Downtown Orlando Project Discussion

[JFW657]

20 hours ago, RedStar25 said:

Why not NIMBY?

Oh my goodness.

I'm making people both angry AND sad with my unreasonable expression of an opinion about a proposed development!!

How inconsiderate and impolite of me!!! 

 

 

 

Edited January 26 by JFW657

[orange87]

Google Maps has updated it's 3D Satellite view of Downtown Orlando for the first time since 2018.

Edited February 15 by orange87

[JFW657]

1 hour ago, orange87 said:

Google Maps has updated it's 3D Satellite view of Downtown Orlando for the first time since 2018.

It still shows Society with all the cranes still up. 

Of course, that could be the updated view.  

[orange87]

1 minute ago, JFW657 said:

It still shows Society with all the cranes still up. 

Of course, that could be the updated view.  

It didn't show Society at all before.

[Gtothree2748]

811 E. Washington Street looks to be finally moving forward with development. Foundation work being done. 
 

The most updated article I can find on this property is this one. 

Anyone know if that is still what’s being built there? 

 

[jrs2]

https://www.orlandoweekly.com/news/the-upcoming-evermore-orlando-resort-debuts-the-citys-first-artificial-lagoon-34528530

look at second article about moratorium on new clubs/bars downtown.  and people on these boards are trying to figure out why no big money people want to invest downtown.  

[nite owℓ]

2 hours ago, jrs2 said:

https://www.orlandoweekly.com/news/the-upcoming-evermore-orlando-resort-debuts-the-citys-first-artificial-lagoon-34528530

look at second article about moratorium on new clubs/bars downtown.  and people on these boards are trying to figure out why no big money people want to invest downtown.  

Well, there was a shooting every 1-2 months before they started cracking down so I'm glad they want to further diversify businesses opening up downtown (which is very bar heavy). Damned if they do, damned if they don't. It's just another extension, not permanent. Some bars created an unsafe environment downtown and took zero responsibility for the aftermath.

Edited February 21 by nite owℓ

[orlandocity87]

The Under I-4 project is back as "The Canopy" — with some fancy elements but mostly parking. Supposedly breaking ground next year and taking two years to construct. 

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2024/02/21/orlando-park-beneath-i-4-has-a-final-design-and-a-new-name-the-canopy/

[jack]

13 minutes ago, orlandocity87 said:

The Under I-4 project is back as "The Canopy" — with some fancy elements but mostly parking. Supposedly breaking ground next year and taking two years to construct. 

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2024/02/21/orlando-park-beneath-i-4-has-a-final-design-and-a-new-name-the-canopy/

50/50 parking and green space is not bad. I still prefer something active like courts, etc. 

[codypet]

I personally would have preferred basketball hoops and a skate park.  You know noisy activities underneath there.  Also I can't help but laugh at the concept of a parking lot being called a mobility space.

 

[tc01]

I like this design better than the original. It sucks it will take so long to build. Well........................ it should finish up at the same time as the Magic Entertainment District. 

[ragerunner]

More on The Canopy. 

Highlights: 

-11 new blocks added to the downtown urban bike trail. 

- festival space for 10,000 people.

- Major art pieces convening Orlando’s canopy of trees.

- one of the largest outdoor projection show in North America.

- Multimodal transit hub for bikes, scooters, buses and ride share.

- Increase safety and connection points between the east and west sides of downtown.

-70% is public space, 30% for ride share parking. The design will allow 100% of the space to be used for community festivals and events.

 

 

[jrs2]

16 hours ago, nite owℓ said:

Well, there was a shooting every 1-2 months before they started cracking down so I'm glad they want to further diversify businesses opening up downtown (which is very bar heavy). Damned if they do, damned if they don't. It's just another extension, not permanent. Some bars created an unsafe environment downtown and took zero responsibility for the aftermath.

whatever the violence might be here...do they have that kind of violence on Bourbon Street or Broadway (Nashville)?  Placing moratoriums on new bars clubs also places moratoriums on new upscale bars and clubs.  They won't get what they think they can get because alcohol sales drives most all establishments; alcohol and beverage sales.  

[jrs2]

4 hours ago, codypet said:

I personally would have preferred basketball hoops and a skate park.  You know noisy activities underneath there.  Also I can't help but laugh at the concept of a parking lot being called a mobility space.

 

the politics of definitions and "redefining."  surprised? 

Personally, when the lockdowns killed Ceviche and Harry Buffalo and just bad economic optics killed a handful of over venues at CSS, why bother?  The purpose of City Hall is to also promote its downtown venues, send people to those places, ask them questions about business conditions or what can make things better.  All City Hall does is lock down bars and place moratoriums on new bars.  That's their porn currently.  They are not good for business (or businesses).  Boheme and Kress and Citrus Club will be the only high end venues...ever again...downtown.  Nobody will risk their money downtown with the City Hall we currently have.

Mathers and Bellhop and the new place at Plaza (perhaps) and Corona Cigar are the next line of venues.  Beyond that, maybe a few cafes down Central past Publix.

So if The City is against bars, and cut off Parramore which hurt the Black community and hasn't done anything to help it, then WTF are they doing?  I'll tell you what they're doing...they are looking for more business types to kill.

 

[FLClarkKent]

Some interesting moves by the downtown CRA to purchase several properties in the city core.

https://bungalower.com/2024/02/26/orlandos-cra-to-vote-on-purchasing-four-downtown-properties-this-week/

[Ivanhoe]

2 hours ago, FLClarkKent said:

Some interesting moves by the downtown CRA to purchase several properties in the city core.

https://bungalower.com/2024/02/26/orlandos-cra-to-vote-on-purchasing-four-downtown-properties-this-week/

I’ll be most interested in the plan for 205 and 215 Central. Presumably 205 is demolished to create the Eola gateway. Does 215 Central have the same fate or is it saved and incorporated into a redesigned park? It’s a nice historic building that if retrofitted, could have a very nice park cafe space.

[codypet]

Holy Crap they're actually gonna pull that off?  I never thought I'd live to see the day.

1 N Orange is a crime to let that building fall into the disrepair its in.  Obviously the free market found no use for the building.   Sad.

[JFW657]

10 hours ago, Ivanhoe said:

I’ll be most interested in the plan for 205 and 215 Central. Presumably 205 is demolished to create the Eola gateway. Does 215 Central have the same fate or is it saved and incorporated into a redesigned park? It’s a nice historic building that if retrofitted, could have a very nice park cafe space.

They reported it on the news tonight and said 215 might get saved and used as some type park related event center etc. 

They'd be foolish to tear it down. 

[RedStar25]

On 1/26/2024 at 9:16 AM, JFW657 said:

Oh my goodness.

I'm making people both angry AND sad with my unreasonable expression of an opinion about a proposed development!!

How inconsiderate and impolite of me!!! 

 

 

 

So you do not want to see that intersection developed? You do not was to see vertical growth within the Central Business District?  

[JFW657]

4 hours ago, RedStar25 said:

So you do not want to see that intersection developed? You do not was to see vertical growth within the Central Business District?  

So you want to misinterpret or exaggerate the meaning of my comments? You want to create a larger reason for contention than that which exists?  

I have to assume that is the case, because nothing I've said on the subject comes anywhere close to the way you are portraying it. 

[jrs2]

22 hours ago, JFW657 said:

So you want to misinterpret or exaggerate the meaning of my comments? You want to create a larger reason for contention than that which exists?  

I have to assume that is the case, because nothing I've said on the subject comes anywhere close to the way you are portraying it. 

I understand what you meant and stated several times in the past about that corner...

[Ivanhoe]

I don’t understand the emotions surrounding this non-existent development (height, density) on any side. I do understand what a shame it was that a beautiful hundreds year old tree was lost by a fast move on behalf of the developers. 
If the city is interested in buying empty lots, this would have been a good contender for a park space especially in an area unserved by a decent one.

Edited March 2 by Ivanhoe

[JFW657]

2 hours ago, Ivanhoe said:

I don’t understand the emotions surrounding this non-existent development (height, density) on any side. I do understand what a shame it was that a beautiful hundreds year old tree was lost by a fast move on behalf of the developers. 
If the city is interested in buying empty lots, this would have been a good contender for a park space especially in an area unserved by a decent one.

There was no "emotion" from me. 

I merely stated (on a few occasions) that if I had my druthers, I'd druther see a high-rise on that site that was on a somewhat less massive scale than the Zoo House proposal. 

Something about 20 - 25 stories that would not require the demolition of neighboring structures. 

The first time I posted that way back when Zoi was still seen as being a possibility, I got some pushback from one or two posters, who may have thought my preferences would actually have some bearing on the outcome.  

I reminded them that the developers couldn't care less about my opinions.   

[nite owℓ]

On 2/21/2024 at 1:26 PM, jrs2 said:

whatever the violence might be here...do they have that kind of violence on Bourbon Street or Broadway (Nashville)?  Placing moratoriums on new bars clubs also places moratoriums on new upscale bars and clubs.  They won't get what they think they can get because alcohol sales drives most all establishments; alcohol and beverage sales.  

That's true, but the reality is the potential for new upscale bars/clubs opening in Downtown Orlando seems unlikely. I would love for downtown to have more upscale venues, but what person in their right mind would want to come downtown to go to a fancy bar if the element of crime has not been addressed? Hmm, go downtown and potentially get robbed or shot or just go to Winter Park/Dr. Phillips and skip the unnecessary excitement. Tough choice.

My perspective is this... Most urban cities tend to sit on their hands and tolerate/condone/enable/look the other way with crime and criminals wreaking havoc and destroying the quality of life for residents and homeowners. While not perfect, I'm very appreciative of the unconventional steps taken by the City to secure entry points, limit new bars and cut down on the party atmosphere on the street with groups of sketchy people loitering around and tailgating on private lots. Nothing is stopping any existing establishments from becoming more upscale. I believe there was 1 shooting that occurred outside of the perimeter of the secured area and TBH I haven't heard of anything else since they started cracking down. Desperate times calls for desperate measures.

It's one thing when you work downtown, slip into your car and split before the riff raff start coming out of the woodwork. But it's a completely different experience when you're downtown full time and bunch of lowlifes from out of the area turn your neighborhood upside down with no repercussions. Highly doubt you would tolerate criminal mischief, monthly shootings, etc. in your neighborhood and I'm pretty sure you would want drastic changes to keep crime in check. I'm definitely not one of those defund the police types.

For some reason, people think downtown urban areas should be ornamented with homeless people on every corner and believe crime just goes with the territory, meanwhile they would never tolerate the same element in their suburban neighborhoods. I believe urban areas should be just as safe as the suburbs and it's about time cities start implementing outside of the box measures to avoid repeating the failed policies of Seattle, LA, NYC, etc.

[jrs2]

45 minutes ago, nite owℓ said:

That's true, but the reality is the potential for new upscale bars/clubs opening in Downtown Orlando seems unlikely. I would love for downtown to have more upscale venues, but what person in their right mind would want to come downtown to go to a fancy bar if the element of crime has not been addressed? Hmm, go downtown and potentially get robbed or shot or just go to Winter Park/Dr. Phillips and skip the unnecessary excitement. Tough choice.

My perspective is this... Most urban cities tend to sit on their hands and tolerate/condone/enable/look the other way with crime and criminals wreaking havoc and destroying the quality of life for residents and homeowners. While not perfect, I'm very appreciative of the unconventional steps taken by the City to secure entry points, limit new bars and cut down on the party atmosphere on the street with groups of sketchy people loitering around and tailgating on private lots. Nothing is stopping any existing establishments from becoming more upscale. I believe there was 1 shooting that occurred outside of the perimeter of the secured area and TBH I haven't heard of anything else since they started cracking down. Desperate times calls for desperate measures.

It's one thing when you work downtown, slip into your car and split before the riff raff start coming out of the woodwork. But it's a completely different experience when you're downtown full time and bunch of lowlifes from out of the area turn your neighborhood upside down with no repercussions. Highly doubt you would tolerate criminal mischief, monthly shootings, etc. in your neighborhood and I'm pretty sure you would want drastic changes to keep crime in check. I'm definitely not one of those defund the police types.

For some reason, people think downtown urban areas should be ornamented with homeless people on every corner and believe crime just goes with the territory, meanwhile they would never tolerate the same element in their suburban neighborhoods. I believe urban areas should be just as safe as the suburbs and it's about time cities start implementing outside of the box measures to avoid repeating the failed policies of Seattle, LA, NYC, etc.

Good points.  But the bar owners were targeted during covid, and then they collectively sued The City.  And now, they have been targeted again. First they considered a quota, and now this. It's just like their pre-July 4th statement of canceling the fireworks because of some BS consciousness of discontent in the ether that they eventually retracted.  Did they ever cancel fireworks in Portland or SF or Chicago? Hay-ole no.  How activist can this admin get, to achieve their brand of notoriety? It's laughable. They are so small time. 

I actually do believe that they do want those homeless at every corner because they are trying to jack their esg scores or whatever to impress their comrades.

Instead of hiring DEI agents, spend that money paying cops some OT.  All they really have to do is get a couple of more squad cars driving down the main streets downtown, maybe even park some squad cars in visible spots.  And what is the purpose of these blue shirted city employees downtown?  Just get more cops. Nobody talks to those blue shirted a55holes anyway. That's what Google is for.

Peace!