GRS328

Please tell me you are joking..

Couldn't agree with you more, bic. It looks like a bad game of Tetris...

What a chump.

CNL Income Properties did, not CNL Hotels.

What does that imply?

Couldn't agree more. Verde not only should contribute more to the daily life of downtown, more so than TT, it should also serve to act as more of a catalyst than TT, theoretically spurring much greater development in what now is primarily a stagnant section of the city core. TT, despite its significant architecture, is pretty much more of the same: a new toy for the well off in an already stimulated section of the city. Cool project, no doubt. But Verde has so much potential.

I guess... but it's still kinda weird. Take a drive back there, and I think you'll see what my mean. It's an odd fit. To me, it's compounded by the fact that you drive down Keller a little bit further it curves around into some section of either Altamonte or unincorporated Seminole which is replete with shack-type homes with chicken wired-in yards, full of broken down cars, tires, wild turkeys, and even a pig (i kid you not).

North, in the yellow box, next to some flex-type offices. Kind of weird spot for "upscale" residential if you ask me, but no did.

It would be cool, but I don't know how accurate it is. The map is dated 2003, and I remember reading in the OBJ several months back, and in the Sentinel as well I think, that a lot of the proposed development for this area of Lake Mary has fallen by the wayside. The developer pulled out of several of the projects proposed.

So you're rollin' in a Mercedes, eh? Guess you can afford one of these condos then lol.

Here are a couple of small images of the new Trevi building, which is one of the projects about to begin in Maitland along 17-92. This one is located on the west side of 17-92, a block or so south of the Maitland Blvd. overpass - directly across the street from where the Mercedes dealership is. 59 condos, $440k - $1.7MM. Not too exciting, but nonetheless a big improvement over what exists there now.

Sorry onative, I have to throw my 2 cents in here before we can get back to pics. I completely agree with cwetteland and JJM62. Height will come, when the market allows it. Concerning the Sears Tower comments - and I will testify under oath the Sears is my absolute FAVORITE building in the world - one has to keep in mind it stood half empty for over a decade after it was built. So while it was amazingly tall and a source of civic pride, etc., financially speaking it wasn't really justified. Even today it stands about 20% vacant. Height will come. Meanwhile, were building a great downtown core regardless of our 440 ft pseudo-limit.

When do tickets for the 2010 NBA All-Star game go on sale????? Not on ebay yet!

Definitely. Unicorp is a joke. They have been blacklisted by many leading area lenders (the list continues to grow) because of their horrible project management. Unicorp isn't out of Chicago, they're local. Their main offices are over in Dr. Phillips, I believe.

I come close...

No, not at any cost. And the $43 million is not quite what I was expecting, if in fact true. I actually figured they would offer more in the line of upwards of $60 million, but I never figured they would offer the $80 mil number that was floating around. I guess I am just resigned to the fact that in this day and age, these are the economics of pro sports. No professional team is going to fully fund their own arena. And while I may not agree with that, I also take into conisderation the intangible effects of the team leaving. And while many may not feel the same and could care less if the Magic leave town, I guarantee the financial cost will be greater in the long run because the city will spend more money to bring another team back.

In all honesty, I'd rather the city/county put up the cash to build an arena that would help keep the Magic here et al. than to see them (city /county) use tax money to to dole out incentives to developers who in turn build more condos that start at $500k, or "affordable" housing starting at $300k, or more condo-hotels, timeshares, etc. I don't see the difference, other than I'd actually go to the arena to watch the games as opposed to never living in any of these condos going up as I wasn't born with a silver spoon nor will I ever graduate from law or medical school....

How is Pointe Orlando coming along? Is it nearing completion, etc? Haven't been over to my favorite boulevard in quite some time, but I was curious about this project. Their website is not too helpful.

That's funny, because to me I-Drive feels like Las Vegas Blvd.'s inbred cousin... most of it anyway.

Wow.

What's really massive about it is how far deep back it is going to go. Like cwettland said they're going to extend the road that cuts behind the Publix (Swoop) back through this project and around to connect with 17-92. That side is going to be lined with retail, etc. The Morgan Group development is equally just as massive. There is a Port City Java scheduled to go into this one. I really like both of these because they are redeveloping blighted stretches of a major roadway. There is another project just north of the Maitland Uptown project, on the other side of 17-92, getting ready to begin as well, The Trevi. They have already set up a sales center right next to Parker Lumber, though not staffed yet. There was a quick mention of it in Friday's OBJ as well. This tract is not as large as the other two, but still will accomplish cleaning up a dilapidated stretch of 17-92.

Assuming the presentation that was published in pdf was any indication of the quality of the overall presentation, I can't say I'm surprised that the county wasn't all that enthusiastic. Considering how much was on the line, I thought that presentation was borderline mediocre. There were even a couple spelling errors. It's like they put it together at the last minute. It's a shame.

wow... I really like the design. But the fac that they will be condotels makes me think this will never see the light of day.

I'm not trying to pick a fight on the board, and i have stated i like the direction altamonte has taken, but i think calling it "heavily urbanized" is a strong exaggeration.

Sorry, it's only in the paper edtion so far. OBJ doesn't put the articles online until the following week after the paper issue is out.