Hello City Life

Three years ago, Miguel Piedra and his wife, Laetitia, left manic Miami for laid-back Orlando. But as devoted urbanites, the couple still wanted the convenience and the panache of a downtown address. "We were really looking for that urban lifestyle, where we could walk to restaurants and the dry cleaner and around the lake with our dog," says Miguel, 28, a media-relations professional at Walt Disney World Resort.

So the couple moved into a rental at Waverly on Lake Eola with their beloved dog, Mojito. Then last year they happened upon a renovated town home in Thornton Park, an old downtown neighborhood consisting of beautifully restored circa-1920s homes and a funky commercial district featuring trendy restaurants, eclectic shops and the city's only independent bookstore.

They snapped up the coveted real estate, eager to be in the midst of downtown Orlando's heralded revitalization and happy to live a few blocks from the law firm where Laetitia practices.

In fact, Miguel is so excited about the city's growth potential that he and two brothers have launched their own downtown business-a Natural Chicken Grill franchise serving and delivering healthful, Mediterranean-Caribbean eats to those who live and work in the urban core.

The charming old neighborhoods ringing the city have been gentrifying since the late 1980s. Thornton Park is perhaps the most high-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.

Now, however, new residential construction in the urban core is booming-much to the delight of downtown boosters who have for years tried to reshape downtown as a place to live, work and play.

Four new apartment buildings-Post Parkside, Echelon Uptown, Echelon at Cheney Place and Lincoln at Delaney Square-draw residents ranging from young professionals to retirees.

Meanwhile an estimated $1 billion is being invested in building condos, townhomes and other downtown residences. There are at least 1,600 condominium units either on the market or planned, with several other projects in the discussion stage.

As a result, the Heritage Square Farmer's Market buzzes each Saturday with the activity of vendors, artists and shoppers, while the Orlando" target="_blank">Orange County Regional History Center and the Orlando Public Library hum with cultural purpose. New restaurants, boutiques, and other businesses keep popping up to fill a need that didn't exist before downtown began its emergence from lethargy.

"I think the timing wasn't right for a long time," says golden-boy developer Phil Rampy, whose early-some would say risky-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 affordable, urban-chic Lofts at Thornton Park Central, located in the midst of the retail-restaurant showplace that was the brainchild of both Rampy and his partner, Craig Ustler.

His firm has also filled more than 70 percent of its luxurious Eola South "city houses," which feature large balconies overlooking Lake Eola, granite kitchen counters, stainless appliances, marble baths and private garage. Prices range from $300,000 to more than $1 million.

And builders are nearing completion of Rampy's three-story Osceola Brownstones, where prices range from the mid-$200s through the high $300s.

"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."

That transformation is the focus of Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer's Downtown Strategic Transition Team, charged with creating a plan that would breathe pure vitality into downtown Orlando and help to create "a dynamic downtown model for the 21st century . . . a safe, sustainable, livable and vibrant city center."

The plan, released by Dyer's team last September, encompasses development of arts, entertainment and sporting events, retail and hospitality expansion, pedestrian-friendly transportation options and downtown business diversification.

The foundation for enormous change is already in place, says Downtown Development Board executive director Frank Billingsley, whose staff is one of several groups directly supporting the Transition Team's initiatives.

"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."

As downtown's appeal becomes more widely known, local Realtors find that new residential offerings sell themselves. Pre-construction sales have passed 50 percent at the luxurious Sanctuary high-rise condominiums between Pine and Church streets on Eola Avenue, says Jennifer Tyre of Historic Creations Realty.

"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."

Convenience is built into several other new downtown condo projects as well.

At 55 West, a lavish condo 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 new rooftop park being planted atop the 12-story private parking garage on West Church Street.

Euro Capital Partners spokeswoman Dena O'Malley says 55 West residents will 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.

On the northwest corner of Lake Eola, Atlanta developer David Eichenblatt is transforming the former Four Points Sheraton into 128 condominium units called The Metropolitan at Lake Eola, with amenities that include a yoga room, garage parking and a fitness center.

One-bedroom units start at about $150,000 and penthouse homes overlooking the lake will have semi-private elevators. All units will be refurbished "for an entry-level, hip, sophisticated type of clientele," says Eichenbatt.

"It's a perfect location because you have Lake Eola at your front door, and you can walk to work from your back door," he adds. "We have huge balconies and a price point that can't be beat-there's a very strong demand for this type of product in that location."

The amenity-rich Waverly on Lake Eola, where the Piedras rented an apartment, is now undergoing a conversion to condominiums. The distinctive high-rise, which overlooks Lake Eola and the city's signature lime-green fountain, is offering current residents the option of purchasing their units-and many are doing just that, at prices beginning in the low $200s.

About five minutes south of downtown, at 525 E. Michigan Ave., developer Barry Miller's Copley Square brownstones and Victorian town homes are 40 percent pre-sold, with Phase II buildout slated for summer 2005.

The neighborhood, designed with a distinct Bostonian flair, features its own amphitheater for local productions while the three- and four-bedroom homes, priced from the mid-$230s-to-$350,000-plus, each have mix-and-match floorplans, crown molding, hardwood floors, smart-house pre-wiring, rooftop terraces with wood decking and two-car garages.

As builders build and buyers buy, Dyer's Transition Team pores over long-term plans to retain the Orlando Magic's NBA presence at the TD Waterhouse Centre and to build a performing arts complex and a downtown conference center.

An early coup for Dyer was the announcement in January of a $140 million project on Orange Avenue-downtown's attractive but unexciting main drag-that will feature a 12-screen movie theater, a 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.

Preservationists howled 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's, 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 now-forlorn block in exchange for a variety of tax incentives, is now in a dispute with city officials over a variety of issues, including missed construction deadlines and unpaid taxes. It's not known how the scenario will play out.

Still, the news downtown is overwhelmingly positive-and boosters are anxious to show off what's happening. So in December organizers-led by attorney and investor Mark Nejame-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, who expects the fest to expand to a longer run in future years. "Our hope is that Light Up Orlando 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."

Meanwhile, residents like Miguel Piedra and Jennifer Tyre are proud to be among the new wave of thousands planning their lives around downtown Orlando and its renaissance.