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The city should extend facade grants to properties visible along SunRail. Currently, the grants are only available to properties visible from the street within the CRA and limited to facade and/or structural improvements.

While it's been common knowledge for weeks, it helps to have a definite answer since most people are still on the fence about Parramore's turnaround. Only one thing remains up in the air; any other common knowledge announcements about the actual location of the campus?

UCF has officially added a Downtown Orlando campus to its five-year plan "The UCF Board of Trustees voted July 31 on a five-year capital improvement plan, which will include a $75 million campus and a $15 million parking garage. The campus is planned to be a joint-use facility with Valencia College, which could share in the cost."

August's ARB: Hyatt Place Interesting to note that they are in negotiations with FDOT "about the potential of relocating the south bound Sun-Rail station on the south side of South Street to this location." This is a great idea considering the South platform's detached/haphazard/deserted location. Does anyone remember the reasoning behind the South platform's location? Lexington Court ARB to developer: Too many colors!

I'm happy with ACE cafe moving in and I don't even care about cars/motorcycles. The owners are buying eyesore buildings that have been neglected for decades and spending money to renovate them; i.e. they're being good neighbors and they're adding to the diversity of downtown. We can't keep wishing for highrises when our downtown isn't even at capacity yet. The only thing I'm concerned about is noise pollution. Are these the types of of enthusiasts who remove their mufflers from the exhaust systems?

Some people might be a little preachy, but you just do what you can bc it's not about other people. If I were to spritz your tomatoes with pesticide right before you ate them - I doubt I could pay you to eat them... but you probably don't think twice about eating conventional produce from the grocery store. It seems more people are comfortable with not thinking about the truth until it becomes a breaking news expose on 20/20; which then leads to mainstream acceptance. If you ever get curious, there's a website called "What's on my food". Anyway if Green Day Cafe gave you the hoodoo voodoo, I think Dandelion Communitea would make your head explode lol

Street level photo updates: Residence Inn & Lust Cash Transactor Mama B's Crescent Central Station apartments (I caught a potent whiff of freshly installed plywood from across the street, but hey the infill is nice if not jarring to the memory.)

Seriously? Green Day cafe isn't even that hardcore. Yes, they serve actual spring mix vs iceberg lettuce with no nutritional value, and yes they are eco friendly. But is it that stuff really that foreign to you? Do you feel like a "dirty hippy" when you eat at Chipotle too? I don't understand why eating semi "healthy" unprocessed foods and trying to deal with the consequences of consumption is considered such a novelty.

DPAC at night:

I think large Mission style buildings like this one look better in white or a slightly tinted paint color, but use bold colors on the inside. And while they're painting it, they should update the clay roof tiles, litter the grounds with bougainvillea and lay down some decorative pavers.

Oh, the building now known as Fairwinds Credit Union. Even though I live downtown, I'm terrible with directions.

Looks like this photo captured some construction in the background... any idea what was being built?

The South St/Mills intersection is kind of a run down area so it would be hard for a townhome to command a comparable price when listed against the other offerings downtown. Maybe it would be different if the property owners in that general area collectively took interest in curb appeal. In comparison, the property owners facing Anderson St in Lake Cherokee at least show some pride of ownership despite the location. I don't think the South St/Mills intersection would hurt a business though. The GAI Building is located on the South St/Summerlin intersection but getting in/out isn't difficult. And the overall area is much nicer too. My only complaint about the lift station is that it isn't fancy enough and it kind of looks dated. Also, in the renderings, some kind of shed and storage tank are still visible while situated too close to the perimeter wall. IMO, OUC does a much better job of masking their chilled water plants.

I never expected something like this to be spawned from Downtown Orlando's loins. I hope it comes to fruition.

From April's HPB Agenda; They're eliminating 2 of the 3 doorways, in order to have one main entrance. I've always thought the segmented facades were a part of it's appeal, albeit they are a little small and cramped inside. The owners are probably allowed to get away with the modification because the facades are not original. As a side note, the building was built in 1907 and the original owner, Charles Rock, was a baker from Czechoslovakia. I never knew the building had been around for so long....

$25M MD Anderson UF Health Cancer Center Proton Beam Therapy Center construction @ Orlando Health $4.5M S Orange Ave renovation @ DPAC/City Hall (will close for construction July 19th - Aug 10th).

They would have to do something about soil contamination before any development can happen on the Orlando Sentinel site. I'm sure it would be even more extensive if compared to the the cleanup @ the land where the Amway Center sits. It's interesting how many properties downtown still harbor toxic chemicals from previous use...

OBJ also stated a completion date of 2018 is expected, however, groundbreaking is unclear.

I like that building too. I heard it used to be a funeral home back in the day. Wonder how true that is... Even though I'm all about repurposing, I wouldn't mind if they tore it down to build something better. The only buildings scheduled for demo in the ARB were shown in the street view snapshots included in my previous post (i.e. the building on the corner of Orange/Robinson and the building in the rear on Jefferson).

Visuals definitely help, especially in that area. Not to nitpick, but the only thing missing are the captions! *nudge nudge

Found another subtle clue mentioned in the Sentinel on Friday. The warehouse building that exploded last year is back in the news over a conflict with Dr. Phillips to save a wall mural. A building next door owned by Dr. Phillips Charities is being torn down, including a shared upper-level wall of the warehouse. The wall is a remnant interior wall from an upper level many years ago, however, it is now structurally supported by the DP building, so the guy doesn't have much of a case. At the end of the article it states: "Dr. Phillips plans to build something on the block, though plans have not yet been filed with the city." So far, 2 of the 5 buildings owned by DP on that block are being demolished... the other 3 buildings don't seem to serve much purpose either so I hope they'll be demolished the future as well.

Some of those scrawny little oak trees actually grow into a nice shade tree once they mature. The City also wants to make sure the tree roots don't clog sewer pipes (we recently had a blockage and it wasn't pretty), or grow too tall which will require harsh trimming so they won't interfere with the power lines (as seen along Constitution Green on South St).

As residents, we can also get involved in greening-up our own neighborhoods as well. Homeowners can have the city plant a free tree in the Right of Way (the grassy area between the sidewalk and street). And I'm sure renters could work something out with their landlords. You just have to pledge to water and maintain it until established. The type of tree depends on whether there are any power lines in the area; shorter trees for areas with power lines and taller trees for areas without power lines. I chose the Japanese Blueberry (Elaeocarpus). The live oaks in my old neighborhood have been falling down left and right and unfortunately no one is concerned about replacing them. http://www.cityoforlando.net/parks/tree-types/ http://www.cityoforlando.net/parks/trees/

From May's MPB: A 28 unit (4 building) townhome development is being planned for the Wadeview park neighborhood. The townhomes will be built on the vacant lot facing S Orange Ave (the empty lot just North of Chipotle). I'm a little shocked this residential development is not mixed use, considering the location.

I think a specialty grocery store is being planned for the Lucerne property. That corner has great visibility from the road, easily accessible and plenty of space for parking. Hopefully they don't screw it up like that Ravaudage project in Winter Park.