Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, delivering the 2011 State of Downtown address on Monday, unveiled plans for the development of Central Station, the city’s first transit-oriented, mixed-use development to be linked directly to SunRail. Â The $200 million dollar development to be undertaken by RIDA Development Corporation, will occupy an entire city block along Orange Avenue in Downtown Orlando, and sit alongside the region’s most active transit hub and will include the existing LYNX Central Station.
“Central Station will serve as a national model for transit-oriented development, and through its connection with SunRail, is a prime example of public investment leading to private development, said Dyer. “This development is the latest project in the redevelopment of Downtown Orlando and will create hundreds of much-needed jobs and encourage new economic activity along the Orange Avenue corridor.
Including a mix of residential, retail, office, hotel and meeting space, along with several public spaces, Central Station will be undertaken in two phases, with the first phase targeted for completion in line with the implementation of SunRail at the start of the second quarter of 2014. Work will then move forward on the second phase, representing a total project cost of $200 million.
In presenting this year’s State of Downtown address, Dyer said he was inspired by the book, “For the Love of Cities” by Peter Kageyama, which features Orlando among the top 20 “most lovable” places in America. He officially launched the “Why I Love Orlando” effort, an organic one, aimed at making everyone in Orlando more cognizant of the reasons they choose to live here, why they love this city, as well as, to think of actions that the community can undertake to make Orlando even more loveable.
“It’s said that when something is loved… it flourishes. That goes for people…pets…plants…anything,” Dyer said. “It certainly goes for a city… and its downtown. This is the ideology behind the effort we are calling, “Why I Love Orlando.”
Dyer also highlighted other developments underway or in the pipeline for Downtown Orlando, including: Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts; Orlando Magic Corporate Relocation and Sports & Entertainment Complex; Florida Hospital Health Village, to include expansion and rennovation of the Orlando Health campus; the Creative Village, a 30-year project that aims to create a hub for high tech companies; and expansion of the free downtown LYMMO bus, west to Parramore, east to Thornton Park and north and south to both Florida Hospital and Orlando Health.
“In all, there are 13 projects in the works that will create nearly 1,000 jobs and bring $3 billion of investment to Downtown Orlando,” Dyer said.
Dyer thrilled his audience by announcing that beginning tonight at Lake Eola Fountain, there will be a nightly “fountain show” and jazz shows, running from 8:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The show incorporates music, water and lights into a performance that will give residents and visitors another reason to enjoy Orlando’s signature park, he said.
On July 4, earlier this year, the City unveiled the recently refurbished Lake Eola Fountain, which had been made inoperable by a lightening strike.
While no details were provided, Dyer said, the commitment remained to ensure that the Citrus Bowl gets the “upgrade it deserves so we can retain our bowl games and compete for new events that bring fans and dollars into our City.”
Several demonstrators from Occupy Orlando marched outside the Amway Center, where Dyer delivered the State of Downtown address.
Asked what were his expectations from the Mayor’s address, Dennis, one of the protestors said, he didn’t think anything would be different.
“This is a closed door meeting that should be open to the general public. It’s just for those who wear suits and ties,” he said. “I don’t expect anything different from Buddy Dyer. He has kissed up to big business and sold out to special interests. The average working class people don’t have a voice.”
He added that, “This (Amway Center) is all tax payers’ money, but yet, there are corporate logos all over. The City has got to stop selling out to corporate interests. If this is democracy, it needs to be democracy for the people.”
Asked if he had a message for the protesters, Dyer brushed off the small band of protesters or as he called them, the “remnants of Occupy Orlando,” saying, “they just want to protest to have the media cover them and so they did accomplish that.”
Dyer added that, for the most part, the leaders of “Occupy Orlando” had been very good and in compliance with the City’s rules and regulations, except for a small group who wanted to get arrested, as occurred last Saturday.
“A lot of people probably agree with the central theme of the Occupy groups,” he said. “The banking and finance systems have let mainstream people down over the last several years. But when radicals take over the message, it gets highjacked a little bit.”
