As you may have heard, a new sign went up last week at the vacant M Lounge property in Ivanhoe Village, with a very familiar name.
The sign reads “Parliament House Ivanhoe” and according to local business owners, people have been seen coming and going from the property for weeks, located at 2000 N. Orange Avenue [GMap].
M Lounge closed back in 2022 amidst some tax hullabaloo with the owner, Tim Majors. At the time, the building was allegedly seized by one of the lenders, with some of the vehicles on display inside being sold to private investors, and has sat empty ever since.
We told you HERE that Parliament House owner, Don Granatstein, was looking to open a new location for the shuttered (and beloved) Parliament House brand in the heart of downtown Orlando, in partnership with Tim Garito, the owner of Game Room and Sly Fox. The duo had set their sights on the former home of the CityArts Factory at 29 S. Orange Avenue [GMap], at the corner of Pine Street and Orange Avenue. That project was stalled shortly after but we have been informed that construction has ramped back up and that they hope to open as early as this July. A timeline for the new Ivanhoe project is not public at this time.
The original building permit for the downtown Parliament House project expired on July 26, 2023, and according to a Parliament House rep, it took some time to line up new approvals from the City.
The downtown project will include the recently vacated SAK Comedy Lab space as the new home of the Footlight Theater (the name of the theater space at the original Parliament House location which hosted regular theatrical productions and drag shows). Plans also call for a rooftop bar on the third and fourth floors of the building.
Pom Moongauklang, the award-winning owner of Pom Pom’s Sandwicheria and Teahouse, has shared that she is in talks for the food programming at both locations.
Have no idea what Parliament House is/was/could be? Click HERE to read a long-form piece by myself and my partner, Scottie Campbell.
