According to local sources, the 32 story high rise in the heart of downtown Orlando will be on the auction block Friday as a part of a court-ordered foreclosure auction. The developers are said to owe more than $239 Million in construction costs for he project.

55 West has been through many phases of uncertainty since it’s initial groundbreaking back in 2005. It was originally built to compete in the, at-the-time, condo boom. Since then, it was most recently announced in early 2009 that the project would become a mixed use facility that would lease out 50-70% of it’s 360+ units(for  at least for the short term).

Formal details of the auction have not been released but check back for more updates.

Downtown Darryl can be your best resource(along with this website of course!) in getting information on any of the pre-existing or new condo developments in the downtown area. I had the pleasure in meeting him a few weekends ago and took a look at some Solaire units. He is very knowledgeable, down to earth, and he will work hard to get you where you want to be. If you’re looking to buy or sell in the downtown area, this is the guy to go to…the name says it all!

You can view his website here: www.downtowndarryl.com

Here is a picture I snapped last evening and it’s looking good. The theater will feature 1,100+ leather rocker seats, 12 screens, 2 wine bars, and a full menu.

The escalators now work so you can go up and take a look at the ticket booths and the main lobby area.

6 more days until the Grand Opening!

For more information on showtimes call 407-982-5444

I snapped this picture on the way to lunch today…Looks pretty close to the drafts(see my previous posts for renderings). I am sorry it’s a blurry pic but I was moving and took it with my sub par camera phone :/

The theater opens to the public May 29th(2 weeks from today!)

The ghost-town building with the “55 W on it” downtown looks like it will finally see some life. Zom Residential Services announced this week that it will be leasing the condo units as apartments instead of selling them in a dried up market as condos. SNS, the bank that recently foreclosed on the building says that it will “temporarily” lease about 60-70% of the units until the market picks back up and analysis is done(on converting them back to condos). Read the rest of this entry »

According to news reports today, Tremont Lendings(the owner) has decided to auction off Orlando’s Historic Church Street Station Friday. The lending giant foreclosed on the former owner Cameron Kuhn and is now trying to offload the complex as quickly as possible.
Read the rest of this entry »

Reports recently indicate that the much anticipated movie theater(named Plaza Cinema Cafe) in the downtown plaza will be open to the public on May 29, 2009. The theater will be run by Las Vegas based American Theater Corp. They have many similar projects across the country.

The $6 million deal with the city is what helped this project get the final push for completion. The plaza development(towers and condos) were finished back in 2007 but the movie theater lacked funding/ownership to fully build out and open at that time. Once the funding was issued, the orginal timeline indicated it would open at some point in July of 2009, just in time for the busy summer movie season. Local businesses’ should see growth to their bottom lines earlier now.

More theater discussion

Click here for renderings of the exterior by Visual Impact Studios

More on this story on the Orlando Sentinel…

This popular spot in downtown Orlando will be shutting it’s doors for good on 3/14. However, it will still be available to rent for private parties.

The decision to close can be attributed to lender-owner foreclosure and the recent down turn in the economy.

This was a great spot(especially during football season for Gator games!). It will be missed.

A new survey of 16 downtown Orlando condominium towers, with a combined 3,236 units brought to market since 2001, shows that about one-third of the units remain unsold — with most of those in four relatively recent projects caught in the ongoing real-estate slump.

Nearly 40 percent of the 1,054 vacant units are in one building, the 55 West tower on Church Street, said Paul Sexton, president of Sexton Realty Advisors Inc. in Winter Garden. Read the rest of this entry »