PHOTO VIA CITY OF ORLANDO
One of downtown Orlando’s most painfully vacant properties, the former Orlando Sentinel site, is moving forward with redevelopment, according to Mayor Dyer.
The development commitment was confirmed during a panel discussion on the importance of placemaking featuring Craig Ustler, owner and president of Ustler Development, Inc.; Jason Chin, owner and operator of Good Salt Restaurant Group; Jennifer Evins, president and CEO of United Arts of Central Florida; Richard Perez, partner at Midtown Development; and Sheena Fowler, CEO of Innovate Orlando.
According to remarks made by Mayor Buddy Dyer during this week’s State of Downtown address, the site, located along Orange Avenue just north of Livingston Street, is being prioritized as part of the broader DTO Action Plan, a multi-pronged effort aimed at creating a more walkable, livable downtown.
The roughly 19-acre property has been a glaring gap in the urban core since the Sentinel relocated its operations out of its longtime home back in 2020. Miami-based real estate group Midtown Opportunities purchased the property back in 2016 for approximately $35.1 million. They then turned around and sued the Sentinel for unpaid rent in June 2020, just a few months before they left the property and shifted to a remote working setup for most of their staff.
Early plans filed with the City of Orlando by Kimley-Horne Associates nearly half a decade ago called for a two-phase mixed-use approach, starting with 318 apartments, 140,000 square feet of office space, about 28,000 square feet of retail, and a 910-space garage just north of the Orange County Courthouse. The second phase, located where the Sentinel office building and printing facilities were, would feature the same amount of office, retail, and parking, as well as another 428 apartments, and a 144-unit hotel.
At the time, Chief Planner Dean Grandin shared, “It’s a major block. It’s basically the missing linchpin between north downtown and the central part of downtown, so it’s very important.”
This time, with the design help of Heatherwick Studios (Website), Midtown is hoping to make the property something a little more special than a “cookie-cutter development,” according to Perez. Heatherwick Studios has a pretty ambitious portfolio of projects under its belt, including Little Island and Vessel in New York City, and 1000 Trees in Shanghai.
While the announcement came during a much-watched public address, featuring a panel of speakers, there is no official public timeline attached to the redevelopment announcement, merely a very public reminder that change is coming. Though Perez did share that he hopes it will be completed in the next 20 years, saying, “This is a long-term vision. We want to create the type of community that Orlando deserves.”
