corpkid

It is indeed fully open (I live in Eola S. and sit on my balcony watching the hipsters get tipsy over there). It appears to be a tapas & lounge place and doesn't open until 5-ish. The orange colors they're using for the seating/umbrellas really pops out from the (as mentioned) starkness of the Sanctuary... My first trip is Tuesday night for a meeting -- I'll let you know what I find/think.

what type of restaurant is it?

Shari is very good... Thursdays 5-7PM they have $3 sushi happy hour which is an excellent value. Just get there EARLY as it's always very crowded (I usually get there at 4:45).

Harvey's is "OK" but I would suggest heading over to Luma on Park Ave in Winter Park or over to Beluga in the Winter Park Village... KRES is good (if you like steak) but it is pricey... Two people with drinks is easily approaching 100 bucks. Again, Harvey's is good, affordable, but it's not "trendy/fun" like Hue is. Go with Luma -- you'll like it if you like Hue.

You know, I think because he's a contender (though it's not official) for the presidential elections, he may be trying to run on a "low taxation" platform. Of course to which this would be completely counter to, should it have passed. Just speculating about that, but I

Sad, really.... I'm all for historic "things" but WHY doesn't Orlando update this thing? It really is a centerpiece for the downtown Orlando "area."

DMAC is closing???? This is news to me! I hope this isn't true (say it ain't so!)

Yeah, I'm thinking of making something up just to get this board hopping!

Not to be too anal, but I drove by today and it actually looks like a sliding glass door wrapped in blue plastic. Either that or a really big sliding window.

It does seem that we here in orlando prefer to demolish anything and everything rather than refurbing. Not that I'm against demo/leveling when appropriate (eg. that church of Nazzerine (sp) on Jackson), but look at Lou Pearlman's new lounge on Church St. It's got a very old-world (at least old-world to me ) feeling. I like that place a LOT. I'm all for modern, hip spaces. But variety is key IMO. Okay, I'm getting off my horse now!

I think I was the one who "started" the talk of the NOLA restaurant... A realtor selling the sanctuary told me this when I was talking to her a while ago... I hope it materializes. We need more places to eat downtown!

I just noticed a sign in the window of the soon-to-be developed retail area of The Sanctuary advertising what seems to be a "hip" lounge: http://www.thortonparknightlife.com/ Now if we can get a full fledged restaraunt to complement this in there we'll be all set at this corner!

I have to agree with Wide that SushiMan is the BEST! It's hard to find, but SO worth it. You'll want to get there around 11:30 or after 2:00 PM though, it's not very big and is packed during these hours. Wide, have you visited Luma (on Park Ave in Winter Park)? It's new, but very, very good! From what I can gather, I think you'd like it.

Those are the LATEST prices... I know I was looking at a Flagler unit about two years or so ago when the project was announced... I believe on the 12th floor it was about $350,000. I put my reservation down, and right before we were supposed to go to contract they raised the price by about 15%. I pulled out (thank god). But I'm sure many held in there. I am guessing that you are seeing the prices for the very last of the units. Hell, look @ the Vue. They have about 1 or 2 left of most floor plans and they are literally 2x as expensive as when they started taking reservations a year and a half ago! Lesson here: BUY EARLY. Almost all buildings jack the prices WAY up on their last few units (and like YOU wouldn't?)

DD coffee is really big up North. I know you can't find a Starbucks anywhere in Western Massachusetts (where I am orig. from) but there are DDs on every block.

Oddly, those are some of the most beautiful pictures I've seen in a while... Kinda brings a tear to my eye ... I'm so glad this project didn't vaporize... I don't love it, (I don't hate it either) but I think the more people living down here, the better... Plus, the retail/dining will be most appreciated by us downtowners... With this and The Plaza/Solaire, I'm wondering what kind of "shift" we'll see in this part of the CBD? What do you think? I've always enjoyed the Kres steakhouse (when I can afford it) but was always a little freaked out by how empty it was during prime dining hours... Meanwhile, outside was packed with drunk party folk (nothing wrong with that -- but it can't be EVERYTHING and the ONLY THING D'Town offers). I think that if 55w didn't materialize Kres would have never had made it long-term and assume that it was opened mostly to cater to this building (remember it was supposed to almost be done by the original estimate)... Now Kres just has to "hold on" for another year and a half or so.... What do you all think of Kres? One more question -- when is the "anticipated" completion of 55w?

Is that place ALREADY closed? It did suck pretty bad -- I give any new place three tries... This place failed miserably each time. Let's hope we get a darned seafood place to replace it -- we have new american/sushi/bbq/itallian and a great deli in TP. Now we need seafood, thai, chineese and upscale mexican. I'll be a happy (and quite fat) guy if this were to happen... Back on topic, i think the restaurants in the Plaza are actually pretty good - suits the grab and bite, drink and a movie concept pretty well, if you ask me... I am pretty sure we'll see more upscale places come as more and more of these $500k condos come online...

That's like 9-bazillion calories?! I get queasy just thinking of it! I DO love them frosties, though! I'll settle for two things downtown: 1) A liquor store and 2) 24/7 drug store Drugs & liquor -- doesn't get much better than that!

Oh how I wish I was any good at photoshop...

How about Universal's CityWalk? Albeit very touristy, I still enjoy a nice night there with friends... It seems pretty busy while I agree, Pleasure Island can seem dead at times....

Again -- I am SO VERY glad I bailed when they had the massive price increase before contract. Eola South was supposed to be "temporary" but now that I live here, I am THRILLED I didin't commit to 55w... EVERYTHING just seems wrong with it, right?

^^^ Well just tell us this: Do you think the majority of the board will be happy with what's going on/up? I can't see HOW that would break any non-disclosure agreements? <smirk> Feed us SOMETHING -- anything!

I was wondering what the crowd was all about last night over there. I was going to look at some units in the Sanctuary (mostly just because I'm curios) but the Realtor said because there are people now living there I'd need to get a pre-approval letter from the bank before they'd let me tour any of the unsold units. That's kinda ridiculous, no?

Wow, it looks great from that angle. My unit is right under the big tree on the 2nd floor. It's a fantastic building with some very cool interior spaces! I keep saying I'm gonna take some pics -- maybe tonight I'll actually get around to it.. NOW - I'm waiting to see some pics of the Brownstones over on Jackson... The exterior looks GREAT -- very curious to see the inside...

Word on the street is that the Sanctuary is going to have TWO nicer-ish restaurants. I know one is from New Orleans (they are basically relocating after their place was destroyed) and the other I can't remember, though I vaguely remember it being higher end and seem to recall it was a seafood place (kind of fuzzy - I was partying that night).... Don't quote me on the 2nd one, okay! This will be great for the TP area! PS - move-ins have started in the Sanctuary already. Retail/dining expected to be complete in two - three months.