ORLANDO, Fla. — A couple of longtime Orlando residents have big plans for downtown Orlando. They want to buy a building downtown, near Lake Eola, to prevent overdevelopment.
The building is located at the corner of Rosalind Avenue and East Central Boulevard near a 7-Eleven.
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Resident Lynn Long describes herself as a little old lady, but she has big plans for the area around Lake Eola.
The plan? Buy a building, tear it down and create a green space.
Long and her friend Eugenia Sefcik started brainstorming ideas in 2015. Then, there was a plan to make the building a 28-story, multifamily high-rise, but the developer pulled out of the deal.
Now, Long and Sefcik want to buy the property for the city, so they established a land trust.
A nonprofit called the Orlando Land Trust will be used to raise the $3.5 million needed to acquire the nearly 1-acre plot, and city leaders are all for it.
But not everyone agrees.
“I’d rather have a place to buy stuff. We have plenty of green space," said Felipe Herrera, who works downtown.
Some argue losing the 7-Eleven would be a huge inconvenience for everyone in the area including the homeless people who shop there.
The Orlando Land Trust has the building under contract. It now has 18 months to raise the money.
If the money is not raised in time, the deal will not go through.
Visit here to learn more about the project.
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