Developers get go ahead for city high-rise
Developers have received approval from the Orlando City Council to build a 22-story hotel on Florida’s Lake Eola that could involve destroying a historic home and office building. In exchange for permission to build a high-rise that is twice the size normally allowed, developer Michael Gouda agreed to donate 1% of the $75 million project cost to a public art fund, and commissioners may require him to move the historic house to city land.
The Orlando City Council unanimously approved on June 19 the construction of a 22-story hotel that could destroy the last historic home on Lake Eola and a 1926 office building.
Both structures were built during the 1920s land boom that brought the first significant wave of middle-class Americans to Florida with their families. A glass and concrete skyscraper with 225 hotel rooms, restaurants, retail space and a parking garage will replace them on Lake Eola’s waterfront according to a report in The Florida Sentinel.
Commissioners allowed the developer to build a high-rise twice the size normally allowed downtown on about a half-acre plot of land. In exchange, developer Michael Gouda and his investors agreed to donate 1 percent of the $75 million project cost, or about $750,000, to a public art fund. They also will move the Mediterranean-revival home to city land if commissioners so choose.
Commissioner Patty Sheehan said in an interview that she will explore using the public art donation or funds from the community redevelopment agency to lay a new foundation for the home. Other costs associated with the move include updating the building to provide access to the disabled, she said. “Personally, I would like to save it if we can find some dollars,” Sheehan said.
A provision in the ordinance the council approved Monday allows the home to be demolished on the city’s say-so. It also lets city planning director Dean Grandin decide whether to sell or donate the historic structure. The house, currently the offices of an advertising agency, has not been designated a historic landmark. The six-story office building at 205 E. Central Blvd., which was a Masonic Lodge from 1926 to 1973, also has not been declared historic.
Gouda said he and his investors have no intention of destroying the house and would like to a find a solution that would preserve it on the shores of Lake Eola.
Liz Smith, 46, whose family lived in the house for three decades, said she is trying to raise private funds to help defray costs for the city if it opts to save the structure.
Report by Chitra Mogul
Chitra Mogul
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