Our Town
More than 100 years ago, Oakland was the industrial and social hub of Orlando" target="_blank">Orange County. Today the picturesque town, which lies two miles west of Winter Garden on the southern shores of Lake Apopka, is home to just 1,800 people.
And "town" is how elected officials refer to Oakland, despite the fact that it was incorporated as a city in 1959. Indeed, a designation of "city" does seem a bit incongruous for this rural enclave, where voters have rejected proposals to pave the narrow clay streets for fear that more people might want to drive on them.
Still, change is coming. Oakland's population has nearly tripled over the past three years, and planners say 5,000 people will call themselves Oaklanders by 2010.
New development tends to be upscale and family oriented. The 19-mile paved West Orange Trail, a mecca for hikers and bikers, begins in Oakland and stretches northeast to Apopka along the original Orange Belt and Florida Midland railbeds. More than 50,000 people per month traverse the trail's length.
Oakland is also home to the 93-acre Oakland Nature Preserve, where wildlife abounds and paths and boardwalks line the shores of Lake Apopka.
"Our challenges are many," says town manager Jay Evans. "But our determination is strong. I'm confident that when the dust settles from this wave of the Central Florida growth machine, our residents will be proud to call Oakland home, and will appreciate living in a small town that still has all the charm of Mayberry."
OCOEE
Ocoee remained an isolated citrus town clustered around Starke Lake until the 1980s. Now, with 24,391 residents, it has edged ahead of Winter Park to become the third-largest city in Orlando" target="_blank">Orange County, behind Orlando and Apopka.
The transformation began two decades ago when devastating freezes destroyed thousands of acres of citrus trees and opened west Orange and south Lake counties for development. Today, Ocoee boasts a 1-million-square-foot regional mall and at least two dozen new subdivisions with homes in all price ranges.
Ocoee's beginnings were inauspicious. In the mid-1850s, a physician named J.D. Starke led a group of slaves into the area and established a camp along the western shores of the lake that now bears his name. Capt. Bluford Sims, who hailed from Ocoee, Tenn., arrived in 1861 and bought 50 acres from Starke. He then platted what would become downtown Ocoee.
Through the years, Ocoee developed into a thriving citrus-producing center. Today, however, housing is the city's hottest commodity. The Florida Turnpike, the East/West Expressway and a new Western Beltway all pass through the city, meaning once remote downtown Orlando is now just a 15-minute commute.
Despite its growth, Ocoee has managed to preserve its past. During the annual Founder's Day Festival, held each October, visitors tour lovely Victorian homes such as the Withers-Maguire House, once a winter refuge for a Confederate general and now a museum.
Also of interest is the circa-1890 Ocoee Christian Church, with its gothic architecture and Belgian-made stained-glass windows, as well as several vintage commercial buildings in the original downtown area.
Commercial growth is booming, especially along the S.R. 50 corridor, where orange groves and cattle pastures once predominated. In Ocoee, those rustic vistas have been replaced by a Wal-Mart SuperCenter, a Best Buy, a Red Roof Inn and dozens of strip centers.
New residential development is focused on the northwest side along the S. R.429 corridor. A new community center, senior center and high school are slated for the area. The high school is set to open in 2005.
DOWNTOWN ORLANDO
When developer Phil Rampy stood before an audience of several hundred real estate professionals, the first question he was asked wasn't a surprise: "Phil, is there really a market for all the condominium development going on downtown?"
But Rampy, a visionary whose early bullishness on the downtown market wasn't always shared by his peers, offered an answer that delighted even the most ardent boosters.
"We're nowhere close to overbuilding the downtown market," he said, adding that some developments are substantially sold out before they're even completed.
A prime example: The Metropolitan at Lake Eola, a building still known to longtime locals as the old Harley Hotel. Developer David Eichenblatt, who bought the property in December and began converting it to condominiums, sold all 128 units within 72 hours of opening a sales office.
Attracted by prices that ranged from $110,000 to $150,000, people waited in line to put down deposits. And there's a standby list of would-be buyers who are hoping some of the deals fall through.
"We aimed for a hip, sophisticated clientele," says Eichenblatt, who professes not to be surprised at the response. "It's a perfect location because you have Lake Eola at your front door and you can walk to work from your back door. Plus we have huge balconies and a price point that can't be beat."
Of course, not every story involving downtown real estate has been as dramatic. Still, there no signs that the central city's residential momentum will slow anytime soon.
And that's good news to developers, who are investing billions in construction of new condominiums and townhomes. In addition to The Metropolitan, projects currently selling units include Copley Square, Eola South, 55 West, Lakeside at Delaney, Osceola Brownstones, The Sanctuary and The Waverley.
Others are waiting in the wings. In all, more than 1,600 condominium units are either ready to occupy, under construction or being planned for the area bounded by Lake Ivanhoe on the north, Lake Lucerne on the south, Lake Eola on the east and I-4 on the west.
"I think the timing wasn't right for a long time," admits Rampy, whose forays into historic restoration helped make Thornton Park one of the city's most prestigious addresses. Now Rampy's company, Olde Towne Brokers, is developing successful new projects.
For example, Olde Towne has completely sold out its urban-chic Lofts at Thornton Park Central, located in the midst of the eclectic retail-restaurant showplace that was the brainchild of Rampy and his partner, Craig Ustler of Ustler Properties. Prices ranged from $200,000 to $600,000.
Rampy's firm has also filled a majority of 23 luxurious Eola South "city houses," which feature large balconies overlooking Lake Eola, granite kitchen counters, stainless-steel appliances, marble baths and private garages. Prices for the units, which offer up to 4,000 square feet of living area, range from $300,000 to more than $1 million. Occupancy is scheduled for the first quarter of 2005.
And Rampy's 26-unit Osceola Brownstones, where prices range from the mid-$200s through the high $300s, should be finished by fall of 2005. The three-story project features brown brick stucco, roof gardens and two-car garages.
"We started small and kept going," says Rampy. "It just kind of took on a life of its own." He adds that the growing number of upscale cafes, markets and people to patronize them "are all a step in the right direction to make Orlando a 24-7 city."
As downtown's appeal becomes more widely known, local Realtors find that new residential offerings sell themselves. Buyers, they say, are most often young professionals who work downtown, supplemented by an increasing number of empty nesters attracted by on-site amenities and a hassle-free lifestyle.
For example, preconstruction sales have passed 80 percent at the 173-unit Sanctuary high-rise condominiums between Pine and Church streets on Eola Avenue, says Jennifer Tyre of Historic Creations Realty. Occupancy is scheduled for August 2005.
"People just walk in and really love the product and the location. It's not a difficult sale," says Tyre, 27, who recently put down a deposit on a 12th- floor unit of her own.
Starting at $320,000 for a one-bedroom, 1,400-square-foot unit, the Sanctuary condos flow with open room plans, private terraces, stunning views and interior upgrades galore.
"We like the convenience factor of downtown," Tyre says. "We can walk to the Central City Market, to dinner, and we walk around Lake Eola at least three times a week. It's so perfect to be able to park your car and not get back in it."
In fact sales have been so strong that Steve Kodsi, a partner in the development, says he may use a lottery system to select buyers for his next venture, the nearby Star Tower. Construction on the 110-unit project is expected to start later this year.
Convenience is built into several other new downtown condominium projects as well.
At 55 West, a lavish complex where 60 percent of its 354 units were reserved before construction got under way, pet owners won't have to walk their dogs past the rooftop park. Euro Capital Partners spokeswoman Dena O'Malley says residents will also have access to a world-class fitness center and can ring for 24-hour room service from one of several restaurants to be built along with eclectic shops on The Esplanade.
Prices range from $200,000 to $3.5 million at 55 West, which is named for its address at Church Street Market, a once-vibrant retail complex that fell victim to suburban shopping malls and power centers.
An intriguing newcomer to the downtown market will be The Vue at Lake Eola, a 323-unit tower next to The Metropolitan that sold about 50 percent of its units shortly after opening a sales office in July. Units are priced from $160,000 to $250,000. Groundbreaking is scheduled for December, with a completion date of August 2005.
About five minutes south of downtown, at 525 E. Michigan Ave., developer Barry Miller's Copley Square brownstones and Victorian town homes are 45 percent presold, with Phase II buildout slated for summer 2005. The project, with a distinctive Bostonian flair, features its own amphitheater for local productions. Prices for three- and four-bedroom homes range from $352,000 to $400,000-plus.
Of course, there are residential options downtown aside from new condominiums. The charming old neighborhoods ringing the city have been gentrifying since the late 1980s.
Thornton Park is perhaps the highest-profile example, but property values are also soaring in the city's other designated historic districts, including Lake Eola Heights, Lake Lawsona, Lake Cherokee and Lake Copeland.
As builders build and buyers buy, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer is looking for ways to bolster downtown arts and entertainment options while enhancing pedestrian-friendly transportation systems and attracting a greater variety of businesses.
High-profile goals include retaining the Orlando Magic's NBA presence and building a performing arts complex and downtown conference center. An early coup for Dyer's team was the announcement in January of a $140 million project on Orange Avenue, downtown's main thoroughfare, which will feature a 12-screen movie theater parking garage and three towers with condominiums, offices and shops.
That project, dubbed The Plaza, is being developed by Cameron Kuhn, who has already invested millions of dollars in downtown Orlando by renovating 14 office buildings of various sizes. It's slated to be the largest mixed-used development in the city's history.
Preservationists mourned when Kuhn's crews hurriedly demolished two vacant, circa-1940s storefronts to make way for the development. But backers noted that the city's Code Enforcement Board had declared the buildings, which once housed McCrory's and Woolworth, to be a public-safety hazard.
The renaissance of Church Street Station, once a thriving entertainment district that attracted hordes of tourists, is proving more problematic.
Boy-band impresario Lou Pearlman, who had promised to revitalize the block in exchange for tax incentives, is now in a dispute with city officials over a variety of issues. It is not known how the scenario will play out.
Still, the news downtown is overwhelmingly positive, and boosters are eager to show off what's happening. So in December organizers succeeded in bringing back Light Up Orlando, a yearly downtown street party featuring music, art, plays and food-station noshing.
"This street festival is yet another event that Orlando residents can enjoy without driving someplace else," says Light Up producer Joanne Grant. "Our hope is that the event will grow in size and will begin attracting people from outside of the area and even outside the state of Florida, similar to Memphis in May, where visitors plan their vacations around it."
The foundation for enormous change is already in place, says Downtown Development Board executive director Frank Billingsley.
"There's a trend across America of more and more people moving into downtowns, and we have a very desirable and pleasant downtown infrastructure in place," says Billingsley, who points to the city's brick streets, urban lakes and architectural variety.
"Our downtown is a neighborhood where you can feel very connected to friends, family, and community. It's a much richer experience living in an urban environment, where you can feel connected to the pulse of the community."