By Dan Mitchell, MLM Blog Correspondent

This just in from the Orlando Sentinel:

FOR SALE: 367,000-square-foot arena. Great location in downtown Orlando. Seats up to 18,000. Upholstered chairs. 26 antiquated skyboxes. Parking for 4,200. Air-conditioned. Asking price: $90 million. MUST SEE!

The city of Orlando has joined the scores of homeowners trying to unload property in a lousy real-estate market. Next year, like the thousands of abandoned properties all over our region, Amway Arena will go dark and begin the long, lonely wait until its eventual date with the wrecking ball.

And the credit crisis has more than tamped down the enthusiasm of developers who once yearned for the chance to snap up the old arena and re-imagine the large swath of land as a virtual clean slate in the heart of the city.

It has snuffed it out.

"The current and near-term economic reality is that you are looking at 50 to 60 acres of developable land with a pretty big price tag on it, and there aren't any developers with the pocketbook for that right now," Craig Ustler said. "Based on current demand, you cannot support a reasonable mix of education, commercial, office, residential and public uses."