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Cathedral Church of St. Luke dropped its appeal against the City Centre development proposed for the southwest corner of Lake Eola Park on Friday, December 4.

The 28-story tower was approved by the City’s Municipal Planning Board back in July, which we wrote about HERE. The developer had proposed to build a cafe space on the eastern side of their tower that would have intruded into the park much like the patio at the new downtown World of Beer location. They also offered to add a number of improvements to that corner of the park.

The Cathedral Church of St. Luke had deeded the land needed to create Lake Eola Park to the City in 1914, with the added provision that the park never be developed on and kept as a green space for Orlando residents to use and enjoy. The Cathedral filed an appeal to the City against the proposed building when it was approved by the Planning Board but recently reached an agreement with the developer and have dropped their case. The City and the developer have agreed not to build on any land that had previously been donated by the church.

The developer had stated previously in earlier interviews that if they would most likely be dropping the outdoor cafe space if opposition continued. Now, rather than a cafe, the tower will house a pharmacy instead. The name of the pharmacy chain to occupy the space has yet to be released.

The project must still be approved by City Council and and receive the consequent zoning changes needed to make the tower a reality. Other appeals against the tower were dismissed in September.

 

 

Brendan O'Connor

Editor in Chief of Bungalower.com

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  1. ja5983 It is very unikely that they will get a pharmacy at this location, particularly with the new one now planned for at Church and Orange.  This project doesnt make any financial or other sense.  Hope it gets killed by City Commission so this developer doesnt lose a bunch of money.  THis will be a very difficult place to get in an out of, poor planning, dumb design, = ?

  2. hahahaha! Complaints turned a nice outdoor cafe into another chain pharmacy hahahaha. Good job everyone! Keep that NIMBYism up!

  3. you do realize there are currently two buildings on the location of the proposed tower right? The height will not be any taller than 5th third bank which is directly caddie corner to the north end corner of the park and the ground level will barely cover a very small portion of the park that is completely unused.

    Additionally, the sun rises in the east so I am not quite sure how it is scientifically possible for this “mysterious shadow” to all of a sudden cover the park….

    Very glad this was approved. It is unfortunate the café didn’t make it

  4. The City is allowing all loading and unloading for this proposed project (move ins, move outs, trash, deliveries for retail & residents, etc) to have to back in and back out onto already congested Central Blvd. this means many times per day trucks will be blocking traffic right at Central and Rosiland. City code requires that all trucks must be able to fully enter the bldg or property and have adequate room to for trucks turn around inside the building on its property so as not to impact traffic on adjacent roadways. Right now this bldg is planned for all trucks for deliveries or move ins have to stop traffic for a cumbersome and slow 3-4 point turn maneuver that will block both directions of traffic on very busy Central blvd as it tries to back into the bldg! If there are more than one truck trying to deliver, then one will just block the entire west bound lane on Central. This bldg is incredibly poorly planned. For one iill- advised building, that we don’t need in downtiown, we are forever going to impact & snarl traffic at busy Central & Robinson intersection. The City needs to make this developer follow City code. Look immediately across Central at the Embassy Suites. This hotel was required to provide a truck lane adjacent to the hotel, on the hotels property, for truck delivery and loading, allowing trucks to deliver without holding up traffic. If the proposed tower developer can’t meet city code or refuses to provide a loading area on his property so delivery and moving trucks do not hold up traffic in both directions of Central many times per day, then this development should not be approved by our City Commission.

  5. U can’t compare the two parks Central Park is much larger and open. If u start closing in on Eola it won’t be as enjoyable especially considering all the growth there is it will be the only place to go to get away and it will suck if u can’t.

  6. I actually think that’s one of the things that makes NYC’s Central Park so interesting. It’s framed in by tall buildings like a giant room. I totally agree with you on the outdoor eating space though. I think we really missed out on a chance for something cool for that corner.

  7. The other buildings on central are across the street. This is going the be right on top of the park.

  8. haha I don’t go to parks to get sun stroke either. And it’s not a constant, it would move with the sun, like a sun dial.

  9. I hardly think this building is going to shroud all of Lake Eola in shadow. Actually, walking along the lake, this building isn’t going to cast anymore shadow than any of the other buildings on Central.

  10. It’s not a break it’s a constant. U dont go to public parks to sit in shadows. That’s what trees are for, Or the pergola,

  11. Hey Derek, I don’t really understand the shadow argument … can you explain it to me? What’s wrong with a break from the Florida sun in a public park?

  12. This makes no sense to me. I don’t think anyone had a problem WOB terrace being there nor would they with the cafe here. The cafe doesn’t seem to be the problem, it’s the height right on top of the lake. It’s about sight lines and shadows.