Ocityst

In related transportation news.. From OBJ Orlando already is a hot spot for high-tech industries, like defense contracting and smart sensor development. Now, Orlando appears to be becoming a market where futuristic transit systems can take shape — like the Virgin Hyperloop One vacuum tube train, and others. That’s according to Harry Barley, executive director of MetroPlan Orlando, the region’s metropolitan planning organization. In fact, Barley said MetroPlan already met with the Richard Branson-backed Virgin Hyperloop One team, which is fashioning a 257-mile high-speed train route that would travel from Orlando International Airport to the Miami Intermodal Center in just 26 minutes. And that’s not all. “We are meeting with another hyperloop company several weeks from now,” Barley told Orlando Business Journal. “This is a market that’s evolving. It’s very exciting technology and it’s an opportunity that can be explored.” Los Angeles-based Virgin Hyperloop One — a concept first envisioned by billionaire Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX —would house both freight and people in “pods” within a fully autonomous, enclosed structure. This type of high-tech system would offer a transit alternative for businesspeople and the workforce between two major metro areas. MetroPlan hasn’t yet issued any requests for proposals from firms that would want to build such a system. But it has talked with Los Angeles-based Hyperloop Transportation Technologies Inc., which wants to build a similar tube-train system from Orlando to Tampa, Barley said. The infrastructure already may be in place for such a route, he said. “There’s right of way reserved along Interstate 4 that can be used for premium transit,” Barley said, adding that Hyperloop Transportation Technologies would need additional right of way for the two stops it plans between Orlando and Tampa. That connector, together with Virgin Hyperloop One’s plans to link Orlando and Miami, would bolster Orlando’s $70 billion tourism industry, which is the region’s dominant economic engine that welcomed a historic 72 million visitors in 2017. The proposed Orlando-to-Miami route — one of 10 U.S. routes targeted by the Virgin Hyperloop One team — would use U.S. Highway 27 to avoid more densely-populated areas, Director of Public Policy Dan Katz said. “One of the things that impressed us was the corridor,” Katz told OBJ. “We need to engage with Central Florida. When you are trying to do a corridor like this, it’s only possible when all the players are involved. “Those are some of the missing pieces.” Another big question is how the system would be funded. Virgin Hyperloop One seeks to form a public/private partnership to fund the project. “We would need to know more of what type of public/private investment would be made,” Barley told OBJ. “We would imagine proposals from any company would involve a public/private partnership. “The challenge is how these types of partnerships would be funded and who would have the assumption of risks. But the revenue sources Hyperloop One [referenced] are reasonable. It’s a matter of how it all comes together.”

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Rumor Confirmed Dr. Phillips Center's second phase to break ground next month

OBJ is reporting the new Orange Ave Walgreens will not have a Pharmacy. With all the new residents moving downtown, you'd think there would be a need there.

Nighttime Citi

Andretti Indoor Karting & Games

HostDime reveals new location, images of planned $20M HQ 5-acre location on the Eatonville/Maitland Wymore Road corridor, which is next to the WESH-TV station. http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2015/11/18/exclusive-hostdime-reveals-new-location-images-of.html

Edit: Wrong project

Plans for new school, Boys and Girls Club near Creative Village approved In an Oct. 20 meeting, the board approved the development of nearly 13 acres. Here's what it includes: A 27,700-square-foot pre-kindergarten buildingA 115,500-square-foot K-8 classroom buildingAn 87,000-square-foot parking garageA nearly 15,000-square-foot library and media buildingAn 18,800-square-foot gymnasiumA 27,000-square-foot cafeteriaA 23,300-square-foot Boys and Girls ClubThis new Orange County Public Schools development will accommodate more than 1,200 students, according to documents. http://goo.gl/s2qAsd

A few tweaks have been made to the design of iSquare.

Developer eyeing former AT&T Building for new DT apartments http://goo.gl/uXxtTs

I've had some correspondence with the folks at "Artisan 420" & they will be changing the name for the opening. The apartment build will now be call "420 East".

Downtown is getting it's first Dunkin' Doughnuts http://goo.gl/XLxubJ

SkyPlex Rooftop Surf Park http://goo.gl/UwSgTh