ORLANDO, Fla. — Bright lights are lighting up downtown Orlando, and a new building could brighten the skyline even more.
Architectural company Kobi Karp has produced renderings for a proposed 37-story tower near Lake Eola.
It would include 252 apartments and a luxury hotel with 221 rooms, located at Washington Street and Rosalind Avenue.
What You Need To Know
A proposed high rise in downtown Orlando would be 420 feet tall, with apartments and a luxury hotel
Orlando city planning official Jason Burton says the city needs more hotel rooms in the downtown area
The proposal could go before Orlando’s municipal planning board for its May 19 meeting
Murphy Rhoads lives right across the street from the proposed site. He likes the concept and only has short-term concerns.
“Well, the construction for a while, and then the traffic,” Rhoads said.
Jason Burton is the city of Orlando’s planning official. He says city leaders are always interested in downtown redevelopment projects.
“It could potentially be the third largest tower in our downtown,” Burton said.
Burton explained Orlando does not have as many downtown hotels as many other cities of the same size.
“You could have a potentially new hotel in the downtown, and we’re always looking for more hospitality in our downtown,” Burton said.
Burton adds that there has been a lot of development in downtown Orlando over the last ten years. Even though many new apartment buildings have been built near downtown, he believes there is still demand for more.
“There’s always demand and people want to have the amenities that we’re placing in downtown Orlando. Everything, the performing arts center to the arena,” Burton said.
The planning official says the building would be no taller than 425 feet, so it would not interfere with planes flying into Orlando Executive Airport.
Orlando attorney Jason Searl is representing the landowners, asking Orlando city officials for a zoning change for the project.
He sent Spectrum News 13 a brief statement saying, “We are working with the city and more information to follow.”
Murphy believes the project would fit the active lifestyle people enjoy in downtown Orlando.
“We’re getting to be a bigger city, but we’re not quite there yet, so there’s always room to grow,” Murphy said.
Burton adds Orlando’s municipal planning board could take a closer look at the tower proposal at its May 19 meeting.
He says developers want to design the 37-story tower to align with the architecture of the St. George Orthodox Church, which is next to the potential hotel site.