ORLANDO, Fla. Today, the Orlando Performing Arts Center (OPAC), a nonprofit corporation, announced that Hines has been selected as its development partner during the OPAC Board of Directors meeting. OPAC received five responses to a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for a development partner to construct a multi-use performing arts complex which will include educational facilities, public plaza, parking structures, and potential commercial expansion.
Upon successful negotiation of the contract, OPAC and Hines will work together to present a feasibility plan for the performing arts center in January 2006 to the Ex-Officios, who are City of Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, Orange County Mayor Richard Crotty, and University of Central Florida (UCF) President Dr. John Hitt. The OPAC Executive Committee interviewed three developers on Wednesday, August 31 who had previously been short-listed through the RFQ process. The short-listed firms included Carter of Atlanta, Ga.; Hines of Houston, Texas; and KUD International of New York, N.Y. Based on the interviews, the Executive Committee made a recommendation to the OPAC Board of Directors of selecting Hines as the development partner.
"We look forward to working with Hines to create and build a historical destination for Central Florida," stated OPAC President and Chairman Jim Pugh. “Hines has the most experience in developing performing arts facilities and redefining cityscapes.”
“Although every firm under consideration possessed exemplary qualifications, we believe Hines best supports our vision for a world renowned performing arts center,” said Jim Pugh.
Hines is an international real estate firm with more than 2,800 employees based out of Houston, Texas. Their performing arts center development experience includes the Moores School of Music and the Wortham Theater Center in Houston, Texas, as well as the 2,300-seat Walt Disney Concert
Hall in Los Angeles, Calif., and New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Fla. Hines’ mixed-use development includes Diagonal Mar in Barcelona, Spain, Garibaldi Repubblica in Milan, Italy and the GM World Headquarters, Renaissance Center in Detroit, Mich.
The Orlando Performing Arts Center, a 501(C)3 nonprofit corporation, has been charged by the city of Orlando to outline recommendations to build a destination that elevates the arts, provides the best arts education, generates urban renewal, and most importantly, is programmed to be fiscally responsible in construction and operations. For more information about the OPAC initiative and community involvement opportunities, please visit www.orlandopac.org.