FrigginGr8est

Seriously, I do not mean to offend anyone, but saying that a new luxury 2/2 unit with 2 parking spaces is just "priced right" at $250K is a bit much. Over the past 2 years construction material costs have shot up over 30%. A 2/2 at The Paramount sells for over $400K with one parking space, a second space is an additional $35K. I am willing to bet that the $250K starting bid is below what it cost to construct (or at least what it would cost to construct today - can anyone in the construction industry verify this?) and the reason the developer is offering it at that price is that he is hurting for money and these units were already sold once and the buyers walked away, losing their 10% deposit, so the developer already has over $30K towards these units. Note that the developer is offering about half of his inventory in this auction, not all. If my money wasn't tied up in other projects, I would grab one of these babies. As for the noise, that's part of living in a downtown area. You want noise? Come stay in my Manhattan apt, in the city that never sleeps. Hard to believe, but you get used to it and don't notice it after a while. BTW, a 2/2 like this in Manhattan without any parking or a pool and maybe an exercise room would sell for around 1.5 mill. The only noise I experienced INSIDE my Solaire unit came from the balcony door which had no weather stripping and a single pane window. The developer weather stripped the door and the noise has been cut down tremendously. As for the small bedrooms, again, welcome to downtown living.

Info regarding The Solaire condo auction on March 1st: http://www.liveatsolaire.com/

Article in Forbes ranks Orlando #9 in America's fastest growing metros http://www.forbes.com/2008/01/30/economy-c...econcities.html

Sorry if you misunderstood fender, my comments were not directed towards you but towards the developer and the article.

What about my view at The Solaire if TT gets built??? Can I sue too?? This is too funny. They should have bought the air rights if they were worried. A 42 story tower would be sweeeet. Sorry about your view, live with it. Im going to have to.

No offense, but it does not seem feasable that one person is an expert on construction, construction financing, banking, airlines, airports, municiple governments and government funding. Hi, my name is Elmer Fudd, I own a mansion and a yacht .

My understanding is that you cannot get Federal funding for a road if it has tolls. Therefore, I think all I (Interstate) roads are toll free and receive federal funds for maintenance and upgrading.

The condo docs restrict the number of units that can be rented. That number has been reached and anyone else that wants to rent gets put on a waiting list. I put my name on that list when I closed last April. I got called in Dec saying that I can rent my unit, but, since I already moved in, have a corner unit with a great view of lake eola, and the delay on my unit in 55W, I opted out and requested that I be put back on the bottom of the list. So, I dont think people will buy with the intent to rent.

Is Kuhn turning into a Lou Pearlman Jr sans the boy touching thing? Maybe he needs to start a boy band to play lunch concerts at The Plaza to get things going, just a thought.

won't really matter if you call room service for a bottle of Grey Goose the night before.

just received this today: January 30, 2008 Hello, we wanted to keep you informed on the progress of 55 West as a follow up to the previous press release. Grosse Pointe Development, the new Developer, is in process of making great decisions for the tower. At this point, it is looking very likely that the tower will be turned into mixed use with the West side being converted to a hotel. For the buyers who bought on the West side, you would be moved to an equivalent unit type on the East side, which is viewed as more desirable. A great asset is that the hotel would provide a variety of services which would be available to the condo owners. The two sides would be separate and exclusive to each use, but condo owners would benefit from shared amenities and services. This type of project has worked very well in many downtowns across the country. We appreciate your patience as to there are still many details to be determined. We will definitely keep you informed. Grosse Pointe anticipates residential condo closings to begin in the last quarter of 2008. Buyers can receive deposits plus interest back at this time and or with the release of the new condo documents within the next few months. If you wish to keep your contract, the Developer will honor your original contract. We will work with you individually for the placement of your condo once we have all the proper information. Grosse Pointe Development has great expertise and success in building high rise condominiums and mixed-use projects. They are definitely an asset to this project and Orlando. Together with their professionalism, knowledge and experience, our team is the committed to making 55 West a great place to live and a landmark in downtown Orlando. At this time, we are trying to get a count for the Developer so that they can make the proper decisions as to those who would like to cancel or keep their contract. Please email: [email protected] or [email protected] with your intent. We know that many of you have contract prices that are below current market pricing and we are happy to provide an analysis of your price as compared to the current market. As always, feel free to call us at 407-841-5583 or stop by the sales studio. We look forward to hearing from you and to the great future for 55 West. Carol Veal & Carri Tisdell

I agree this is a good thing, maybe the Ferrari dealership will convince other high end retailers to open up shop DT. Be nice if Church eventually turns into a Rodeo Drive (wishful thinking).

Most of the noise comes from around the balcony door, which is not weatherstripped and has a single pane window as apposed to double pane everywhere else. I realy think they used doors that were meant for interior use (cheaper) on the balconies. The hindges are already strarting to rust and it doesnt sound like they have any insulation. I complained about the noise coming through the door and lack of weatherstripping and they told me they installed weatherstripping (Im in New York for about a month so I cant tell if it was done or if it helps). Any items on the interior of the unit that you missed during the walk through will not be warranted. That's why you need to do the walk through any new condo with a fine tooth comb.

The floorplans for the Duplex and Penthouse units have been removed from thier website. Guess they're redesigning the top floors. This should be interesting.

I think this is just a temporary lull in downtown construction partially due to the credit meltdown and also partially due to the old chicken and the egg problem. To be a viable downtown, you need services, such as supermarkets, hardware stores, dry cleaners, clothing stores, restaurants, movie theatres and other services within walking distance or short public transportation distance for the residents. Part of the reason people move to a city core is the convenience of being able to walk to work and not deal with a long commute, or to be able to do their shopping without driving. Downtown Orlando does not (save for restaurants) have these. Where can I go to have a key made or buy paint, or groceries or any other number of things a household needs without driving? On the other hand, how would these businesses survive without people living close by to patronize their services? Now I think we are getting close to the density needed to sustain these services and make them viable. Once these services are in place, I think you'll see a resurgence in demand for downtown housing.

Ooops, just found this in my mailbox: 55 West on the Esplanade January 15, 2008 Hello, we wanted to send you a copy of the press release sent out today. Please know that this is a positive step for 55 West and its future. Bob Hensley, CEO of Grosse Pointe Development, invites you to visit their website at www.gpdevelopment.com. The Development and Sales team want you to know that you are a valued part of 55 West. We look forward to our continued partnership and will be in touch with you personally very soon. Sincerely, Carol Veal & Carri Tisdell 55 West Sales Team FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Grosse Pointe Development Tapped to Develop/Manage 55 West ORLANDO, FL January 14, 2008 Grosse Pointe Development Company, Inc. has been selected to serve as consulting developer for the completion of 55 West on the Esplanade as a mixed-use project. The 34-story project will contain condominium units, retail and parking. Grosse Pointe Development is exploring options of repositioning the project so that it may contain a condominium hotel, boutique all-suite hotel, and office space. The 80,000 square feet of retail/restaurant space will remain. The 12-story, 1,180-stall parking garage will feature a heavily landscaped area on top with a pool. Completion is anticipated for November 2008. The announcement was made today by Bob Hensley, CEO of Grosse Pointe Development, which is headquartered in Fort Myers and has a regional office in downtown Orlando. The company has successfully developed projects on Florida's Gulf Coast, including Tarpon Point Marina, Bell Tower Park, and Palmas Del Sol. The management staff at Grosse Pointe Development has more than 115 years of experience in creating exemplary projects. Their expertise includes every aspect of project and construction management, sales and marketing, financial and accounting, and customer service. "With Orlando's revitalized downtown core, filled with entertainment and sports options, we believe 55 West will most benefit the citizens of Orlando and visitors to the City Beautiful as a true mixed-use project," said Bob Hensley. 55 West {sodEmoji.|} 54 W Church Street Ste 151 {sodEmoji.|} Orlando {sodEmoji.|} FL {sodEmoji.|} 32801

This is also a great chess move by 55W. Announcing a hotel to be put into a project that is already being built and close to completion puts one more nail in Tradition Tower's coffin.

In the article: "Along with a change in developers will come a change in focus. Hensley says the project will still contain residential condos, but Grosse Pointe is considering adding a boutique suite-oriented hotel and office space. " My question is: my 2/2 is on the 14th floor, is the hotel going to be on the lower floors which I hope means I get a higher floor (sweeeet) and what about the loft units around the parking decks. This is a very interesting development

1) we have this thing called night 2) for the amount of money I spent, I think they could have chosen better looking light fixtures, including putting light fixtures/fans in the bedrooms and living room which had none. Btw, some of those penthouse windows look like they would be a b*tch to reach to clean. Anyone else have scratches on their windows? They're not willing to do anything about it since I didnt catch them during my walkthrough. My punch list had like 75 items as it was including cracked counters and mirror which I guess they thought I wouldnt notice. Also, the noise from Wallstreet comes right through my balcony door which had no weatherstripping at all. They agreed to install it.

America's airlines proved how smart they are by losing billions over the past 7 years, deferring upgrading their fleets (Northwest Airlines average age of its planes is OVER 30 years) with many of the majors going through bankruptcy. Rather than losing landing slots and gates at busy airports, our smart airlines would rather fly empty planes to keep them. So maybe their model isn't working and needs to be reworked. Sucess? What sucess?

Im glad to see that the penthouse got the same crappy light fixtures that my 2/2 got

I like it too. Hope it gets built.

Here's the link. This is a lawsuit by the condo-offices in the north tower and has nothing to do with The Solaire residential condos. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/or...0,3071002.story

New 49 story tower being planned for tourist corridor. Planned to be central Florida's tallest. Now Im getting effing jealous! Damn you FAA! http://orlando.bizjournals.com/orlando/hig...1.html?ana=e_ph

I hear Rosen just became Methodist and joined the church to vote against it.