The City of Orlando has decided on which design firm will help breathe some new life into the old Bob Carr Theater adjacent to the Creative Village, which has been vacant since 2020.
A Request for Qualification Statements for the Bob Carr Adaptive Reuse project was issued on November 20, 2023, and eight firms responded to the solicitation. On February 27, 2024, an Advisory Committee shortlisted four firms for formal interviews and oral presentations. After three months of presentations, on March 26, 2024, the Advisory Committee met to generate a ranking of the firms as follows:
- Baker Barrios Architects, Inc.
- Huitt-Zollars, Inc.
- Schenkel & Shultz, Inc.
- Little Diversified Architectural Consulting, Inc.
City Council authorized city staff to hash out a deal with Baker Barrios (along with project partners GAI Consultants and BRPH) to redesign the 60,000 SF building on April 22. Mayor Dyer shared during his latest State of Downtown address that he would be pushing to revamp the space into a new “town square for Orlando’s digital economy,” with an estimated $30 million budget.
According to their RFQ bid paperwork, Baker Barrios is pitching a number of improvements to the site, including a great hall area that showcases the building’s historic elements and brickwork, a south wall area with co-working spaces and collaboration areas, and plenty of tech/digital media integrations.
The City hopes to break ground sometime in 2025.
