Why Miami and not Orlando?

[prahaboheme]

I've been noticing in the last 6 months that mega developments have been proposed for downtown Miami, including the Genting Resorts World Miami and the Brickell CitiCenter. Meanwhile, Orlando's downtown has by and large seen no private investment proposals (notwithstanding Sleet House and Cambria Suites).

On the other hand, the Orlando unemployment rate is lower than Miami's, and the rate of job creation is higher. What gives? Why isn't there renewed interest in downtown? Is it just a matter of time--once SunRail and DPAC come on board?

[spenser1058]

I've been noticing in the last 6 months that mega developments have been proposed for downtown Miami, including the Genting Resorts World Miami and the Brickell CitiCenter. Meanwhile, Orlando's downtown has by and large seen no private investment proposals (notwithstanding Sleet House and Cambria Suites).

On the other hand, the Orlando unemployment rate is lower than Miami's, and the rate of job creation is higher. What gives? Why isn't there renewed interest in downtown? Is it just a matter of time--once SunRail and DPAC come on board?

An excellent point - I saw a story in the St. Pete Times about Downtown Tampa coming back to life and wondered somewhat the same thing:

http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/realestate/laughing-in-face-of-recession-downtown-tampa-proves-popular-with-folks-who/1190734

[cloudship]

But what kind of jobs? Big developments look at a lot more than just numbers. They want to see not only the type of income, they also want to find the right demographics. And, they want the right mix. I think that isw where Orlando is lacking - the wrong demographics and business/resident mix.

On the other hand, I am not so sure that's a bad thing. I think Florida in general is a little too gung ho on development projects and a little too lacking in development quality. I would much rather see Orlando have a nice, slow but steady and sure small growth, that can survive market changes.

[DeepEyez]

Steady and sure small growth can take 30-50 years to materialize, at that rate, this city will become a ghost town. What we need is to become more financialized and more higher-tech. I would love to see for this city take on the creative qualities of Austin, New Orleans, Memphis and Nashville when it comes to our music scene which I think a relocation of HOB to Downtown Orlando will go a long way in establishing that. Meanwhile building a multipurpose development in same vein as the Time Warner Center in New York City. Lastly, if we could get the Federal Reserve Bank in Jacksonville relocated to Orlando, I'd be jumping for joy.

Orlando should be the cultural capital of the state and leader of the 21st Century Economy....

[mrh3]

DeepEyez,

I'm totally with you on the relocation of the Federal Reserve, but I would take it one step further. There should be a District in Florida not just a regional branch like Jacksonville. Florida is the largest state in the nation to have no Federal Reserve Bank within it's borders. There's really no need for Missouri to have two or for there to even be one in Cleveland anymore. I've read the legislation and it states that the bank districts can be relocated as necessary so there's no reason that this can't be done. It would ultimately be the result of some hardcore lobbying on the part of politicians and the business community, but it absolutely can be done. If that occurred, it would literally put the city in an entirely category in the eyes of the global business community.

As for the large scale developments, the new project next to Lynx Central Station is probably as good as it's going to get for right now. Time Warner was timed very well and had major anchors like Mandarin Oriental, Whole Foods, CNN, and some $60MM apartments. Even though there is a need for some 21st C. office space in Orlando, I don't think that there are any major tenants to kickstart a project of that nature. In my opinioin, The Plaza is Orlando's version of TWC.

[mrh3]

Great article on the office market in Florida. Great news! Looks like construction cranes won't be far behind.http://www.globest.com/news/12_307/miami/office/-319618.html

[IAmFloridaBorn]

The Lynx Central Station project is a complete joke. It's small, designed like a Metro West type building of the 90's., and it's tallest tower is 9 stories? YOU SERIOUS? That huge lot and that all Orlando can think of. It's a joke, a complete joke. No wonder cities like Miami are better than Orlando,. What kind of piece of crap project is this? I'd much rather seen Ajax Stadium go here. This sucks. As Well as the small ass 8 story hotel on Orange and Colonial and the small as 4 story steel house project. Orlando is a joke downtown. I at least thought they wanted to see the city grow but I guess not.

[jack]

Two words.

Supply

Demand

Nuff said

[c4dynamic]

Miami residential high rise development is being driven by wealthy south americans buying condos. Miami though, is building some very nice museums downtown which any self respecting city should have.

Ran into a cute japanese girl from Washington DC while walking around lake Eola the other day. She was walking around wondering where she could find the museums... I felt ashamed for Orlando because all I could think of was "history center"

[spenser1058]

Winter Park wins the prize for well-regarded museums, including Morse, Cornell and Polasek. OMA and Mennello at Loch Haven also have interesting, though sometimes uneven, collections. While we don't have any single museum that can match the scale of, for example, the Ringling in Sarasota, the smaller WP museums have been recognized as gems (the NYC museums, for example, did their best to take the Tiffany collection away when Hugh McKean died some years ago - fortunately, they did not succeed and the Morse has grown since then.)