Kaz

He shouldn't have signed the deal if he wasn't sure it was what he wanted. He's now made a whole organization look bad who already has enough negative press to deal with as is. I'm curious how many of those 200 who bought have now asked for refunds.

Nice find, that actually would look really good downtown still.

Billy Donovan caused this mess, you don't sign a contract if you aren't serious about what you're signing. I find it odd that Florida fans might celebrate his comeback after he basically stood them up as well by saying he was going to sign the contract and than went to the magic. Every day he's looking more and more like a liar.

Interesting how one of the related articles to Kuhn and the deals some of the tenants had from the pearlman days. "An analysis of the leases by Orlando Business Journal this week revealed that at least two high-profile tenants weren't required to pay rent, and several others paid below-market rates. " http://orlando.bizjournals.com/orlando/sto...tml?jst=s_cn_hl It's no wonder he's kicking people out. I think a hotel on Church st. would compliment the area nicely.

wow. It makes a lot of sense to link it all together and it would really help with the convention experience.

I believe the plan is already to close in that endzone. If you look at this drawing linked below they have up on the O-Sen has it. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/media/photo...11/26604316.jpg To me it seems the major expense is going to come from adding convention space to the Citrus Bowl. Which I'm not sold on people going to the citrus bowl to have meetings on non-game day.

This would make too much sense. I'd just rather see them make like 25-40 mill in minor improvements and push toward a long term solution of building a new facility that fits better in the community. If' it's such a money maker and a blessing to our economy as they sell this "2 game a year" venue. They should be able to get support to build a new one. This renovation only preserves the status quo and doesn't push us to the next level. They had Steve Hogan on Jeep Midnight Magic talking about the citrus bowl and he didn't do a great job imo of justifying what these renovation would help us to achieve that would make the venue more effective. This current proposal seems like it's about keeping from having a loss.

Can't say I can argue with him there. If they are going to spend the money, the place should be first class all the way. Though to spend that kind of money, they might as well spend the extra money and just build a new one some place more logical and knock down the citrus bowl and sell that land or give it back to the community. At least than Orlando could try to bring in a pro-team to the market. All in all though, very happy this went through.

Thats cool that they made a logo for the few games they are playing here. Looks good to me.

New Stadium, Texas Game, Nicer Neighborhood are probably the three biggest reasons. Also, the seat selection process got people to bump up donor levels (thinking it'd help us keep our seats) and some of us didn't get the section we wanted because of the huge increase in demand and ended up being eligible to add more seats in the lower section that we ended up with. I added two personally (for a total of 7 seats) and I know a few people who did as well.

I don't know if season ticket sales will get that far... but they are definintly way ahead of last year. All donor sections on the east side are full and on the west side there is still a minimal amount left with seat selections still going on from donors. I'm not aware of how many still have yet left to pick. For those of you who want to see seat by seat what actually is sold: http://www.ucfgkc-seats.com/stand_overview.php I won't miss the citrus dump one bit.

Looks like his decision to reduce his initial bid was a smart idea. It also probably scared away anyone thinking bidding as well since they know he was willing to go to 40 mil.

The Sports Commission has a specific formula they use (and modify) to generate what they see as "impact dollars" that an event creates. The formula encompasses a lot of factors, but for example : Using the estimated number of people expected to attend the major element is hotel rooms expected to be occupided and The amount of money an average person is expected to spend over the length of the event and the expected tax revenue. The counties around Central Florida pay the sports commission for bringing these events to them. If you dig through old news you'll find some interesting and not so great articles to say the least about how this organization works and the people that worked there. The commission has however brought a lot of great events to our region and continues to do so but most people don't realize it. The Dew Action Sports Tour being the most noteable thing that the commission had a lot to do with. The commission also helps fill our local sports facilities with events from all over the country.

Or given them the sweetest deal imaginable... ( IE. Anything they wanted) This whole event strikes me as a funny way of making the renovation the citrus bowl look viable. Don't get me wrong, I'm pro building the new facilities but the timing of this just seems funny.

BR = Blue Rose DT = Downtown UBVLD = Universal Blvd ( Runs right behind International Drive Basically) The last part... Who knows.

Let me clarify, I think they should be regulated with regard to location. I don't think Disney would like having casinos right outside their door, but over by international and the convention center would be a great area for casinos.

I'd be all about it as long as they limit the spread of it to a specific area. The tax implications alone could bring a lot of revenue to the state from out of state visitors. Plus entertainment in the area would go through the roof. The latest hotel to be demolished in Vegas is the Stardust. Guess what is going up in it's place... http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/13/us/13cnd-casino.html Thats 4 times the size ($$$) as all our big three projects downtown that we are "debating" about building. Casino's if regulated properly, could be a big addition to making sure Orlando stays a top tourist destination.

That would make too much sense. Orlando, imo would explode if they allowed Casinos.

Here's a small blurb from a long article on the Mona Lisa from the local Celebration News Newsletter:

The part that isn't noted very well is the impact the Four Seasons new location will have on Celebration. The Four Seasons had been holding on to a big chunk of land in the southern most part of Celebration in an area called "Island Village". Here's a letter to residents from Matt Kelly from The Celebration Company http://www.celebration.fl.us/openimages/20...08TCCLetter.pdf