ARCHIVE: Downtown Orlando Master List

[prahaboheme]

This would be incredible! Can our market really support even more office space? The major retail outdoor shopping comopent sounds especially interesting...looks like you got what you were asking for sunshineboy!

[Dale]

amazing

I hope we hear about Kuhns project before the end of the month.

I know he has the power to get projects done, since the time that The Plaza went from proposal to groundbreaking was very short. 

Can someone tell me where the JC Penny block is located?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Across the street from the 'Copper Whopper'. It's the block bounded by Orange, Washington, Jefferson and Garland.

[accatt2204]

I cant find out how many sq. ft. suntrust is. Id like to compare this potential office tower to others.

[sunshine]

100K sq ft is really nothing.

How many sq ft is millenia mall?

I went to Tampa today to show my aunt around Tampa, I must said compared to Orlando, Tampa is a dead city with nothing going on.

[Tim3167]

I see on the Orlando Planning Commision agenda that the 38 story Ivanhoe Towers are to be 420' tall.

The new proposal is called Phase 2 so maybe the plan is to build one at a time. 2 never seem to get build that way. We'll see.

[knas167]

The suntrust is 441 ft tall and the FAA, wont let any building taller. I guess its about 450 ft. for max height. Does anyone have the article for the JC Penny Block?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Would it be that hard for the city to petition the FAA height limit? The only thing dictating this height limit is the flight patterns of Orlando Exec. Airport. Can't the airport change the flight patterns or redirect a few runways? If there is a large enough backing, I'm sure something can be done. If Orlando is going to be doing all this development downtown, it would probably be smart to start work on this early so that taller buildings don't become a reailty after 20 years of development creates a crowded downtown area with no centrally located lots left to develop on.

[cwetteland]

If you know Parliment House ... they mean the more current definition of gay. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

[accatt2204]

Would it be that hard for the city to petition the FAA height limit? The only thing dictating this height limit is the flight patterns of Orlando Exec. Airport. Can't the airport change the flight patterns or redirect a few runways? If there is a large enough backing, I'm sure something can be done. If Orlando is going to be doing all this development downtown, it would probably be smart to start work on this early so that taller buildings don't become a reailty after 20 years of development creates a crowded downtown area with no centrally located lots left to develop

Im way ahead of you there. You can see my earlier thread on the 2nd page on FAA height limits. Our downtown has been heading in the right direction as far as density and vibrancy, I feel a height limit would be suppressing tall developments. Im sure projects like the vue, and the plaza and many others anounced would push close or even break the 450' height limit if it was extended just a little to 500' or even 600'. Of course this is just my opinion. A height limit might even benefit downtown by creating larger footrints for buildings which would equal density. Im just itching for a new tallest building downtown.

[cwetteland]

Im way ahead of you there. You can see my earlier thread on the 2nd page on FAA height limits. Our downtown has been heading in the right direction as far as density and vibrancy, I feel a height limit would be suppressing tall developments. Im sure projects like the vue, and the plaza and many others anounced would push close or even break the 450' height limit if it was extended just a little to 500' or even 600'. Of course this is just my opinion. A height limit might even benefit downtown by creating larger footrints for buildings which would equal density. Im just itching for a new tallest building downtown.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Tall is cool but I travel to DC often and they have a much lower height limit than Orlando. It hasn't dampened the vibrancy of that city. Equal or bigger barriers to downtown are I-4 and the East-West. Something like Boston's big dig is the only thing I know that would remove those boarders, but that's not likely.

[sunshine]

Kodsi plans new mixed-use project for northwest corner of Colonial Drive, Orange Avenue

Noelle C. Haner

Staff Writer

At 31, Steve Kodsi is one of several young developers who are changing the landscape of downtown Orlando, one mixed-use condo project at a time.

Thus far, the owner of Historic Creations Design & Development has two projects under his belt -- the Buddy Ebsen Dance School loft conversion and The Sanctuary, a 173-unit, 18-story condo.

Over the next three years, he will add three more projects to the list.

The most ambitious of the new projects is a 7-acre, mixed-use project proposed for the northwest corner of Colonial Drive and Orange Avenue. Dubbed "Mid-town," Kodsi believes the project's plans for 700-800 residential units, 500,000 square feet of commercial space and a 1,700-space parking garage will bridge the downtown central business district and the new development in Orlando's Uptown area. The property was bought earlier this year from Sentinel Communications for $6.7 million.

And, although the Colonial Drive/Orange Avenue project is not slated to break ground until 2007, Kodsi already is working on the plans. "The residential units will include a boutique hotel, rentals and condos, and we have a sports channel that wants to broadcast from the development," he says.

"This is the next step in the evolution of Orange Avenue," says Kodsi. "We consider this intersection Main and Main. It's where everything meets in downtown."

In addition, Historic Creations recently bought the former Kinko's building at the corner of Robinson and Magnolia streets. The building will become the headquarters for Historic Creations as well as accommodate retail and restaurant tenants.

Moreover, Kodsi plans to build the 105-unit Star Tower condo project. Located on Osceola Avenue between Jackson and Mariposa streets, work won't begin on it until next year, but there already are 800 people on the waiting list.

Redevelopment and urban cowboys

To be sure, redevelopment has been the catchphrase for downtown Orlando for more than a decade.

The movement dates back to the '90s when City Hall and the Downtown Development Board focused on residential and commercial development in Parramore and the central business district.

During that time, Orange County built a new courthouse, and Orlando got a new City Hall. CNL Financial Group built a high-rise office building. Hughes Supply Inc. built a $53 million mixed-use project -- Hughes Square. And today, construction on the new Federal Courthouse and the new Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University law school campus are part of what was envisioned for downtown redevelopment.

At the same time, a group of young urban developers -- age 45 and under -- began creating their own visions of downtown, beginning with some of Orlando's urban neighborhoods.

Phil Rampy and Craig Ustler led the charge, redeveloping the Thornton Park area. The two teamed to build one of the first new condo projects in the area in years. Construction on Thornton Park Central began in 2000, and today, the 56-loft, 300,000-square-foot, upscale, mixed-used urban village is one of downtown's great redevelopment stories.

The reasons are twofold, says Ustler, who is also a partner in Condo HQ Orlando LLC with Rampy. "We are our own customers," explains Ustler. "We like the diversity and the energy of urban living. We live what we build."

Then there is the risk factor. "Young developers tend to take the risks associated with urban development," notes Ustler.

Michael Beyard, senior resident fellow with The Urban Land Institute, agrees. "This is certainly the case in more entrepreneurial situations where it takes more passion than formula to get a project done," says Beyard. "These projects are more difficult to do, more time-consuming -- and while they also have more staying power in terms of long-term investment -- big developers can't wait for those returns. Wall Street demands a quick turnaround."

In his blood

Enter Kodsi.

For him, working in real estate and development is genetic. His father, Albert Kodsi, is the owner and president of Royal Palm Communities, a 25-year-old, Orlando-based home-building and development firm. Over the years, Kodsi has watched his dad develop nearly 50 condo projects in Central and South Florida.

Fresh from college, Kodsi came to Orlando in 1996, and he dove head-first into the family business. He launched Historic Creations a year later, focusing his sights on "intense" and dense development in downtown Orlando.

Kodsi started with an 11-unit project on Pine Street. There, with the help of his father, Kodsi's company built five custom homes and converted the former Buddy Ebsen Dance School into six lofts.

Then in October 2000, he began assembling land at the northwest corner of South Eola Drive and East Church Street. Taking a page from his father's game book and banking on the development of Thornton Park Central, Kodsi decided to build The Sanctuary -- the first high-rise condo project Orlando has seen in years.

"People asked me if I did any market research," says Kodsi." My market research was walking around Lake Eola with my friends and their dogs. I felt it in my gut. The area needed the supply, and the demand was already here."

The gamble paid off. Currently, 85 percent of The Sanctuary's 173 condos are under contract, and Kodsi says leases for the 30,000 square feet of retail are being negotiated. The entire project will be complete next summer.

Certainly, redevelopment advocates believe Kodsi's development risk will be downtown Orlando's reward. According to Frank Billingsly, executive director of the Downtown Development Board, the project will bring new activity to a long-neglected downtown corner.

[cwetteland]

Central Park Apartments .. is not included in this list. I've only seen it on the FBBArch website. It's a neat looking building that they show accross Rosalind from Embassy Suites south of the Library. My question: Is this a real project (e.g., is there a develper behind it?) or, as I suspect, is this just imagineering by FBBArch?

[cwetteland]

Question: I've seen the Ivanhoe listed as separate towers (Ivanhoe and Inverlad) usually showing two separate hights. I've also seen the two towers listed as just Ivanhoe with both towers the same hight. Which is it?

[Tim3167]

Question:  I've seen the Ivanhoe listed as separate towers (Ivanhoe and Inverlad) usually showing two separate hights.  I've also seen the two towers listed as just Ivanhoe with both towers the same hight.  Which is it?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The new proposal with two identical towers replaces the earlier plan with 2 towers of differing heights.

[cwetteland]

The new proposal with two identical towers replaces the earlier plan with 2 towers of differing heights.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Regret my "dain bramaged" spelling of height.

[accatt2204]

Orlando Sentinel,

A seven-story luxury condominium tower under construction in Winter Park -- the first phase of a replacement for the old Langford Hotel -- is now half finished.

Mark Ellert, president of IAG Florida Inc. and a partner in the project, said just six of the 23 condo units remain unsold.

The units are priced from $1.75 million each, though the remaining penthouse unit is being offered for more than $3 million.

"We unapologetically have raised prices substantially since we announced the project," Ellert said. "Demand has been strong."

Most of the buyers, he said, have been from the immediate Winter Park area, one of Central Florida's pockets of wealth.

The crown jewel of the development -- the Regent Hotel & Spa -- should be under construction next spring, Ellert said.

The 140-room hotel -- one of just 11 Regent-managed hotels worldwide -- will feature 57 fully furnished studio and one-bedroom condominium/hotel units.

The project will also have a 20,000-square-foot Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa.

John Anderson, a Jacksonville-based hotel developer and another partner in the project, said the Regent will "set a new lifestyle and leisure standard for Central Florida."

Anderson, who once owned the Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa in Northern California, just completed developing a Ritz Carlton Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Orlando office investor Jim Heistand is also a partner.

Condominium units in the hotel are priced from $300,000 each, with half already under purchase contracts.

The storied Langford Hotel operated at 300 E. New England Ave. for more than 40 years. It was sold in 2001 and the new owners announced their development plans the following year.

Construction on the condominiums -- called The Residences -- started earlier this year.

I cant post the rendering but you can see it at the site.

[prahaboheme]

The Regent is very impressive considering the only other two in the US are in Beverly Hills and Wall St, however there is also one U/C in Sobe and Boston..but still, its a pretty exciting thing!

on other news, the Wellesley condo project in College Park is demolishing buildings and bring in dirt as of today!

[bic]

Here's some more info on developments we already knew about and some that we didn't, taken from downtownorlando.com:

[Fruit Cove]

premiere trade plaza looks very nice!

[prahaboheme]

The marketplace at the Suntrust is going to be a big hit during lunch hour. Nothing like that exists downtown right now. Being right across the street from the future Plaza, this block is going to be alive!

[Dale]

Love the redesign of Premiere Trade Plaza !

[cwetteland]

I noticed on the DowntownOrlando website a discription of the Jefferson Street Garage. Now for a garage it looks pretty sharp but the location described seems to be the same block of the next big Cameron Kuhn project, (e.g., Jefferson Washington, Garland, Orange). Can anyone deconflict these two projects?

[accatt2204]

This is all awesome.

Fruit Cove, your avatars are going crazy, whats going on?

[prahaboheme]

Check out the Magnolia Loft Condominiums at the downtownorlando.com website. It looks pretty sweet!

[Fruit Cove]

Im trying to find a new one I like, Im sticking with the duct tape.

[bic]

I noticed on the DowntownOrlando website a discription of the Jefferson Street Garage.  Now for a garage it looks pretty sharp but the location described seems to be the same block of the next big Cameron Kuhn project, (e.g., Jefferson Washington, Garland, Orange).  Can anyone deconflict these two projects?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ah yes, I missed that one. It look like a pretty nice garage. Here's the info from downtownorlando.com:

Looking at an aerial picture of the block, this parking garage should take up only about half of the block in question. The remaining half of the block is certainly enough space for a large building, but it would have to be *very* tall to double the size of Premiere Trade Plaza. I think at most two buildings with medium-sized footprints would fit in the lot unoccupied by the parking garage.