Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer Sees Downtown Redevelopment on Track

ORLANDO, FL) -- Downtown Orlando's estimated $2 billion redevelopment program is on track - not all completed but not totally bogged down, either.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer
That's the assessment of Mayor Buddy Dyer who has been pushing the program since he took office six years ago.

"Under the economic circumstances and based on factors that we can control, I am confident that we will be in a better position than any other (comparable sized) city in America" to complete the program when the economy returns to some degree of normalcy, Dyer says.

He offered his analysis of the city's redevelopment progress in an exclusive phone interview with Real Estate Channel. Dyer commented specifically on 11 projects considered crucial to Downtown redevelopment.

He says the under-construction, $380 million, 800,000-square-foot Orlando Events Center at 300 West Church St. will be "a landmark structure...a building visitors and residents will immediately identify with Orlando."


The building is tentatively scheduled to replace Amway Arena in fourth quarter 2010. It will have an on-site parking garage, an amenity the old arena does not have.

"It's on schedule and under budget," the mayor says.

Orlando Events Center
The Center will be the new home of the Orlando Magic, the city's only top-tier professional sports team. Dyer says he has heard no rumblings of the city discussing future prospects for a National Football League team. An Orlando-based United States Football League team will open its season here later this year.

Not only will Orlando Events Center be twice the size of Amway Arena but it will be high-tech wired.

"The building will be part of the new wave" of electronics that is being installed in newer commercial and entertainment properties across the country, Dyer says.


Orlando Events Center will also complement a three-year-old dream the mayor has had for a project tentatively identified as Creative Village.

New Events Center under construction (April 2009)
The proposed site is the Centroplex property which houses the current arena. Besides the 53 acres at that site, the city also owns an additional 60 acres nearby.

In talks to city groups and leaders, Dyer has previously described Creative Village as "a place where high-tech, digital media and creative industry companies integrate with residential, retail and academia in a neighborhood that is connected to the surrounding community and globally plugged in."

It would revitalize the economically depressed Parramore neighborhood, a goal that numerous city administrations have embraced for at least 50 years and specifically for the last 20 years.

The estimated development cost of Creative Village hasn't been determined. But according to the Downtown Development Board, the city could be in a position to send out requests for proposals to the development community by the end of this year or early 2010.

Creative Village
i.d.e.a.s., a seven-year-old privately owned digital media production company, already has positioned itself to complement the Creative Village concept.

The company, purchased by Bob Allen in a management-lead buyout from the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando in July 2001, had its grand opening May 21 at its new world headquarters at 64 E. Concord St., the former Downtown site of News Channel 13.

Besides the Creative Village dream, Dyer says another long-expressed Downtown desire by residents and visitors alike, was a grocery store.


Interactive Creative Village - Potential public park along Livingston Street
Publix opened a 28,900-square-foot store in third quarter 2008 at The Paramount, a $125 million, 16-story, 809,310-square-foot mixed-use community facing Lake Eola in the 400 block of East Central Boulevard.

"I can't tell you how many times residents had stopped me after I took office six years ago and asked me when they would get a Downtown grocery," Dyer recalls.

The Paramount was developed by N-K Ventures, RMC Property Group and ZOM Inc. Besides its 313 residential condominiums and apartments on floors five to 16, the building also has 11,300 square feet of office space and another 5,100 square feet of occupied retail space.

The Plaza Cinema
Also on the commercial real estate side, Dyer says he is pleased the city participated in the development of The Plaza, a $90 million, two-block, 2.9-acre, 447,000-square-foot mixed-use redevelopment in the heart of the central business district at 101 South Orange Ave.

"The Plaza was the catalyst for all Downtown redevelopment that followed," says Dyer. "The Plaza showed investors for the first time that the city was willing to participate" in new major projects that would reshape the look of Downtown.

"It was the Phoenix that rose from the ashes of that once-blighted block" and emerged as a beacon for other planned projects, the mayor says.



The Plaza, completed in first quarter 2007, boasts 394,000 square feet of office space and 53,000 square feet of retail space.

The Plaza Cinema
The structure encompasses two high-rise condominium office towers, 16 stories and 21 stories, and a 29-story residential condo tower.

A highlight in The Plaza's three-year development comes Thursday, May 28, when the 12 Plaza Cinema Café opens its doors to the general public.

A soft opening is scheduled for May 25. It will mark the first Downtown movie theater in at least 40 years.

Dynetech Centre, which opened in second quarter 2008 at 111 East Washington St. in the central business district, is still another Downtown mixed-use structure the city helped in its development stages.

"It's well designed and offers residents from The Vue (condominium) a great view" of Downtown, Dyer says. The property was redeveloped from a two-deck, 88-car public parking garage.

The $80 million, 31-story, 161,000-square-foot building houses the international headquarters of Dynetech Corp. in 60,000 square feet of office space.

The building also has 164 apartment units, a total 150,000 square feet of office space and 11,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.

Downtown Orlando
The city administration is particularly pleased with its participation in the development of Orlando Utilities Commission's new 10-story, 120,000-square-foot, $34 million headquarters building constructed behind OUC's existing structure at 100 W. Anderson St., also in the central business district.

The building, with 510 parking spaces, has received LEED certification, a recognition that Dyer notes to visitors and residents alike.

On the city's drawing boards are four projects awaiting improvement in the tourist hotel tax collections and the completion of Orlando Events Center.

They are the $354 million Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center to be located east of City Hall; the $175 million Citrus Bowl improvements; the $12 million Wells Landing; and the $36 million Renaissance at Carver Theatre. All are considered important components of near-future Downtown redevelopment.

Dr. P. Philips Orlando Performing Arts Center - Plaza View
The Arts Center was tentatively scheduled to break ground this year with an anticipated completion in 2012. But that project is on hold for now, Dyer says.

Final design work for the 750,000-square-foot Citrus Bowl could be completed by late spring 2010, the mayor estimates.

The lower bowl would be replaced and a 40,000-square foot banquet hall would be added.

New and enhanced concession stands, locker rooms and restrooms are also planned. The stadium would have 70,000 seats, 4,000 club seats.

Wells Landing still could break ground by year end with completion scheduled for third quarter 2011, Dyer says.

Dr. P. Philips Orlando Performing Arts Center - Magnolia Avenue View
The two-block revitalization project of the former Parramore Village in the South Parramore neighborhood would be a residential community offering possibly 26 single-family homes, 42 townhouses and open green space combined with a new community Park to be called Z.L. Riley Park.

Dyer calls the planned Renaissance at Carver Theatre "a pretty important project" in the whole Downtown redevelopment concept.

The proposed 11-story, 72,000-square-foot mixed-use development would offer 60,000 square feet of office space, 7,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, 5,000 square feet of business incubator space and 17 residential condominiums.

Renaissance at Carver Theater would house the corporate headquarters of the Black Business Investment Fund and the banking offices of Bob Johnson's Urban Trust.

On the private commercial real estate side, only two projects surface at the moment. One is the planned Pizzuti Inc. project across from the Orange County Courthouse complex at Orange Avenue and Livingston Street.

The other is Ustler Development Inc.'s $35 million, six-story, 105,000-square-foot GAI Building planned for the southwest corner of Summerlin Avenue and South Street in the South Eola District.

GAI Consultants is the anchor tenant, taking 65,000 square feet.

Craig Ustler
"This is one of the largest lease deals in Downtown Orlando over the past several years and is very significant in the current market where there are very few users taking down large blocks of space," developer Craig Ustler tells Real Estate Channel.

Like Mayor Dyer, Ustler and his associates have participated in development and redevelopment projects Downtown and Near-Downtown for decades.

Like the mayor, Ustler feels the city has made progress on its redevelopment calendar, even though several projects remain in limbo.



Here are his thoughts:


"With regard to the progress of urban redevelopment in Downtown Orlando, we have certainly made progress and accomplished some good things over the past several years."


"There is no question that we have thousands more people living Downtown than we did in the late 1990's or early 2000's and that has made for much more of a neighborhood feel rather than just a business district. "


"Of course, some areas have been more successful than others. "


"For instance, the Thornton Park neighborhood has been the shining star. It is a great urban village with residential and commercial development with many popular restaurants, shops and entertainment options as well as the anchor of Lake Eola."


"In a broad sense, I think it is safe to say that we have 'made progress' but we are a 'work in progress' with a long way to go."


"As far as where we are in our redevelopment stage, we are a little behind the curve (many other comparable sized Downtowns across the country saw more of an 'urban boom' before the overall economic slowdown) and we are hindered by things like lack of mass transit."


"The community venues are a positive and should elevate our Downtown to a new level. If you look at redevelopment as a process that runs from early (as a 1) to mature (as a 9 or 10) we are probably at a 4 or 5."


"My line of thinking is that we will see continued Downtown redevelopment as the economy recovers."



"All of the lifestyle and demand factors point to urban infill and walkable communities. It is just a matter of executing the needed projects once the real estate cycle turns."


"I think suburban development and sprawl have gone the way of the industrial revolution and will become functionally obsolete, probably never recovering their value."


"But downtowns, and Downtown Orlando, are in good shape for the long run."


Downtown Orlando - Lake Eola

Independent league is ready to pitch in Richmond

Along with its plan to essentially rebuild The Diamond, Opening Day Partners would like Richmond leaders to consider putting an independent-league franchise in the made-over facility.

Minor League Baseball franchises are affiliated with Major League Baseball organizations. Independent leagues, such as the Atlantic League, are not.

Opening Day Partners, which this week released its proposal for a $28 million transformation of The Diamond, owns three of the eight Atlantic League franchises with local partners, and operates a fourth. "The Atlantic League would love to make a presentation and show Richmond how much we want to be there," said Peter Kirk, chairman of ODP. He added that the Atlantic League will make an expansion team available to Richmond for next season.

Kirk said Opening Day Partners also welcomes the opportunity to transform The Diamond for a Minor League Baseball franchise.

The Class AA Eastern League, part of Minor League Baseball, pledged to Richmond one of its 12 franchises for next season. Local investors failed in a bid to buy the Connecticut Defenders for $15.4 million. Minor League Baseball oversees a potential franchise sale and/or relocation it hopes to finalize by Aug. 1.

Eastern League President Joe McEacharn promised a "tightly managed process." Representatives of Ryan-Sanders, a well-regarded ownership group, late last month visited Richmond to investigate the situation. Reid Ryan, the firm's president, said this week "because of baseball rules, we are not allowed to comment on the market. Everything has to go through the Eastern League."

Asked for an update, McEacharn this week said "I really can't give any specifics other than to say we are continuing to explore a number of different options."

Kirk, a former owner of Baltimore Orioles' affiliates, called the Atlantic League "equivalent to Triple-A hitting and fielding, Double-A pitching." Independent-league players are commonly signed by affiliated teams. Since the Atlantic League launched in 1998, more than 600 players with major-league experience have joined its teams, according to the league. This season, Carl Everett, Armando Benitez, Jay Gibbons, Esteban Yan and Preston Wilson are among the ex-big-leaguers.

Atlantic League franchises are in Bridgeport, Conn., Camden, N.J., Lancaster, Pa., Long Island, N.Y., Newark, N.J., Somerset, N.J., Southern Maryland (Waldorf) and York, Pa., and clubs usually have former big-leaguers as managers. This season, Gary Carter, Butch Hobson, Tim Raines, Sparky Lyle and Tommy John are managing.

Average Eastern League attendance this season is 4,146. Average Atlantic League attendance is 3,895. Kirk said locales involved with the Atlantic League find it features "great baseball, but also, quite frankly, the community gets a better financial deal with the Atlantic League."

If an ownership group pays $15 million for a franchise, for instance, in most cases that doesn't leave much for ownership to contribute to a new stadium, Kirk said. An Atlantic League expansion franchise would require approximately $7 million "to buy the franchise, set it up and do all of the things you have to do," Kirk said. "You have so much more [financial] room to work."