Orlando City stadium construction thread

Just every spring and fall game... No one wants to play a summer day game in Orlando.

 

Does the church have a decent sized parking lot? They get to keep their location, and also make some some cash by charging folks to park in their super close to the stadium lot. Rawlins and company finally to get break ground on their stadium. Win win for everyone.

 

22 spaces in their parking lot, by my count.

 

This is a rendering that was released by the club today, it shows the stadium on the new site just west of the original site with the church. I thought this stadium was in downtown, like closer to central downtown? But I guess it's close enough to work as a downtown stadium.

 

I see 2 things. Either over time, land around the stadium could be valuable and condos, restaurants, stores will follow. Or no one wants to live that close to 2 stadiums and the crowds and the development doesn't follow.
I guess also over time OCS could buy nearby parcels either for parking or maybe build soccer fields for academy or neighborhood/community uses.

 

I take it from your remarks that Paramore isn't the safest neighborhood, the last time I was up in Orlando it was nine years ago and I'm not too familiar with the downtown Orlando area as I am with International Drive and areas near to Disney. Is this Parramore neighborhood a different area altogether than the neighborhood where the old "O'rena" was located? Because that area wasn't the best also and Orange Blossom Trail (OBT) which is near by is known for a lot of vice crime activities at night. As for this new site, the main festivity areas of Church Street is inside downtown Orlando, from the rendering above it looks like they're new site would be a good 3 to 4 blocks away which isn't that bad.

 

There is safety in numbers. Just travel in packs.

 

Ok, I do remember the Citrus Bowl on the other side of OBT from the O'rena, but I always thought they were two different neighborhoods. If my understanding is correct the Citrus Bowl side of OBT was unincorporated Orlando, while the other side of the OBT is the City of Orlando proper. Anyways, I was just trying to get my bearings of that area as it relates to this newer stadium site from a distance standpoint.

 

The Bronx is not all that nice, I would assume worse than this Orlando neighborhood. Yankee Stadium is one of quite a few big league and minor league sports venues I have been to in bad areas and I have never had any problem and always feel comfortable. Big crowds often discourage typical criminals and police are usually everywhere.
I would not be too concerned about a brief walk before or after a game.

 

it wasn't so much that they didn't want to move locations, they just wanted buckets more money to do so.

now they get no money.

i can understand them not wanting to move if they had just not wanted to move, but with the obvious money grab they made, i hope orlando fans boycott any attempt at the church making money off the stadium.

 

Except the value of that number does indicate that they weren't serious about the negotiations. They were on the verge of being forced to move and had to offer up something and they went with something that would have enticed them to move.

 

I disagree with that interpretation. They made a $40 million offer well before the threat of eminent domain was issued, and gave some weird reason for it (supposedly that was about the amount they gave to help build some other unrelated facility). They even lowered the price to $35 million later on (still before eminent domain came up).

Of course, they could probably see removal by force on the horizon the moment negotiations started, but if you really don't want to move, there's no reason to make up all that faux reasoning. At best, it was poorly handled on their part.

 

Yeah I don't think the church did anything wrong. Would it have been more convenient if they had moved? Of course. But why should they move just to make things more convenient for millionaire sports owners? As Yoshou said, they weren't going to move unless the offer was so big it made it worth it for them.

 

i'm a little fuzzy on the details this far out, but i seem to remember they based that number on another situation they felt was similar. they thought they had a golden ticket and were trying to cash in. quotes from church representatives early on were dominated by money talk.

are you asking why a community organization should be flexible in accommodating development in the community?

 

There was also a lot of talk about not wanting to move. The value basically came down to "This is what it'll take to make us move".

Not everyone feels that being forced out of their property to allow a millionaire to build a home for his latest toy to be an improvement to the community.. Churches are also a finicky thing in this day and age. For a small church that is slowly losing members and not really getting any new blood to refill their ranks, a relocation can be a death knell. Back when I was a kid the church I was attending rented a local Catholic school to hold their services and just moving out of that location was worrisome because most of the members lived in that area and there was legitimate concern that they wouldn't go to the new location.

 

It's not that big a deal, and In the long run, I expect the team will benefit. The entire block will soon get built up full of fan friendly amenities and the team will make a mint.

 

I admit i don't see all the details but I do think this was a money grab by the church.

I think a win-win, would have been for the church to ask for its building to have been picked up and moved to the site of the park, then it saves the park for the community, allows the church and road to continue and moves the stadium a half block toward downtown.

 

If it was a money grab the church would not have started out asking $40million. They knew there was no way in the world the city would pay that.
It wasn't the responsibility of the church to make this easier on the soccer team or the city. The city is the one that came knocking on their door and told them they were taking their land. You guy act like the church set this whole situation up from day one. It is their land and they don't want to move. They have that right. They are not the first organization to not cave to the demands of a city.
Anyway it appears to be all worked out now and seems to be a good solution in the end. Time to move on.

 

And if it is a money grab, the other development in the area may drive up the value of the land and the church can still get their payday.

 

Clear Lake? Well now i know the name of the area around the Citrus Bowl.