PFT Media

TRANSCRIPT: Hi welcome back, I’m Mark Baratelli editor of the daily city. Thank you for listening and let’s get started with the news!

Unicorp unveiled its new billion-dollar tourist focused development called O-Town West. You know the mastermind behind this is an old man because who the hell calls anything in Orlando “O-Town”? And as an honorary millenial, I am like whaaaaat? LOL smack my face emoji right!?

The project seems to be a combination of other successful Unicorp projects including I-Drive 360 and its various apartment projects around Central Florida. There’s a ton of new projects in the works around the tourist district but O-Town West is unique for a few reasons. Here’s four things that make O-Town West unique.

Fountains – Blame it on Unicorp’s President Chuck Whittall’s obsession with fountains but O-Town West will have one of the biggest and most impressive fountain shows in Central Florida. Anyone who’s visited Unicorp’s other projects like the two Trader Joe’s plazas in town or I-Drive 360 are familiar with those fountains but this will be different. Whittall compared the fountains to a former downtown dinner show restaurant. But unlike the Dancing Fountains, this outdoor lagoon show will visible from a ‘boardwalk’ retail area. Some have compared it the Bellagio. That seems like a bit of an oversell and hello – do we need to copy Las Vegas? Yes. Yes we do. We’re that desperate.

Destination Dining – Don’t expect cookie cutter, generic dining establishments situated along the boardwalk. Unicorp has stated they want destination dining. So maybe the worlds biggest Olive Garden? A 5-story Hardees? Dunno.

Luxury Homes and 1,500 apartments – This project might sound tourist-focused, but since the project is Dr Phillips-adjacent, and will be even moreso once a few new key roads open in the coming years, they’re building 300 to 400 luxury homes (the cheapest of which will clock in at half a million dollars) and a 1,500-unit apartment complex.

Crystal Lagoons – Like Lake Nona, the residential area will feature a crystal lagoon, a product made by the company based in Miami called… Crystal Lagoons.. These things are man-made sand-bottom, swimmable, huge pools made to look like natural swimming destinations.

The City of Orlando’s Small Business Facade and Site Improvement Program has received a 4th Amendment focused on Change of Use costs.

Under the current program, the City reimburses 50% of the total project cost up to $50,000 for façade and site improvements only.

The City awards the funds to recipients in the form of zero-interest, deferred loans. The recipient does not have to pay them back as long as the project is in compliance with all terms of the Funding Agreement. The City will automatically forgive the monthly installments without any action as the installments become due.

The City claims, after working with the small business community, that one of the biggest challenges business owners face when proposing to reuse a vacant space is related to the additional costs associated with a Change of Use.

Change of use is a change, redevelopment or modification of use from one to another of the following land use categories: Commercial, Government, Hospital, Industrial, Motel/Hotel, Multi-family, Office and Single-family. Many times, due to the costs associated with changing the type of use, these spaces continue to sit vacant and “possibly blighted.”

The following changes are included as part of this new 4th Amendment:

1. If applying for Mechanical, Electrical or Plumbing (MEP) and/or life safety improvements, as required for a change of use, the award assistance from the City can be as high as $40,000.

2. If applying for façade, site improvements and MEP/life safety improvements, the award assistance can be as high as  $50,000.

3. Applicants that fall within the City’s Main Street/Market Street areas, Urban Job Tax Credit Area and/or a designated Brownfield areas/site (like the Foxtail Coffee going into t a former gas station site in SODO) are eligible for 80% reimbursement. These applicant(s) will be responsible for the remaining 20% of the total project cost.

And again The recipient does not have to pay the City back. Corporate welfare y’all. I want everyone to stop caring about welfare for the poor and put 100% of their focus on how much free money corporations receive from the City. We need to shame this behavior. It’s what’s costing our city money. It’s evil and I hate it.

A home built in 1921 will be demolished at 330 Broadway Ave in downtown Orlando as part of a master plan request submitted by Mark Kinchla to the city ro replace it with four story, 5 unit, rear-loaded, townhome development called Fountain VU 5. Each unit will be 4,100 sq ft. and come with a double garage.

Kinchla says one of the benefits for his future residents is the “close proximity to the historic district”… which ironically is being reduced by the 1921 home they’re knocking down.

This terrible for the neighborhood Fountain VU building is 4 stories tall but surprisingly isn’t as tall as the maximum height requirements allow for that property.

This story has a LOT more to it. It involves 2 lawyers, the City of Orlando lawyer, the threat of a lawsuit against the city, the use of a misstatement in a City council meeting and a neighborhood group’s fight against the entire debacle. We are working on the story for you. It’ll show you how greed, the city and lawyers can shat up downtown Orlando. Stay tuned.