[Dr. P Phillips Orlando Performing Arts Center [Phase 2 Under Construction]]

I believe they are keeping the Florida Hospital building for phase I because there are paying tenants in the building. They will tear the building down to make way for the future development once they get to a certain level of pre-leasing. I think the figure is about 60-65% now for a developer with a proven track record and good credit, but that could change in a few years when they are ready to start developing the office space. I know some people like that building, but I will be very happy to see it go to make way for the future.

[Amway Center]

What's the deal with the Northwest facade? The awning suggests some sort of restaurant/retail establishment.

I have to say, the Magic's success thus far in the playoffs is really having an effect on the local perception of this venue. I've heard a number of people whom were against tax payer dollars as funding for this now in support of it, do to their success this season. Fickle for sure, but also good timing for the Magic. Let's hope they finally pull through this season.

I went on a tour of the arena about a month ago and I believe the area you are asking about is the Magic practice arena, not a restaurant or retail, unfortunately. The practice court is pretty cool though. There are windows where people can watch from the Division Street side.

[SunRail]

Any ideas on how to come up with the other half of the funding? We barely have enough to cover the $615 million cost of Sunrail. I don't know how they can expect Tampa and Orlando to come up with another $1.35 billion for high speed rail. I doubt the State is going to pitch in. They don't have any money left in the budget. Plus, this will only benefit Tampa and Orlando so I doubt other counties in Florida will want to pay anything for this.

[SunRail]

The Fed was already going to pony up 600M of the 1.2B for SunRail. Plus, with SunRail we would have been more likely to get 1-2B for a HSR link. So in essence, what the Senate did was to turn down anywhere from 1.6 - 2.6 billion in Fed money that will now probably go to another state because they thought our 600M should have been better negotiated with CSX.

Using basic stimulus math our .6B plus the Fed's 1.6B = about 65K jobs. If you assume that otherwise they'd be collecting unimployment at $10K/year that's $600M/year saved. In otherwords saving 600M cost us 600M (break-even) not to mention saved hardship on the families, sales tax on what they'd be spending, other safty net costs ... and that's justs the benefit from the construction without counting the benefit from actually having these two trains.

While you may want to fall back on the Fed debt and "tax to our children" bit ... that train has already left the station. That money is going somewhere ... either to Florida or somewhere else. So if we're paying for it anyway, we might as well be riding it here in Florida.

Not to mention the nearly $30M+ they have spent on buying land for train stations.

[Captial Plaza III]

Maybe they're using it as a staging area for Tradition Towers' groundbreaking.....

LOL!

This project isn't starting construction any time soon. They need to get significant pre-leasing activity to justify development. The fenced off area and dumpster may have been for the Fiesta in the Park, which was last weekend.

[Orlando Attractions Area News & Developments]

It looks like the Ron Jon Surf Park is definitely dead: http://www.surfingthemag.com/news/surfing-...rf-park-082208/

Let's also not forget the Vans Skate Park. I have never been inside Festival Bay Mall, but I have been to the Skate Park and it is always packed. We have a pretty sizable population of extreme athletes in Orlando (not to mention the thousands of young kids who WANT to be extreme athletes) so I have a feeling this place will stay around for quite a while.

[Downtown Orlando Project Discussion]

I just spoke with the Trans4mation group a couple weeks ago to get an update on the new ramps and a timeline. Here is the breakdown:

- SR 408 to EB I-4 opened February 12

- SR 408 to WB I-4 opened July 1

- I-4 and South Street exit ramp - mid-August

- Anderson to I-4 EB entrance ramp - mid-August

- Anderson Street Bridge and Anderson two-way from Rosalind to Division and Hughey and South Street ramp to I-4 WB - all by mid-September

So hopefully traffic will be flowing a little better around the I-4/408 interchange in about a month.