{"id":71706,"date":"2025-12-04T22:54:17","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T22:54:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/71706\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T22:54:17","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T22:54:17","slug":"whats-next-for-the-orlando-sentinel-redevelopment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/71706\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s next for the Orlando Sentinel redevelopment?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just two weeks ago, Alexie Fonseca<\/a>, senior VP for Colliers, was sitting on a panel for NAIOP when an audience member asked what her dream redevelopment site would be. She didn\u2019t hesitate: the former Orlando Sentinel property.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m dying for that site \u2014 I just have so many great ideas,\u201d she said. \u201cI know how it should be redeveloped. It\u2019s a sexy site, and I think it would really change downtown.\u201d<\/p>\n

The comment was prescient, as she later learned that the Miami investors who bought the former newspaper property had been meeting privately with Mayor Buddy Dyer to discuss a transformational, $2 billion plan for the site.<\/p>\n

\"AlexieAlexie Fonseca, Senior VP at Colliers, called the Orlando Sentinel property “a sexy site” that could transform downtown. (Staff photo)<\/p>\n

Midtown Development, led by Alex Vadia and Richard Perez, bought the nearly 20-acre site in 2016 for $35.1 million. It was the firm\u2019s second major investment in Orlando; Midtown previously acquired the vacant 400 block of North Orange Avenue across from the county courthouse and sold it for $17 million to Property Markets Group, which developed the 27-story Society Orlando apartment tower<\/a> there.<\/p>\n

In the five years since the newspaper vacated the building, Midtown has kept mum on its plans for the property. The only hint of a redevelopment plan came in 2021, when the developer demolished three buildings on the block between Concord and Amelia streets.<\/p>\n

Orlando Spokeswoman Andrea Otero told GrowthSpotter that Midtown officials haven\u2019t had any pre-application meetings with city planners, but that the first step would be to demolish the former newspaper building and parking lots and prepare them for future development. Even a demolition must receive appearance review approval from the city. The developer would then have the option of rezoning the property to a planned development, followed by a master plan and appearance review, before filing building permits. The planning, design and permitting will take years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe announcement yesterday was a first step in a long-range vision for the redevelopment of the Orlando Sentinel site, Otero said. \u201cAlthough we don\u2019t have specifics on the development plan as of yet, we anticipate demolition and preparation of the site sometime next year (2026).\u201d<\/p>\n

Perez told members of the Orlando Downtown Partnership it could take decades to complete the buildout over multiple phases.<\/p>\n

Thomas Heatherwick<\/a>, the London architect charged with leading the design, called the downtown site \u201can opportunity to create an amazing new district, with a gathering space at its heart, with thousands of new homes and dozens of new businesses, to bring an urban density that unlocks new places to work, new places to play, and to relax and exercise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heatherwick and Midtown collaborated on the reimagining of South Miami\u2019s Sunset Place<\/a> from a tired mall into a vibrant, mixed-use district with over 1,500 apartments, shops, restaurants, and a central plaza that serves as a gathering space. They extended the street grid through the property to create smaller blocks and active streets, including some that were closed to vehicular traffic, to create an inviting pedestrian space.<\/p>\n

Another signature of Heatherwick\u2019s portfolio is the use of biophilic design, which incorporates natural and organic elements in the built environment. Some of Heatherwick\u2019s buildings, like the Tree of Life sculpture in China\u2019s Xi\u2019an Centre Cultural Business District, mimic the natural form, while other projects blend rounded shapes with lush plantings and trees on the terraces, inside glassed atriums and on rooftops.<\/p>\n

5 Mind-Bending Buildings Designed By Thomas Heatherwick<\/a><\/p>\n

By engaging an internationally recognized design and architecture firm, Midtown will then start to build out the specific details of a development plan, Otero said. \u201cIt will include residential, retail and food and beverage space with a unique, elevated green space and park experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fonseca said she wasn\u2019t aware of Midtown\u2019s plans when she named the Sentinel property as her dream redevelopment site, but she\u2019s confident Midtown has assembled a team that will create a world-class district in downtown Orlando. \u201cThey\u2019ll deliver on that. It\u2019s a great concept,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at\u00a0lkinsler@GrowthSpotter.com<\/a> or (407) 420-6261. Follow GrowthSpotter on\u00a0Facebook<\/a> and\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just two weeks ago, Alexie Fonseca, senior VP for Colliers, was sitting on a panel for NAIOP when…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":71707,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[558,34752,28,114,1335,139,141,140,480],"class_list":["post-71706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-business","tag-downtown-orlando-developments","tag-florida","tag-latest-headlines","tag-orange-county","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-real-estate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}