Orlando City Commons Concept Plan

In 2013, the City of Orlando was completing the Dr. Philips Center in Downtown. The initial idea depended on a financial model that specified the properties in front of the Center along Orange Avenue must be sold for development: one on the northern edge, one on the southern edge creating a small, intimate space between them for performances. OK, but a missed opportunity.

The Orlando City Commons Concept Plan was prepared in response to the initial proposal with an alternative idea. The idea was to take the needed economic uses and concentrate them on the south side of the main plaza area leaving the northern area undeveloped and available for a larger, more magnificent plaza in the heart of Downtown. The large plaza will create an urban open space for formal assembly and celebration as well as casual activities like the lawns in New York’s Central Park.

Since the needed economic uses, here in 2018, have yet to be developed, the conversation has been re- kindled and perhaps the larger central plaza will result. The original alternative plan is being presented here as a reminder that unimplemented plans may find their way off the shelf. Whether the Orlando City Commons Concept Plan is re-introduced or not is not the point; the point is to keep good ideas and plans alive in anticipation of the day when they may be useful.

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