55 West

[bic]

I still don't understand how 55 West and its surroundings are going to co-exist peacefully. I've gone out the last two nights downtown, each night parking in the SunTrust garage, crossing the railroad tracks, walking past 55 West down Church St., and going to a bar/club. At the end of each night, I walked back to the car and encountered a freight train with its horn blaring almost continuously as it passed through downtown at 1:30-2:45am. That was in addition to the already loud streetlife and extremely loud sounds coming from the Lattitudes roofdeck adjacent to 55 West. I don't care how "soundproof" they make the units at 55 West-- it's not going to keep residents from hearing that train's horn at all hours of the day and night. Yes, commuter rail will be taking over those tracks soon, but that will only increase the frequency of train crossings during the day....and with the freight getting to travel through downtown only in the middle of the night, there will be increased frequency at night as well. And then there's the new fire station that's going to be built on 55 West's backside...

It's a fine building in an otherwise great location but that noise is going to be a killer. I truly feel sorry for its future residents.

[nicahrens]

I still don't understand how 55 West and its surroundings are going to co-exist peacefully. I've gone out the last two nights downtown, each night parking in the SunTrust garage, crossing the railroad tracks, walking past 55 West down Church St., and going to a bar/club. At the end of each night, I walked back to the car and encountered a freight train with its horn blaring almost continuously as it passed through downtown at 1:30-2:45am. That was in addition to the already loud streetlife and extremely loud sounds coming from the Lattitudes roofdeck adjacent to 55 West. I don't care how "soundproof" they make the units at 55 West-- it's not going to keep residents from hearing that train's horn at all hours of the day and night. Yes, commuter rail will be taking over those tracks soon, but that will only increase the frequency of train crossings during the day....and with the freight getting to travel through downtown only in the middle of the night, there will be increased frequency at night as well. And then there's the new fire station that's going to be built on 55 West's backside...

It's a fine building in an otherwise great location but that noise is going to be a killer. I truly feel sorry for its future residents.

that does all make sense, but i will say that when i lived at park north on orange ave, we lived on the tracks and i was on the 4th floor. the train never bothered me at all, i could hardly hear it and thats the 4th floor; i am sure the ppl in 55west will be fine. and truthfully, the distant noise of the horn was almost peaceful and i got used to it and it took time to go to bed without hearing it at night once i moved away.

[sunshine]

I thought noise is part of living at urban environment.

[bic]

The majority of Orlando's population is used to living in the suburbs in single family homes or sprawling apartment complexes. As these hi-rise condo projects get finished, I'm sure there will be some people who end up being surprised by everything that comes with urban living.

It's a lot like when the Lotus Elise first came to America in 2005. Tons of people pre-ordered the car without ever seeing it in person just because it sounded great on paper-- fast, go-kart like handling, crazy "look at me" styling, supercar characteristics for $39-40,000 (at the time), and because it was the new "it" thing. But once people starting taking delivery of the car, many were surprised to learn that the car is EXTREMELY small, the ride is harsh because of the stiff suspension, it's hard to get in and out of, the stereo is pretty weak, there are NO amenities inside the cabin, trunk space is minimal, its fiberglass clamshell is extremely fragile, it's difficult to use as a daily driver, it rides 4 inches off the ground and will easily scrape speedbumps, ramps, curbs, parking stops, driveways, etc. So shortly after the car came out, all of a sudden the market was flooded with used Elise's that had less than 5,000 miles on them basically because all of these owners couldn't handle living with all of the quirks that come with driving an Elise. Even today, there are a TON of used Elise's that hardly have any miles on them (and cheap too). Also the fact that Lotus produced too many cars in the first couple of years also didn't help.

I see the possibility for the same sort of thing to happen in Orlando. Lots of condos coming online at the same time and people moving in who might not turn out liking nuisances that come with the product they purchased. Some will leave, the majority will stay, and there's a chance for some NIMBYism to pop up when the new residents who become protective of their neighborhood start to speak up about the abundance of loud music, train horns, vagrants, and drunks outside of their building.

Don't get me wrong, I think this new wave of urbanism downtown will be a great success but it won't be without some growing pains.

[ORLANDOJBBOY]

As I drove around yesterday, I got sucked into the Anderson Street/I-4 on-ramp detour, which turned out to be pretty interesting because I got to see an angle of the skyline I've never seen before. Somewhere on Division just near the 408, you can get a great, nearly unobstructed view that shows all of our tallest buildings together and makes it look like a dense (yet long) skyline. I didn't get a chance to take a picture, though.

Aww, the Anderson Ramp getting off I4, i love that ramp so much i feel like i am taking off and then diving back down into the city when i get off that ramp, then if you are lucky you can get the light green and not slow down make a left onto Boone and go in between the garage and building with the walkover above you and 55 W rising in front its so cool. I hope that exit stays cool once they redo it, if not im gonna miss it.

[JRS1]

Aww, the Anderson Ramp getting off I4, i love that ramp so much i feel like i am taking off and then diving back down into the city when i get off that ramp, then if you are lucky you can get the light green and not slow down make a left onto Boone and go in between the garage and building with the walkover above you and 55 W rising in front its so cool. I hope that exit stays cool once they redo it, if not im gonna miss it.

I just did that yesterday...

remember, add in the new OUC bldg. hugging Anderson on the right once it's built.

[pip]

that does all make sense, but i will say that when i lived at park north on orange ave, we lived on the tracks and i was on the 4th floor. the train never bothered me at all, i could hardly hear it and thats the 4th floor; i am sure the ppl in 55west will be fine. and truthfully, the distant noise of the horn was almost peaceful and i got used to it and it took time to go to bed without hearing it at night once i moved away.

true, the train noise off in the distance, (a few blocks away), is actually a positive for me..really cool to hear during the night. Bic's point though about 55W i've wondered myself. Being right on-top of the tracks can turn that peaceful horn in the distance to a huge jolt! are residents going to be prepared for that? the street noise, well will build up from wed to sat at night. i've gotten used to it living on central, just part of the weekend noise.. but then again central is not church.

[UPSDAN]

You should hear Wall St. from my Balcony at the Solaire on Saturday night. I don't even need to go out anymore to feel like I'm at the bar...It will be even worse at Dynetech... What about the ones facing east at 55 west who will have to listen to Lattitude's all night long...

Edited May 29, 2007 by UPSDAN

[ORLANDOJBBOY]

You should hear Wall St. from my Balcony at the Solaire on Saturday night. I don't even need to go out anymore to feel like I'm at the bar...It will be even worse at Dynetech... What about the ones facing west at 55 west who will have to listen to Lattitude's all night long...

You mean the ones facing east they will deal with latitudes while the north deals with the fire station and the West deals with the trains, and as for the south you get the drunk people walking back to their cars the trains and latitudes. I live at cityview and i live in the center of the courtyard surrounded by building and i deal with the trains every night, but im used to it now, doesnt bother me but if i can hear it they surely will hear it.

[JRS1]

You should hear Wall St. from my Balcony at the Solaire on Saturday night. I don't even need to go out anymore to feel like I'm at the bar...It will be even worse at Dynetech... What about the ones facing east at 55 west who will have to listen to Lattitude's all night long...

what about Pine Street Bar & Grille? they've some live music-sounding deal going on alot--- Pine & Magnolia. brutally loud.

[ORLANDOJBBOY]

what about Pine Street Bar & Grille? they've some live music-sounding deal going on alot--- Pine & Magnolia. brutally loud.

Haha, if we keep this up there are going to be a lot of vacant condos in 55 W lol, no is going to want to keep there unit.

[FrigginGr8est]

You should hear Wall St. from my Balcony at the Solaire on Saturday night. I don't even need to go out anymore to feel like I'm at the bar...It will be even worse at Dynetech... What about the ones facing east at 55 west who will have to listen to Lattitude's all night long...

I face Wallstreet too at the Solaire, on the 13th floor. Yes, it's loud on the balcony, but thank God for the double pane windows, it's not too bad in the unit.

[slapdash09]

that does all make sense, but i will say that when i lived at park north on orange ave, we lived on the tracks and i was on the 4th floor. the train never bothered me at all, i could hardly hear it and thats the 4th floor; i am sure the ppl in 55west will be fine. and truthfully, the distant noise of the horn was almost peaceful and i got used to it and it took time to go to bed without hearing it at night once i moved away.

i live on the second floor of park north on the track side, and trust me--the tracks are CLOSE. yet the train has never woken me up. maybe i'm a heavy sleeper, but nonetheless, it doesn't bother me at all. in fact, to me the train brings ambiance. my girlfriends with little boys love to bring them to my balcony to see the choo-choo train. i love to check out the graffiti on freight cars . . . try to wave at amtrack passengers (who never wave back and think i'm a dork) . . . and watch my cat scurry into his cat door off the balcony before i can even hear the first train horn.

sometimes it's entertaining to see a track walker (like i used to be at my grandparents' house in deland) unless he's a hobo. but then that's kinda bittersweet--it reminds me how lucky i am.

i could look at all of this stuff as bad, but life is what you make it!

[bulldogger]

You should hear Wall St. from my Balcony at the Solaire on Saturday night. I don't even need to go out anymore to feel like I'm at the bar...It will be even worse at Dynetech... What about the ones facing east at 55 west who will have to listen to Lattitude's all night long...

Are you hearing music or noise from people? If it's people, then it is probably Wall Street. If you hear music, then you are probably hearing Cairo. I can hear Cairo some nights from up by the Vue at my office.

Just FYI, there is small place on Magnolia (used to be called Knock Knock) that has good music (if you're in your 30s especially). It's a smaller place, and never crowded. They play really good 80s music. Not the usual Mix 105 type 80s music; stuff from like Miami in the 80s. House music, etc.

[JRS1]

noise aside, what I love about 55W is that it will steal Suntrust's thunder, in that, Suntrust will no longer be the predominant bldg. in that sector of DT. THe reason I say this is b/c Suntrust has ruled the skyline way too long. It needs to be "diluted" among other large bldgs. 55W is a great start in achieving this. Actually, PTP had somewhat of an effect in this department... 55W might actually finish the job.

[JRS1]

Division & Anderson (maybe South St.... can't remember):

this is going to be big... at least 12 more floors to go. add to that the decorative rooftop.

Edited May 29, 2007 by JRS1

[bic]

I see it a different way, actually. I think buildings like 55 West and The Plaza are doing a great job of complimenting SunTrust by surrounding it at shorter heights. The resulting effect is a ramp up of buildings in that cluster with SunTrust and its pyramidal crown still being the focal point. I think that as long as SunTrust is the tallest building in that immediate area, it will remain the focal point. That can change if we build so many 400 footers that each building just gets lost in the mix like in Vancouver, but we're not there yet. The only other way to really steal SunTrust's thunder is to build something taller than it...but that also doesn't appear to be likely in the near future.

Aside from just its height, SunTrust gets a lot of attention for other reasons. It's one of the only tall buildings in Downtown Orlando that, thanks to setbacks, narrows as its height increases, it utilizes several different colors including an eye-catching teal, features a unique ornamental top that is so rare in Orlando, and is located at what is currently the epicenter of downtown. I know that not everyone on here is a fan of the building, but I happen to really like it and am glad that a more boring building (like Solaire) is not our tallest. Dynetech on the other hand would have been a sweet 500 footer.

[JRS1]

from Plaza North:

I am to 55W the same way that the B&G cam is to Dynetech, except not as high.

Edited May 29, 2007 by JRS1

[orlandonative]

What is that now 18, 19?

I wonder if the angle of your photo from across I-4 would allow someone to photoshop an additional 10 floors or so?

[bic]

I wonder if the angle of your photo from across I-4 would allow someone to photoshop an additional 10 floors or so?

Haha...funny you should mention that...I was already looking for the right photo to 'chop.

[bic]

Here's a rough photoshop showing 55 West at its max height + 1-2 floors and without the wavy ornamental top:

[JRS1]

that's pretty darn good. I've always wanted to take that shot... it's just too dangerous.

[orlandonative]

Yeah, well done. That's probably pretty damn close. If you consider that 55W is roughly 70 feet shorter than Suntrust, that would put it roughly at the final set-back that is located under the last two floors below the pyrmaids.

[JRS1]

[bulldogger]

Can you see the guys working in the picture?

Can you see them now?

How about now?

Edited June 16, 2007 by bulldogger