Vertical Medical City | 40-Story Medical High Rise [Proposed]

[dcluley98]

They replied to my tweet and according to whoever is running their social media: "There is an equity partnership for construction, but will remain undisclosed until official announcement at ground breaking." 

[HankStrong]

Don't doubt my tower!  VMC is where it's at!

[dcluley98]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RedStar25]

On 4/23/2019 at 7:18 AM, HankStrong said:

I'd put you in an ALF now, if that helps!   

I second the motion. 

[spenser1058]

49 minutes ago, RedStar25 said:

I second the motion. 

Oh my!

[Dale]

All the chattering on this thread belies a nervousness that this might actually get built.

[spenser1058]

11 minutes ago, Dale said:

All the chattering on this thread belies a nervousness that this might actually get built.

My chattering has to do with the fact that nothing about this project makes sense from a usual perspective. Accordingly, there’s some other agenda at play if we may assume Ms. Ponte is a rational person.

I want to know what that agenda is in order to determine if it’s good for the local community.

In the Coffee House, I posted an article from the Sentinel cheerleading for the construction of Tradition Towers. Many here were all in favor of it simply because it was a nice-looking tall building. In fact, the players behind it were rotten to the core.

Ignoring that cost more than a few Orlandoans a lot of time and money. From a UP perspective, it likely also diverted resources from other projects that were actually viable.

As always, the truth shall set you free.

[dcluley98]

29 minutes ago, Dale said:

All the chattering on this thread belies a nervousness that this might actually get built.

With recent developments and with Parsons now leading the development effort, I think there is a lot higher chance it happens. Still a long way to go. Financing is the key issue. This is why I have been digging on them for details about financing, equity partners, and the lease of the property. I am still a bit skeptical, but trying to dig deeper to see if they actually are making progress on funding. 

I actually really like the design of the building and hope it gets built!  

[HankStrong]

2 hours ago, Dale said:

All the chattering on this thread belies a nervousness that this might actually get built.

Not from me.  It's happening! SOMEONE POST THE GIF!

[dcluley98]

Here are the images from the Master Plan that Jacobs submitted for VMC. It IS proposed as 440' tall and will include 955 dwelling units for a spectrum of residential assisted living for senior citizens with advanced support service, Class A medical office, healthcare research,  urban agriculture. There is groundfloor retail and out-door cafe proposed for the NE corner of the building at the intersection of Garland and Orange, a roundabout on Garland for the main entrance that leads into a courtyard with drop-off/pick up turnaround, and other amenities such as gardens and green roof. The courtyard has multiple levels, with a "sanctuary garden" over top of the garage, and then an opening below to the drop-off circle and main tower entrance at grade. 

Really good looking design IMO. 

Edited May 2, 2019 by dcluley98

[spenser1058]

Urban agriculture now? Why is it with each new post they throw in yet another gimmick? Heck, at least with Lutheran Towers you got a church up top which matters to most old folks.

I also have to ask the New Coke question: has anyone focus grouped the local grannies to see how many of them want to live jammed up by I4 on one side and a multi lane Orange Avenue on the other?

I’ve lived downtown in an urban environment most of my life unlike most boomers who have lived in the ‘burbs. I know I wouldn’t consider this as the place I’d want to live my last years. Has Ms Ponte gotten out of Chicago for an hour to talk to real people? Sorry, but this is a colossal joke. 

Edited May 2, 2019 by spenser1058

[gibby]

They're designing around the billboard.  With such a large project, I'd expect they'd be able to buy out that lease.

[AmIReal]

1 hour ago, spenser1058 said:

at least with Lutheran Towers you got a church up top which matters to most old folks.

I'd rather have a garden than a church...

 

1 hour ago, spenser1058 said:

has anyone focus grouped the local grannies

that is not the target market for high end senior residential

 

1 hour ago, spenser1058 said:

but this is a colossal joke. 

this part I agree with

Edited May 2, 2019 by AmIReal
sp

[spenser1058]

Compare Westminster in WP, which has a tower, assisted living and more in an urban but peaceful setting. 

If you were a Lawrence Welk fan, where would YOU want to live?

(Let’s Also note they have a PROFESSIONAL website.)

http://www.westminsterwinterparkfl.org/

This IS high-end senior residential.

Edited May 2, 2019 by spenser1058

[jrs2]

11 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

Compare Westminster in WP, which has a tower, assisted living and more in an urban but peaceful setting. 

If you were a Lawrence Welk fan, where would YOU want to live?

(Let’s Also note they have a PROFESSIONAL website.)

http://www.westminsterwinterparkfl.org/

This IS high-end senior residential.

isn't that the same deal with the assisted living tower off of Church east of Rosalind?  Much better neighborhood than at Orange & Garland and less busy and more tree cover too.

[spenser1058]

3 minutes ago, jrs2 said:

isn't that the same deal with the assisted living tower off of Church east of Rosalind?  Much better neighborhood than at Orange & Garland and less busy and more tree cover too.

Yes, that’s Orlando Lutheran Towers. 

My guess is that Ms. Ponte sees Lake Ivanhoe a few blocks away and assumes it’s a nice easy stroll like Lake Eola is from OLT. It’s anything but.

Again, has she ever left The Loop to see what she’s proposing? 

[jrs2]

11 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

Yes, that’s Orlando Lutheran Towers. 

My guess is that Ms. Ponte sees Lake Ivanhoe a few blocks away and assumes it’s a nice easy stroll like Lake Eola is from OLT. It’s anything but.

Again, has she ever left The Loop to see what she’s proposing? 

Ummmm….NO.  She has never left The Loop. 

Also, something that is misleading is that when you look at downtown Orlando, the city blocks are huge compared to other cities like Tampa and even Chicago.  So they probably count from light to light and think it's a short distance when it's not.

[spenser1058]

3 minutes ago, jrs2 said:

Ummmm….NO.  She has never left The Loop. 

Also, something that is misleading is that when you look at downtown Orlando, the city blocks are huge compared to other cities like Tampa and even Chicago.  So they probably count from light to light and think it's a short distance when it's not.

That’s a great point and makes sense given our downtown wasn’t constrained by water and wasn’t set up for lots of workers at shipyards or factories. People forget the primary employment centers in Orlando were never downtown so affordable housing within walking distance for workers really wasn’t part of the equation.

[dcluley98]

I have no real comment about the feasibility of the project or the funding. I think the design itself looks great though. The location could be better, but the building itself has many very good features. It is in kind of no-man's land up there next to the hotels and hemmed in by the train tracks and Garland/I-4. Having lived in NQ for quite a while and ridden my bike, walked all throughout the area, that corner is like an isolated island with nothing around it. Lake Ivanhoe park is not that far away, but you are stuck crossing some very busy streets in order to get there, including what will be the new on-ramp from Magnolia to I-4 out of DT, however, the Orlando Urban Trail extension might fix that somewhat.  The lot would be better served for a project like Novel Lucerne, with similar height and density and maybe a grocery story on the bottom. 

I really like the architecture of the building itself compared to other lame, stubby designs we get in Orlando. The shape of the building, the exterior skin, and the green elements are well done (unlike that ridiculous looking "green wall" bs that X-Orlando was proposing). The courtyard and balconies look neat, but I wonder why they oriented the elevated garden toward a large highway interchange instead of toward the lake.  I am rooting for this to get built on the sheer desire to have a cool looking building finally built. And maybe we can get some more traction in NQ area for retail tenants or perhaps a grocery store/bodega/CVS if the critical mass of this project happens. 

[jrs2]

56 minutes ago, dcluley98 said:

 It is in kind of no-man's land up there next to the hotels and hemmed in by the train tracks and Garland/I-4. Having lived in NQ for quite a while and ridden my bike, walked all throughout the area, that corner is like an isolated island with nothing around it. 

Which...which...should make us support it's construction even more...  because if Ponte can pull this off and build in a very odd lot in downtown, then...anything can be done in this downtown...

[spenser1058]

2 minutes ago, jrs2 said:

Which...which...should make us support it's construction even more...  because if Ponte can pull this off and build in a very odd lot in downtown, then...anything can be done in this downtown...

And, with each post, they add more stuff. By next week, it’ll have a bowling alley, an ice skating rink, a funeral home and a Nieman-Marcus and I’ll be all in!

[Uncommon]

54 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

And, with each post, they add more stuff. By next week, it’ll have a bowling alley, an ice skating rink, a funeral home and a Nieman-Marcus and I’ll be all in!

That honestly would be incredible. I’m sold, and I’m not even 35.

EDIT: Spenser, can’t we just live a little? As the mayor of Exasperation City, Ponce seems to own a good bit of real estate in your town. I think most people agree this has little chance of being built. So why be incessantly opposed? It really doesn’t seem like ANYONE is getting their hopes up.  Like a married woman allowing a younger man to flatter her, what’s the harm?

Edited May 2, 2019 by Uncommon

[spenser1058]

24 minutes ago, Uncommon said:

That honestly would be incredible. I’m sold, and I’m not even 35.

EDIT: Spenser, can’t we just live a little? As the mayor of Exasperation City, Ponce seems to own a good bit of real estate in your town. I think most people agree this has little chance of being built. So why be incessantly opposed? It really doesn’t seem like ANYONE is getting their hopes up.  Like a married woman allowing a younger man to flatter her, what’s the harm?

I suspect it’s a generational thing. Quaint as it may seem in the internet age, I came up as a budding journalist in the era of Woodward and Bernstein. Even on high school newspapers and as an intern at the old Pine Hills Sun, you just simply didn’t let fake news pass. You also had diligent editors to provide context when younger reporters didn’t understand how the trip from Point A to Point B affected the outcome.

To just accept something that has no solid background behind it makes me crazy. When people actually committed journalism in print, this would never have seen the light of day. 

This is part of a real problem. There will always be a New York Times or even the news side of the Wall Street Journal to keep events honest at the national level.

Locally, however, OBJ and even the Sentinel let fluff slip through as holy writ. Business news has every bit as much impact as political news. 

Edited May 2, 2019 by spenser1058

[AmIReal]

17 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

To just accept something that has no solid background behind it makes me crazy.

This project has already gone way past the point that it would have been included in most print sources, even in the golden age you allude to. They have permits and they have architects. That is reportable news by most standards. I doubt it gets out of the ground, but since I do not know Ms. Ponte I don't have anything good nor bad to say about her or her project. I hope somebody builds something on this site and I'd be fine if it was her.

[spenser1058]

8 minutes ago, AmIReal said:

This project has already gone way past the point that it would have been included in most print sources, even in the golden age you allude to. They have permits and they have architects. That is reportable news by most standards. I doubt it gets out of the ground, but since I do not know Ms. Ponte I don't have anything good nor bad to say about her or her project. I hope somebody builds something on this site and I'd be fine if it was her.

Again, it’s all about context. If it made it past the news desk, a business news colunnist  or an analyst would have printed a companion piece raising all the red flags.

Again, see the Tradition Towers article I posted in the Coffee House. According to it, there should be twin towers across from the library today.

Instead, all you had to do was look at the previous track record to know Broad Street Partners had no experience in Class A towers. Some basic investigative work would have led one to conclude all was not well with Steve Walsh.

None of that happened and people lost money and buildings are hat could have been built instead did not because resources were wasted on a pipe dream.

That’s called journalism. Whether it’s done on TV or in print or online, it makes a difference. 

The same sort of thing happened with The Orlando World Trade Center and the fellow behind Mingus and a bogusly acquired chain of hotels (including at UCF and what’s now Creative Village).

All along the way, cheerleaders here and other places online we’re cheering them on like everything was legit. It wasn’t.

Then there’s the 7-Star resort which led to a bankruptcy. No last minute fleeing the country or criminal pasts here, just people losing money unnecessarily because not enough questions were asked.

Isn’t it also just good to know if something is really going to happen? That’s the most basic definition of news.

But, hey, I understand that the truth simply doesn’t matter here - we just want the Rosy Scenario. I concede and shall no longer burden you. Farewell.