vertical logo element placement notwithstanding.

Edited March 2, 2018 by JFW657

[jrs2]

On 3/2/2018 at 8:26 AM, bqknight said:

That McDonalds was my GO-TO after Pulse. I'll miss the fish tank and tacky interior.

That's the McD's that had the leather couches and TV?  Oh man.  I used to eat...very poorly there.  But I did so in comfort.

[Jernigan]

Site work is underway at 2121 S Orange.   New strip to include Simon Medical Imaging and one retail space 

[Jernigan]

On 2/2/2018 at 8:39 AM, codypet said:

It looks to me that's a drive thru along with parking behind building 2.

Looks like there are 3 after all

updated site plan:

 

[JFW657]

Thank God we're finally getting another Starbucks, another mattress store, another nail salon and what sounds like another hair styling salon!!!

We must be down to our last coupla few hundred of each.

I was afraid we might run out. 

[sunshine]

Another giant asphalt parking lot...Orlando

[spenser1058]

18 minutes ago, JFW657 said:

Thank God we're finally getting another Starbucks, another mattress store, another nail salon and what sounds like another hair styling salon!!!

We must be down to our last coupla few hundred of each.

I was afraid we might run out. 

When everyone KNOWS what we REALLY need is another 7-Eleven!

[codypet]

I wonder if Checkers comes back.  Sport Clips I actually love, but the stylist at the University one (which is technically closest to my house) is my favorite.  So it'll likely be that I'll keep driving all the way out there so see her despite this one opening.

Edited March 12, 2018 by codypet

[JFW657]

1 hour ago, codypet said:

I wonder if Checkers comes back.  Sport Clips I actually love, but the stylist at the University one (which is technically closest to my house) is my favorite.  So it'll likely be that I'll keep driving all the way out there so see her despite this one opening.

Sport Clips - Shmort Clips.....

[Jernigan]

Yes this is pretty disappointing.   Was hoping the city would insist that the Starbucks he brought to the corner and that the other outparcels were brought to the street.   This is like Mills Park If Mills Park were terrible 

[Camillo Sitte]

On 2/20/2018 at 2:56 AM, Camillo Sitte said:

Disagreeing with you  ≠  "angry".  My only "issue" is that the store is a complete $h!thole.

The ceilings are stained from multitudes of leaks over the decades. The shelving is falling apart. The antiquated lighting buzzes and the stained and yellowed forty-year-old linoleum  has an additional layer of yellowing on top of the first layer of yellow.

Besides the health code violation of a deli and the joke of a meat department, the quality and selection of the produce is an embarrassment.  I'm convinced that the reason the store's manager positions that park bench to block the west side entry doors during operating hours [what are codes anyway?] is because even they are embarrassed by their store and hope that blocking one of the entrances will discourage people  from coming in and seeing just how bad it is.

That place was past its sell-by date two decades ago. There is a reason why the Winn-Dixie chain and brand is on a death watch and that store is a perfect example of why.

Tear it down and put something useful in its place.

 

Quote

3/15/2018: Winn-Dixie parent plans to file for bankruptcy, close 94 stores, CNN

Here's hoping that craphole on Curry Ford is one of the 94. 

 

Edited March 16, 2018 by Camillo Sitte

[JFW657]

2 hours ago, Camillo Sitte said:

Here's hoping that craphole on Curry Ford is one of the 94. 

Here's celebrating your disappointment.

From The Orlando Sentinel:

"Local stores that will close include Orlando locations at 4686 E. Michigan St. and 2722 Pine Hills Road — which was recently rebranded — and another 1347 E. Vine St. in Kissimmee."

I will say that I'm sorry to see the store on E. Michigan close. Even though I almost never shopped there it was a decent enough store.