ORLANDO, Fla. – Residents and businesses will get an update on where efforts to revitalize Downtown Orlando stand at the State of Downtown address Tuesday afternoon.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer will give the address at the Kia Center as part of an annual fundraiser event for the Downtown Orlando Partnership. The address will be at 3:30 p.m., and News 6 will stream it in the video player above.
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Dyer is expected to speak on the state of Project DTO 2.0, which he unveiled in 2023 as a new initiative to turn the downtown area into more of a neighborhood, creating more storefronts and public spaces and emphasizing public safety. It also is meant to transform office space downtown into more telecommuting and co-working spaces.
High-rise development is booming in the downtown area. Earlier this year, News 6′s Justin Warmoth reported that $1.5 billion worth of residential projects were in the works in the downtown area.
But businesses also are struggling downtown. Owners we talked to said people have a view of the downtown area as dangerous and flooded with homeless people.
In trying to tackle public safety, Orlando City Council has made several changes to the way nightclubs and bars operate downtown, including changes to private parking lots, the city’s noise ordinance, requiring bars to have an after-midnight use permit and more.
In the latest change, the city council restricted new nightclubs and bars to roughly one per city block.
Some of these changes have led to frustration from these businesses. One owner told us the changes have led to dozens of layoffs.
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