The future of Hoods Up, the long-shuttered gas station property on the prime corner of Robinson Street and Bumby Avenue in Orlando’s Milk District (2400 E. Robinson St.), is coming into clearer focus.
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Orlando City Council approved funding Monday for improvements to the Ustler Development-owned site as it edges toward opening a restaurant project with the James Beard-nominated Good Salt Restaurant Group, “probably” called Paper Kites, says Good Salt’s Jason Chin, a name inspired by his wife and partner, Sue Chin’s fond memories of playing with them in her native Korea.
“It’s out there in a couple of places as the name of the tenant entity (LLC), but we haven’t really defined much yet,” Chin told the Orlando Sentinel.
“We’ve been working on our renovation plans and how to adaptively use the building,” says Chin. “Paper Kites is probably the name [of the restaurant], but nothing is official or finalized.”
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The iconic mid-century property has been the subject of much speculation and debate over the last several years, particularly since it was purchased by Ustler Development in 2024. Parking — already an issue in the Milk District — has been of concern to nearby residents. Ustler purchased the property only after a variance, which had requested 10 on-site spaces where 18 would normally be required, was granted.
“As you can imagine, with an older building and an adaptive reuse project like this, the construction drawings and permitting took a while, and then we had to do environmental investigations and do some routine environmental clean-up and removal of the old lifts in the service bays,” Chin explained.
“There were no major environmental concerns, but the routine clean-up and related work took a while. We have some structural revisions to the plans that we are working through now. We are hoping to get started on the renovations in June or July 2026.”
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Chin speculates renovations will take at least six to nine months.
“So we are a ways away from the opening date.”
Details on design, menu, theme, opening date and more are still to come.
This is a developing story; please check back for updates.