Universal Orlando Resort Expansion (Part 1)

[GoUCFKnights]

But why..?

Well, they own the land and parking is in demand there, with normal fees being $12-15, so why not?

Also, convention season does not really coincide with the parks peak season, and backstage parking has been reduced recently with backstage building expansions and what appears to be a bus loop under construction. I believe they previously permitted an expansion of the employee parking garage right around the time they were purchasing the additional land but never built it. They could be planning to run a shuttle for employees from this lot during peak season when they expect the existing lot to fill up. This would give them a lot that pays for itself instead of needing to spend money on a garage expansion that would only be used for a small portion of the year. That would seem like the most likely thing.

Its hard to imagine its for the construction trailers or construction parking... its not on the site where they're building it, and they could likely build a dirt lot much cheaper for the construction workers right on the site until they get some of the planned parking lots for the new parcel done

Its parcel #7. The Student Housing is the existing UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management.

 

[fryoj]

After thinking about it, I almost bet they are going to use this lot to move the construction trailers that are on the VB plot to. Two birds with one stone. Get this one paved, move the trailers here and that frees up the VB plot for expansion.

 

[Legacy]

Parking, as an infrastructure investment, may able to serve as a tax write-off in the immediate while being a no-maintenance resource in the future.

 

[Frank Drackman]

Parking fees where mentioned above, could this not just be a way to make money on convention center parking? I would also buy into employee parking as a way to gage transport times/flows using team members as their lab routes?

 

[epcyclopedia]

I could see it being shuttled TM parking. On slow days the rear lot is tight. I think given the choice of using the guest garages or having a shuttle to the back entrance, many TMs would pick the shuttle. Unless you work in park entry, citywalk itself, or Marvel/Suess, it's just not convienent.

And something that occurred to me: if you work Potter, you "can" use the front entrance but it's a loooong walk to go get into your costume and then walk or take the shuttle to your work location. Especially with another Potter being built.

 

[WAJAS]

Deleted

 

[GoUCFKnights]

I could see it being shuttled TM parking. On slow days the rear lot is tight. I think given the choice of using the guest garages or having a shuttle to the back entrance, many TMs would pick the shuttle. Unless you work in park entry, citywalk itself, or Marvel/Suess, it's just not convienent.

And something that occurred to me: if you work Potter, you "can" use the front entrance but it's a loooong walk to go get into your costume and then walk or take the shuttle to your work location. Especially with another Potter being built.

Are the guest garages ever close to filling up on the peak days? Adding more parking to the main Orlando complex guest parking seems likely to be impossible at this point, so I wouldn't be surprised if Universal really wants to keep the employees out of the guest garage.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Are the guest garages ever close to filling up on the peak days? Adding more parking to the main Orlando complex guest parking seems likely to be impossible at this point, so I wouldn't be surprised if Universal really wants to keep the employees out of the guest garage.

I believe it always occurs during the last 2 weeks? And with VB this year, parking should be interesting.

 

[JoeCamel]

After thinking about it, I almost bet they are going to use this lot to move the construction trailers that are on the VB plot to. Two birds with one stone. Get this one paved, move the trailers here and that frees up the VB plot for expansion.

Trailers are already gone.

 

[fryoj]

Trailers are already gone.

Unless Bio was holding these pics a while, they are still there.

 

[JoeCamel]

Unless Bio was holding these pics a while, they are still there.

That is what I saw, you see trailers there?

 

[fryoj]

That is what I saw, you see trailers there?

Every building on that lot except for the block one centered at the bottom are trailers. Those bigger buildings are multiple trailers placed together.

 

[JoeCamel]

This is what it looked like during construction. The lot is cleared

 

[fryoj]

This is what it looked like during construction. The lot is cleared
View attachment 5632

Obviously I wasn't talking about things that are already gone. My post was in reference to the construction trailers that are still on the lot.

 

[JoeCamel]

Obviously I wasn't talking about things that are already gone. My post was in reference to the construction trailers that are still on the lot.

I really don't think they are looking to move anything to the south lot from VB, what is there will stay through the next phase.

 

[zg44]

Important news: Stan Thomas and the top executives of Universal Resorts (and their lawyers) have scheduled a mediation/settlement hearing on November 2, 2017 for the lawsuit over Universal building on the property.

So there's a chance at least that this thing could be settled soon. Stan Thomas is dealing with a bunch of legal fights in other jurisdictions at the moment, so getting this settled should give clarity to both sides. It's somewhat routine though to go through a mediation process because an actual legal fight would result in lots of legal costs over the next year or so and possibly harm any development of the property.

 

[zg44]

FWIW, it's positive that this mediation is happening because attendance at a mediation is voluntary; this means that there's at least a settlement that Stan Thomas is willing to consider (most likely financial). Of course, Universal wants this settled and out of the way.

There's 3 possibilities here:

1) Universal's reps offer to buy out Stan Thomas from his remaining properties (around 800 acres) at a price that the top Comcast/NBCU executives have authorized (let's just assume a max of $500 million in this offer).

2) Universal's reps offer a partial buyout (some land to connect parcels like the previous negotiations last year as well as control over the zoning/what gets built) in exchange for a price that top Comcast/NBCU executives have authorized (let's just assume a max of $100 million in this offer).

3) Stan Thomas just wants money in exchange for being able to build on the current Comcast-owned land.

Those are the 3 main possibilities, but only the first 2 probably close the case quickly and result in a fast settlement. I can't imagine the 3rd possibility leading to an actual settlement, I would guess that Comcast wants land in any settlement package that results in financial payments to Stan Thomas.

Obviously, the best case for all of us is the first possibility, since it'd bring the most future clarity to Universal as well as control over the entire 1,300 acres of undeveloped land remaining from the original Vivendi sale to Stan Thomas.

 

[paintervision]

I could see it being shuttled TM parking. On slow days the rear lot is tight.

This. Volcano Bay used to be the “Hollywood Lot,” with a TM shuttle. That was before VB, the TM garage, and even more attractions and entertainment being forced into the guest garages (North Garage). Plus you have existing areas of the park that are being reworked with hundreds of new positions going in (Jaws to Diagon, but also KidZone to Nintendo on the horizon).

There was a plan to expand the current TM garage, but it looks like it’s stalled or fell through. The part that is being worked on right now was a flood zone, because it was built over an old drainage basin, which might have something to do with it (aside from expanding the wardrobe building).

Holiday peak season coming up. In the past, they have used Dr. Phillips High School as overflow but maybe they want to get away from that? I doubt it will be ready by then, but if it’s just parking spaces, some lighting, and a bus stop... perhaps it will be. And either way, a hotel will connect to this land one day, so a parking lot is a low-risk, safe bet.

 

[Scott W.]

The two current parking structures can hold 19,200 cars for a comparison.

 

[UNIrd]

I was just going to look that up so thanks for that. This really can't be more of an overflow lot, even for future developments there.