Originally Posted By leemac <<Have you put your deposit down yet Lee Mac?>> I avoid central Florida projects like the plague so no chance of me buying a property - even if there was cast member discount. Imagine if there was CM discount - a $8m house would be $5.2m - the biggest discount imaginable!
Originally Posted By MPierce >> Golden Oak sure is a bland name for such a ***!!m*a*g*i*c*a*l!!*** place. << How about Personal Privy Paradise?
Originally Posted By MPierce >> So Disney pocketed money from the sale of the property. A home builder actually constructed the houses (Weekley Homes in most cases if I recall) and they even paid commissions to Disney for the privilege. In later years those house builders took on their own marketing and sales activities instead of Disney's Celebration Realty entity. << David Weekly?
Originally Posted By MPierce >> If you are into urban planning then there are some good books on Celebration (although none are great). It was a fantastic project to work on - the place is full of architectural gems from the leading lights of world architecture. << But do you think it's full potential has been developed Lee Mac?
Originally Posted By MPierce I don't know about the rest of you guys, but the main thing holding me back from buying in are those garbage fees!
Originally Posted By MPierce >> I avoid central Florida projects like the plague so no chance of me buying a property - even if there was cast member discount. Imagine if there was CM discount - a $8m house would be $5.2m - the biggest discount imaginable! << Not even if they gave you 50% off merchandise at Walt Disney World?
Originally Posted By dshyates "Not even if they gave you 50% off merchandise at Walt Disney World? " I am sure Lee already has a "Disney Parks" windbreaker and doesn't really need more Pooh plush. But he may be interested in Princess bling.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> I am sure Lee already has a "Disney Parks" windbreaker and doesn't really need more Pooh plush. But he may be interested in Princess bling. << Who wouldn't be! Plus there's the Ariel deluxe crayon set! Have you got yours yet Dave?
Originally Posted By dshyates I am not allowed crayons, unless they are the non-toxic soy bean variety.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> I am not allowed crayons, unless they are the non-toxic soy bean variety. << I know what you mean. I use to eat mine too!
Originally Posted By leobloom >> For the same reason they are selling off land for future commercial development. Make your money, and move on. It's smart business. It limits your liability in large developments, while you reap the initial profits. << I still don't really see what Disney's motivation was for developing Celebration. I get they wanted profit and sell some land, but I dunno. That doesn't seem to be what Walt meant by 'the blessing of size.' Seems that Disney felt like it owned too much land. Odd concept, that.
Originally Posted By leemac ^^ The land was useless as it is south of US192 and east of I-5 - it was never going to be part of Walt Disney World Resort.
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer >>> That's not how things work - just because it was sold doesn't mean it wasn't a success. The company opted not to do the rest of the build-out (we originally thought that Celebration could reach about 12,000 inhabitants). Don't forget that once the build-out was complete the revenue stream is limited to rent from non-residential properties and some ancillary sales. The real revenue is in the sale of residential property and once the decision was taken that there wasn't the appetite (either commercially or by the company) then it is game over. Just wait and see with Golden Oak - the market research suggests that there is significant demand for high-value property in high-value locations in central Florida.<<< Makes sense...Can't argue that.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper In 1984 the Walt Disney Company purchased a land development company called "Arvida". Most of Celebration was developed under that name. Arvida was a prominent Florida land developer (the company was created by ARthur VIning DAvis) responsible for homes all over the state including most of the City of Weston (outside Ft Lauderdale). If you drove through Weston it would be easy to believe you were driving right across Disney property...without all the Mickey roadsigns. In 1992 Hurriance Andrew devastated areas south of Miami. The City of Weston was just being built so many displaced folks from down there moved to Weston...a boon for Arvida. But, wouldn't you know it...many of the destroyed homes in the South Miami area were built by Arvida and it wasn't long before the company (still owned by Disney) was facing a class action lawsuit with plantiff's claiming they were not built according to Florida building codes. Disney sold Arvida...and I would suspect that lawsuit was one of the reasons why.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> ^^ The land was useless as it is south of US192 and east of I-5 - it was never going to be part of Walt Disney World Resort. << Pretty savvy business dealing if you ask me. Take land that would never be of use to the Resort. Promote it using Disney's influential name to start the development. Then move on to something else after you sell the bulk of the land. Leaving the drudgery of administration to the home owners.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> Disney sold Arvida...and I would suspect that lawsuit was one of the reasons why. << Shifty little, Rodent isn't he?
Originally Posted By wahooskipper Well, I'm not sure I could blame Disney for wanting to distance themselves from that mess. I certainly wouldn't stipulate that Disney was at fault for the hurricane damage...they just happened to be the owners of record.
Originally Posted By dshyates "I certainly wouldn't stipulate that Disney was at fault for the hurricane damage" Who woulda thought there would be hurricanes in Florida!
