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Orlando Opinions – #14 – The Acai Bowl Bubble

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PFT Media Podcast NetworkTranscript of Episode 14:

The CitiTower apartment building in Thornton Park has 6,916± sq ft of combined ground floor space  for lease. It can be divided into three separate spaces or kept as one. All 3 spaces are on the first floor. CitiTower has 25 stories and 233 apartments.

And speaking of CitiTower, The Healthy Scratch is occupying is a 2,400 sq ft. space on the same floor. The Healthy Scratch is a restaurant that serving acai bowls, smoothies, cold pressed juices and gourmet toasts, overnight oats, yogurts and other healthy grab-and-go food options.

A new 2018 agreement between the City of Orlando and Orlando Economic Partnership was approved by City Council. The partnership is an independent contractor. OEP will not be acting as the alter ego of the City and is not authorized to commit the City or its funds to any agreement. Continue Reading …

Orlando Opinions – #13 – Vegan Foodstuffs

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PFT Media Podcast NetworkEpisode 13 transcript:

The Farmacy, an organic grocery is the first vendor to pull out of North Quarter Market, a charming coffee shop and retail space on the 1st floor of NORA apartment building at 855 N. Orange Avenue in the North Quarter district of downtown. The remaining vendors include Credo Coffee and Pop Parlor. Traffic wasn’t busy enough to warrant the organic veggie vendor to remain in the space. They’ll open a space in downtown eventually but for now are retreating to their charming Winter Garden location at 18 E. Joiner Street. Coffee will work in this space but nothing else except grab and go meals. The building needs to subsidize the space for new vendors to take the risk or it’ll never take off. Or just rent it out to Dunkin. Who cares? It’s the North Quarter, a district named by developers and at the same time ruined by the work of those developers. It’s all apartment buildings with next to zero retail options. I did a piece about it a year ago but my boyfriend told me to take it down. I walked readers building by building, business by business, proving the area is dead retail-wise with very few exceptions. Continue Reading …

Orlando Opinions – #12 – Hashtag Bring to Orlando

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PFT Media Podcast NetworkTranscript of episode 12:

The Community Redevelopment Agency did a sloppy job procuring new downtown holiday decorations. These decorations were sorely needed – the current ones are 20 years old and according to the agency in a state of disrepair. However, they waited until October to ask City Council for permission to buy $197,858 in new holiday decorations in time to have them hung by Thanksgiving Day, their self-created due date. No reason was given in City documents for their delay.

Due to the inaction by the agency, they had to ask for what’s known as a negotiated procurement. It prevents the agency from doing the work of putting together the pieces to execute a formal competitive solicitation process for businesses to bid on getting the chance to get paid by the city to provide the decorations. That’s not fair to those businesses. Shame on you Community Redevelopment Agency. Sounds like you handed the gig to a company and didn’t do a lick of work and blamed the universe for your shoddy behavior.
Continue Reading …

Orlando Opinions – #11 – Historic Vacant Lots

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PFT Media Podcast NetworkA transcript of episode 11 of Orlando Opinions with Mark Baratelli:

“A teensy full-service Starbucks location opened inside the Mall at Millenia Macys. This new addition means the mall now contains 3 Starbucks locations. I see this as one of two things: Macys, the dying chain, is scraping dying crying to get people into that Michael Kors halfway house or B: Starbucks requested the third one due to traffic, Millennia said hell to the no we have high end brands BEATING down our doors to get up in this bitch… just not on the middling unimpressive side with the Gap and Papyrus…. So the mall told Macys either put this Starbucks in between your Thalia jewelry case and UCF t-shirt section in the mens area or we’re kicking your dying ass out and turning it into a food hall and makers market because TRENDS!Continue Reading …