Last Wednesday, the Mayor of Orlando Buddy Dyer and City Commissioner Pat Sheehan made a visit to Star Tower and amassed views of the city via the roof-top amenity deck. Their tour was part of the grand opening and ribbon-cutting festivities of Star Tower to Orlando’s core business district. Dyer is confident that the development will be successful over time and is glad to see the CBD’s residential market continuing to absorb more young, business savvy professionals and retiree’s alike.

The 100-unit complex is said to have over 80% of it’s inventory sold which is a miracle in itself considering the state of the local condo economy and the real estate market in general. I find this interesting considering I don’t see these units being listed or really advertised for sale anywhere…do you?

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As of Thursday 10/4/07, I still have not heard of anything new on this. Those out there reading…feel free to chime in on the status of this if you know anything. I am going to continue to pry around some more to see if I can get this info for everyone…Stay tuned!!!

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer will be hosting the 2007 State of Downtown Address today @ The Ballroom at Church Street. He is expected to talk about the achievements of the past year which include the $3.8 billion in construction planned or underway in the city.

This address is scheduled to start @ Noon today.

For more information and coverage of the speech, click here

After reading a few blogs and news reports, it looks like the rumors are in deed true. In fact, after hearing about this, I checked the Improv’s site and there was proof on the homepage.

The Orlando Improv located in Church Street Station is now closed. It will make way for a new up-scale Italian restaurant called Rustic Steak. The 7,000 square foot facility has been host to many large name acts like Andrew Dice Clay, Bill Bellamy, and Tracy Morgan in the 5 years of existence. The website says they are Temporarily closed so I assume that there are plans to bring the Improv back to life in a different location in town.

The facility had to be closed due to losing it’s liqueur license.

According to sources familiar with the Solaire project, a number of people(60-80 total) are walking away from their deposits in the next few days.

The developer anticipates having 80+ units available after all is said and done. He also mentioned that there are no plans to reduce the prices of these units to sell them.

The city of Orlando has taken new measures to cut down on panhandling problems that have been prevalent in the streets of downtown in the past. On Monday, the city passed an ordinance which prohibits begging or panhandling in between the hours of sunset and sunrise.

The city actually has designated “panhandling zones” denoted by blue painted boxes on certain sidewalks(I had no idea). Out of the 36 original areas, only 5 are visible today. A lot of the visibility or lack of is due to the condo construction boom in downtown Orlando areas. Many of the painted surfaces have been eroded away or simply demolished during such construction.

Anyone caught violating this ordinance may be fined as much as $500 or serve up to 60 days in jail.

Dancing all night in uncomfortable shoes may prove to be even more uncomfortable afterwards.

According to Orlando city reports, pedicabs are being regulated due to some safety and traffic related issues.

The carriages traditionally pulled by a single bike have helped many of Orlando’s night-lifers get off their feet and cruise back to their places of origin the past 7 years.

The new rules set in place could force of pedicab companies, owners, and drivers walking away. The regulations include safety enhancements like mirrors, reflectors, turn signals, and horns. Owners will also need to have liability insurance along with city permits for operating. Read the rest of this entry »

An updated map of the downtown area is now available through the city of Orlando’s website. This map shows current developments as well as new construction of retail space, condominiums, and corporate offices. There were some considerable changes from the last map so look closely.

Take a look at what the city of Orlando has in store for the future developments…

According to officials, Orlando should see full coverage of wireless internet in the downtown area by October of 2007. The original time frame of early 2007 was set back by a few unforeseen technical issues. Some of the obstacles to note were debates over coverage areas, logistical/functionality concerns of the equipment, and current landscaping in selected areas. There are currently several spots of downtown who are up and running on the network(Wall St., the Courthouse, and Library areas) but most will have to wait until October as the equipment is phased in periodically.

The wi-fi coverage ranges a 9-square-mile area that will run to Brookhaven Drive to the north, Gore Street to the south, Summerlin Avenue to the east and Westmoreland Drive on the west.

Smart City Telecom, a Lake Buena Vista company is leading up the project that will provide free internet to the core of downtown Orlando.

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