Jerry95

Having a restaurant inside the lobby is standard for PMG. X Miami uses the lower floors for a hotel and has a restaurant in the shared lobby. Society Las Olas uses the lower floors for Sonder and has restaurants surrounding the Riverwalk and passageway. Thrive will definitely not be out of the way in this location.

Is this the Lightstyle building? Surprised to see that as a candidate for redevelopment.

Orlando sure does have its priorities backwards

Moved away at the end of summer for work, haven’t really had a reason to go downtown now when I’m in the area. Interesting context from the ARB. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the developer saving on cost to appease the original letter of the ARB comments.

I haven’t been downtown since last Fall, the progress on this looks good. The surface parking and street facing garage were points of contention during design review. The pocket park and landscaping is a great way to activate the street, especially for patrons of The Vanguard waiting for an Uber at the end of the night. The mural could’ve been a bit bigger to mask the garage. More surprising, it looks like there’s a temporary sidewalk in front of the construction site! Not long ago there were 4 sidewalk closures between Orange and Central at the same time forcing you to cross the road or walk in the street.

Really sad to hear this news. Spenser brought a great deal of insight and passion to this forum, which gave it life IMO (and yes that includes the political back and forth). Always appreciated the historical context and tidbits from the previous eras of the City. I hope he finds the downtown in the sky that brings him peace.

Most people would call the landside building 3 levels (or 4 if you count the walkway to the parking garage). GOAA uses level numbers to coincide with the garage, hence the top floor being numbered 6. They did the same in the ITF/Train Station with the building levels being numbered 1/3/5.

There’s definitely no sidewalk connections from Semoran/436 and Goldenrod to the north, Boggy Creek Rd to the south, or alongside the airport’s main road, Jeff Fuqua Blvd. Doesn’t stop people from risking traffic to complete their journey. Ideally busses into the airport would offer a free connection from the last stop on 436 into the airport to avoid people walking across a dangerous intersection.

That’s what they mean, the 4 gate expansion is back underway.

Hopefully they’ll connect the sidewalk on the east side from Equilibre down to Lucky Lure with this.

This confused me as well last week. I think they don’t put the Ivanhoe/408 pricing underneath so that if it raises they don’t have to honor the price you saw up at EE Williamson. One of the downsides of running it like a business instead of a public utility.

Completed my first SunRail train journey in months today and was surprised not only to see the train full but also everyone properly wearing masks. Lynx Central station is starting to look a little dingy, which is a shame. Hopefully when Society opens they’ll spruce the place back up. Leaving the southbound Sand Lake Road platform is a surprisingly dangerous affair. People walk in front of a train that’s about to depart to save a few minutes while a NB Amtrak train barrels towards them. If there’s one station that needs a bridge, it’s here. Waiting for the “Plane to Train” connector is an odd experience. There’s no sight line to the road and barely anyone around. Tranquil during the day, eerie at night. Not knowing if the next bus will show up doesn’t quite help. All in all a 35 minute trip from downtown to the airport. Not bad for Orlando standards, but definitely room for improvement.

View from the SB SunRail platform

Wait, how long ago did they paint Central Station? Also if anyone hasn’t had the opportunity to check out any of the PMG sister properties , they pool decks and amenity areas are on another level. Looking forward to seeing what this one has to offer!

Geographically Lake Nona doesn’t belong in the City limits. It’s over 15 miles from City Hall via the shortest path, which takes you out of the City. The only road that stays within the City is Semoran Blvd. I’m sure most people don’t realize Lake Nona is actually in the City limits. The City of Orlando has been an excellent proponent for Lake Nona. However, cities have limited resources and when Orlando focus on Lake Nona it takes attention away from the rest of the City. Lake Nona is a very successful development story and will always be a net plus for the l Orlando region. I just feel particularly about Nona being it’s own place.

I think Lake Nona should be it’s own city. I think that’s why it feels off to me. It’s got a lot of good bones, it needs a city hall and government services there to make it feel more authentic.

Apparently the Amtrak train going past right now did not get the memo.

@codypet Fair enough, I still think it’s a poor design here because of the volume of traffic intending to go WB on I-4 from WB 50. A large number of drivers know they can chance it by merging mid-intersection with a high success rate. If infrastructure leads to bad and unsafe driving habits it’s bad infrastructure.

While this signage may be MUTCD compliant, I'd hardly call it clear as day. Splitting left lanes or whatever the heck this is should be illegal and frowned upon. The decision point here is "am I making a left turn" not "am I making a lefty left or a righty left". The fact that drivers merge in the middle of the intersection is a clear indication that the majority of traffic wants to go on I-4. This would flow a lot better if it looked like the ramp to EB I-4/Garland, with two lanes going to I-4 and one lane splitting off for SB Hughey.

I'd agree that we need more destinations downtown beyond food and drink and that our retail and cultural attractions needs to both attract people downtown and enhance the quality of life for the downtown residents. I'd also agree that Ivanhoe is at the right intersection between the CBD, College Park, and Winter Park to be a successful choice. All good points. To clarify, I don't think Orlando has the forward drive and formula to facilitate dense mixed use developments that highlight the principles of urbanism you describe. My fear is that we raze Ivanhoe Village in the name of density and actually end up with a less inviting area that people don't want to visit anymore. We're great at letting neighborhoods form organically, not so much when it comes to planned developments. I'm also not saying save LIS forever, I just don't think it should be first on the chopping block.

I just don’t think keeping up with the jones’s is the right move for this particular parcel. The fundamental question is whether or not the parcel is broken. It’s on a quieter side of the lake right next to a major interstate. It’s basically a dead end. Of all the parcels to develop this just feels like the wrong one to want to see razed. To your point - how can we develop a better city if we do not accommodate the people who give it life? Surely the janitor, the barista, the teacher, the lawyer, the doctor, and the waiter should all be able to live in their city, close to their work. We cannot be a playground for the rich, we must be a playground for all. And we cannot be a sandbox for developers to swoop in, swoop out and leave us with a crappy tall wooden box. We know what we’ll get - apartments there cost more than the Yard and Lake House and I just don’t know who can afford those things.

The idea that green/shaded public spaces and affordable housing are not key to any successful city/town/truck stop is absurd. Orlando is a city of neighorhoods, each with its own appeal. And if you look at the successful and trendy areas of this city it’s not the areas with high rises. I love dense mixed use as much as the next person but we haven’t cracked the code on how to make it not lifeless. Until then I’ll advocate for the pink apartments to stay, for a signature redevelopment of the Sentinel site and for Mills to go on a road diet all while driving my way over to Beefy King for lunch.

It’s amazing that we can have this realization and not want to pair it with investing in SunRail.

No light on Weber if the original concept is still in play. Orange crossing is a diagonal at Marks. Magnolia crossing is without a signal.

No, the deli family still owns in. I asked a while back and they said they've been approached about selling.