pomegranate

Don't know, but several years ago Pelloni was working with Baker Barrios and they ended up having a dispute. I think he was served with a lien at one point over unpaid services.

Good point. It may be an exercise in futility, because from what I've heard, the developer offered him a highly inflated amount. Unless he plans to accept a lower amount just for spite. That would be a shame.

The cash register guy now has a "for sale" sign out front. I wonder what he is asking.

Well, the owner of that business (Lust Cash Tansactors) is in his 70s, so there may be some emotional attachment to the property where he has done business for many years. But according to property appraisal records, he is claiming the homestead exemption on it, which I suppose means that he is claiming to live there. That is just astounding to me. The place was built in 1925 and it is not being maintained; looks like it is positively rat infested -- trash everywhere, broken windows, you name it. It would seem to me that there are some code enforcement issues there which aren't being enforced. And once this beautiful development goes up, perhaps something might be done about it -- at least to clean the property up. For the record, here is a story on the subject that ran in the Sentinel in February, which I found through Google... Project to smother holdout's business Mark Schlueb Sentinel Staff Writer February 20, 2006 Packed inside Mark Lust's shop are hundreds of typewriters and cash registers. There are old black Underwoods that weigh as much as a boat anchor and shiny brass registers with baroque finishes made by early-1900s craftsmen. But outside, the modern world is pressing in. A Lake Mary company has taken an interest in the block on Mills Avenue where Lust has spent nearly three decades fixing and selling typewriters and registers at Lust Cash Transactors. Pelloni Development Inc. plans 564 apartments and condos, 270,000 square feet of offices and 80,000 square feet of shops and restaurants. Most of the 14 acres is now home to Mills & Nebraska Lumber, an Orlando mainstay for more than 70 years. But the owners of the lumberyard agreed to sell. Lust is holding out. "I'd like to get enough money to move and enough money to duplicate what I've got. That's all. And I don't see anything wrong with that," said Lust, who is in his 70s. Developer Justin Pelloni said he offered Lust $150 per square foot, higher than the going rate in downtown Orlando and an amount one commercial broker described as "extraordinarily generous." When that failed, he offered Lust a new shop and a condo in his development. "We offered him about 10 times market value per square foot anywhere," Pelloni said. "We don't begrudge him anything. We want to be good neighbors." No dice. "The developer never made me any kind of bona fide offer," Lust insists. So the wheels of progress just might roll over Mark Lust. Current plans call for wrapping the development around his shop, surrounding it on every side but the street front. Pelloni said he would still like to work with Lust but can do just fine without his property. "They figure I'm so small they can smother me," Lust said. "I'm old enough to have seen changes that have matured over the years -- for better or worse. I can survive."

As of this afternoon, someone has spray painted "demo" signs in neon orange on all of the buildings, basically from Virginia all the way north, nearly to Will's Pub. I hope our graffiti artist is not at it again, and that this is for real. All of the businesses are vacated by now, too. I wish there were more info on the timing of when construction will begin.

I was only there a couple of times but I remember jazz and swing. It was very high end and I think the wine cellar, at the time, was the largest (or among the largest) in the Orlando area. This was in the mid-'90s.... it wasn't downtown though; it was in Longwood at 434 and I-4, in the Jacobson's shopping plaza. It was a long drive from downtown, but worth it... and they had a *great* bar. Very clubby and masculine, with lots of mahoghany. We need something like that downtown.

Lots of "moving sale" signs in the windows of businesses on this property. Hope this means we will see some activity soon.

Is there a rendition or a model of what the proposed PAC would look like?

I did ask you to refrain, in so many words, when I expressed that I felt like I'd entered a locker room. I'm sorry you perceived that as whining and exaggerating. My point was that it's not appropriate on a forum such as this to make jokes about ****-ing fat women, or old women, or black women, or gays, or teen-age cheerleaders, or whatever other group that some TV show deems fair game. I don't -- or didn't -- think that's why a lot of us come here. That's all. By the way, the forum rules do state: The following may constitute a warning, suspension and finally banning which will be decided by the moderator for that forum(s): o Foul mouth (though we have taken precautions against certain uses of words) o Posting of material that would be deemed inappropriate for all ages. I'm off my soapbox now. I didn't mean to start anything. Have a great day and enjoy your TV show. I just thought the original comment was kind of shocking, that's all.

I agree! I can't look at those renderings without getting a dizzy feeling in my stomach! I wouldn't even set foot on one of those balconies. One cocktail too many, and it's whoops-a-daisy!

Interesting point. I would add that a

We've gone from "You wanna see my record collection?"...... to, "You wanna see the view from my condo balcony?"

Another perspective -- taken this afternoon.

I took this the other morning just before they took the Christmas star down. I couldn't help but think how different this view will be one year from now....

Is Church Street still blocked off? Does anyone have an update or pix?

Wow!

No way!

Taken this morning -- the lighting wasn't so good but you get the general idea:

Maybe your birdy got that info from a cover story that ran in the Sentinel about a week ago. Median housing prices have skyrocketed across Orlando during the past two years (increasing 55% on average), with one exception. And I'm quoting from the article here: Only one ZIP code in all of Central Florida actually recorded a decline in its median home price during the past two years: 32801, the very heart of downtown Orlando. But that's only because a cascade of apartment-to-condominium conversions starting in 2004 have flooded the market with hundreds of relatively small and inexpensive "homes" for sale; while the median price per dwelling is down, the average price per square foot in the city center was up 44 percent during the same period. All of their data came from the metro Orlando realtors association, and it said that from October of 2004 to October of 2005, the median cost of a home/condo in downtown went from $250,500 to $227,891 -- a 9% decline. However, the price per square foot across the 32801 zip code went from $175 to $227 -- a 29% increase. As you can see from the quote above, the increase was even higher in the business district. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/custom...builder-navsrvc

I didn't realize it was so beautiful in there. Thanks for giving us a glimpse.

Both of them are beautiful! Thanks for sharing!

It will change the character of that whole block. In the history of Church Street, 55 West will be the transcontinental divide. Nothing will ever be the same before or after.... I can't wait!

Maybe they're from the same group of thugs who set the building on fire in the first place.

Oy! So well said! I remember those days about 8 years ago... recently one of my friends from that era came back for a visit, and for old times' sake we headed over to Orange Avenue. Our first impression was that we had entered a scene from "Animal House." I'm waiting for a decent jazz club to open up, or something along the lines of the old Monaco Cocktail Bar. Hope it won't be a long wait. Until then, there's always Thornton Park.