Downtown Orlando Project Discussion

[FLClarkKent]

On 5/4/2016 at 7:53 PM, Dale said:

As some of you know, I've moved back to Central Florida after living 3+ years in Charlotte. So, I drove through downtown, today, for the first time in over three years.

I was crestfallen. What happened ? Yes, Uptown is impressive. And Phillips is swish. But the stretch of Orange between the county courthouse and Pine seemed half-empty. And homeless folks were camped out in front of empty storefronts.

Yes, I was aware that the CBD was becoming more and more of a late-night bar crowd destination. I just wasn't prepared for the amount of empty space.

Please tell me that Orange through downtown has hit bottom and is scratching its way back ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's not so much empty storefronts, but empty lots along Orange from Washington to Amelia that make it feel like a dead zone. Also, the OC Courthouse and BOA buildings don't have all that great of a connection to the street. Don't get me wrong, I think they are great buildings. But from a pedestrian standpoint, they are set back from the road/sidewalk.

Central Station, indeed an island to itself, helps a lot. When its retail comes on line, it will be a nice addition. The facade work they are doing on the old Southern Bank building is nice, too. It's giving that building a much more polished look.

[GTR]

"Mr. Downtown" needs to lay off the fast food.

[nite owℓ]

On 5/6/2016 at 5:03 PM, Dale said:

Like I said, I'm going to give it another shot next week. Who knows, maybe a bunch of businesses knew I was coming and decided to move furnishings out and take down signage for a gag.

Your observations were not too far off though - that stretch along Orange just "feels" vacant and we all complain about the lack of retail downtown. That said, 3 years really isn't enough time to transform the CBD though. I'm still waiting on Walgreens to announce a concrete opening date in the First National Bank building. I think the lack of significant pedestrian activity on Orange Ave in the daytime doesn't help either. Lake Eola in the evenings is pretty active, even more so on weekends. Hopefully the college students from the UCF/Valencia/Creative Village development will help diversify the street level activity during non peak hours and encourage new apartments & businesses to open within the CBD. The redevelopment of the Sentinel property would be a great place to start.

I miss Urban Flats when it was at the Solaire/Chase Plaza... the street level activity it generated was pretty nice especially during Wine Down Wednesdays. But I really wish the Plaza had some better up-lighting to help soften that dark cavernous entrance.

[dcluley98]

On 5/7/2016 at 1:37 PM, FLClarkKent said:

Central Station, indeed an island to itself, helps a lot. When its retail comes on line, it will be a nice addition. 

 

I saw signs up this morning for Dunkin' Donuts and the Philly Connection restaurant on the northeast corner of Cresent Central at Orange and Amelia.  It's fast-food kinda stuff but works well there close to the courthouse.  A lot of morning and lunch traffic there across the street from the parking garage and in between the Lynx Central Station and courthouse.

Edited May 9, 2016 by dcluley98

[RedStar25]

On 5/7/2016 at 4:52 PM, GTR said:

"Mr. Downtown" needs to lay off the fast food.

GTR should lay off the judgement and assumptions. 

Edited May 9, 2016 by RedStar25
edit

[bulldogger]

I work on the other side of Lake Eola and I will frequent the Philly Connection for lunch.

 

[dcluley98]

Bulldogger, Is it that good?  I have never eaten there before.  I will have to try it out when it opens!  Of course, trying to be at least a little bit healthy, so I may not want to eat there too often. . . 

[bulldogger]

I grew up in eastern PA, so philly cheesesteaks are in my blood.  Philly Connection is good.  I think their portions are a little light though.

I really like LaSpada's in the Lee Road Shopping Center.  It is definitely NOT a healthy portion.

[Dale]

Eat big or go home.

[Pete C]

17 hours ago, bulldogger said:

I grew up in eastern PA, so philly cheesesteaks are in my blood.  Philly Connection is good.  I think their portions are a little light though.

I really like LaSpada's in the Lee Road Shopping Center.  It is definitely NOT a healthy portion.

I love LaSpada's...by far the best philly cheesesteak in town. I have visited family in Philly a few times and went to a few of the famous cheesesteak joints. To me, LaSpada's is right there with them.

[popsiclebrandon]

Was curious to see what would was empty so after lunch at North Quarter Tavern walked down Orange to Church.

From Livingston to Washington you have the Fiat dealership that just closed.

From Washington to Central you have the space next to Sly Fox and 1 N Orange (next to sideshow, don't think we'll see anything there for a veryyyyyy long time)

From Central to Church you have the old Barney's (soon to be filled) and the Puerto Rican place in the Plaza building that you can't see from the road.

That is the entire available inventory of unoccupied street retail on Orange. Not sure who will take the Fiat space and 1 N Orange will sit for a while but one of them will be filled again soon leaving virtually nothing on the ground floor available on Orange. Pretty impressive for a city that needs to fill in the crowds between 6-10.

[Dale]

So, you're telling me that along that whole stretch there are only a handful of vacancies ?

Must confirm.

 

 

[UngaBungalow]

The Fiat is going to be a brewery

[metal93]

The Fiat dealership closed? Haven't been around there in a while, this is good news. Not on Fiat's part, but that I never liked the idea of having a car dealership in Downtown.

 

4 hours ago, UngaBungalow said:

The Fiat is going to be a brewery

Excellent

[Jernigan]

18 hours ago, UngaBungalow said:

The Fiat is going to be a brewery

Orange Blossom?

[UngaBungalow]

11 hours ago, Jernigan said:

Orange Blossom?

I'm not sure. They're still hammering out the details so they haven't released much information. no permits have been pulled yet either, so it could still change. I think it'd be a great spot for oe though. 

[popsiclebrandon]

Damn that is a great use of that space. Really help stretch Orange for people as well.

[AndyPok1]

Agreed, those two-and-a-half blocks are pedestrian deserts, and will continue to be regardless of Central Station or Sentinel rebuild.  I was talking the other day about what "drive-thru" tenant would be the best for the 250 N Orange vacancy, purely from an extending the reasons to walk up Orange mindset.

Right now, Saddle Up is basically where everything ends.  If the Fiat becomes a brewery, and there's a Taco Bell in 250 N Orange?  That's the cliche drunk food, but Gringos might have a lock on the market.  Other chains that would pull ped traffic?

 

[prahaboheme]

Hopefully the city has the mindset to NOT approve a drive-thru downtown.

[popsiclebrandon]

32 minutes ago, prahaboheme said:

Hopefully the city has the mindset to NOT approve a drive-thru downtown.

It is under construction so I believe they already have.

[metal93]

1 hour ago, popsiclebrandon said:

It is under construction so I believe they already have.

That's a shame if they're really going to put a drive-thru there. Where is it going to be located? Really hope they're putting it in the back, where it belongs, like any surface parking lot, or hopefully none at all. Not fond at all of suburban-style development happening downtown.

[Jernigan]

I imagine it will be a bank drive through lane.   

[AndyPok1]

It's the old bank drive thru that they converted into a restaurant drive thru and has been advertised for months.  http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/19200829/250-North-Orange-Avenue-Orlando-FL/

That block is already a mess with the parking lot.  I appreciate that they're trying to make it better by having torn down the one windowless block building, renovating the rest, and whatever the weird new facade/parking lot barrier is that's currently under construction.  Adding a fast food chain will absolutely bring more pedestrians, and if the drive thru is the catalyst that encourages the business to take the leap there, so be it.

Also, as I constantly bring up on these boards, this isn't something that outrageous.  There are drive thrus in Chicago and plenty of other urban environments.  One of the most famous being https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_N_Roll_McDonald%27s

[prahaboheme]

AndyPok1 it's outrageous and a fully unnecessary development. Eventually, development will push north on Orange and fill in these holes. We don't need to settle for the lowest common denominator to accomplish this.

[AndyPok1]

Explain what makes it so outrageous please.  The curb cuts and lanes already existed, so this isn't something being built new disturbing the pedestrian infrastructure, and it will be turning an unutilized space into something that can draw activity 18+ hours a day.  What would you prefer in the space? Another Terrace 390 like in BoA that can't stay open?  A Cuban-American Cafe like in Fairwinds that basically no one knows exists and is only open until 4PM?  Realistically, that's the other comparable options, neither of which can benefit downtown like this can.