DuPont Trust moving headquarters to Brooklyn

[thelakelander]

DuPont Trust plans to construct a new 4 story corporate headquarters building in Brooklyn.  The project site will be between Everbank Plaza and the riverwalk, on Forest Street.  According to a deal approved between Fidelity National Financial and DuPont, DuPont has until Dec. 30, 2010 to develop the property or it reverts back to Fidelity.  With that said, this will most likely be a fast moving project, that will add a little more urbanity to the Riverside Avenue corridor.

Plans to move the Alfred I. duPont Testamentary Trust headquarters downtown are moving forward. The city planning department received plans to build a five-story building this month off of Riverside Avenue on property owned by Fidelity National Financial Inc. The trust, with total assets of about $4 billion, is in the process of buying the land from Fidelity, but has not yet completed the purchase, said David Gonino, the trust's chief investment officer. Gonino said he could not divulge details about the project, citing a confidentiality agreement with Fidelity.

"We're very excited, but there's nothing carved in stone, yet," Gonino said.

According to the permit application, the trust plans to build a 46,600-square-foot building on about 1 acre of riverfront property. Gonino said those specs could change; Fidelity can let the trust build up to 175,000 square feet on the property. The building would front Forest Street, behind the Riverside Avenue Partners building still under construction.

Created in 1935, the trust primarily supports The Nemours Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to helping sick children. The trust currently shares office space on Touchton Road with Nemours, which is building a campus of its own at Deerwood Office Park about 2 miles away.

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/043007/bus_166179650.shtml

[thelakelander]

DuPont Trust begins on building

By URVAKSH KARKARIA, The Times-Union

The Alfred I. duPont Testamentary Trust will break ground on a headquarters building today.  The trust, which manages roughly $5.5 billion in assets, is investing $20 million as it relocates near the Fidelity National Financial campus in Riverside.

The new four-story building, which will open Oct. 1, 2008, will offer additional space and a more-visible presence, said David Gonino, the trust's chief investment officer.

The location, he said, "gave us the ability to have a real presence on the riverfront ... in an up-and-coming part of Jacksonville."

The 40,000-square-foot building, at 510 Forest St., will have environment-friendly features such as rooftop gardens and a glass-roofed atrium for natural light.

Created in 1935, the trust supports The Nemours Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to helping sick children.

The trust shares space on Touchton Road with Nemours, which is building a campus of its own at Deerwood Office Park about 2 miles away. To date, the trust has distributed more than $1.7 billion to Nemours.

urvaksh.karkaria@jacksonville.com,

(904) 359-4367

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/071707/bus_184852278.shtml

[Lunican]

Well, you were definitely right when you predicted this would be a fast moving project.

[thelakelander]

Here's a rendering of the DuPont Trust Building.

[Jason]

Not to bad looking, however, I wonder how well it will integrate with the Everbank building and the street.  It seems that it keeps to itself.

[thelakelander]

Here's the site plan.  It's not really pedestrian friendly

[Dapperdan]

Hey guys, I am back!
  I work in the St Joe building, so I should have front row seats for all the Brooklyn projects. Why is the riverwalk so nice down this way? I am assuming all these corporations had to pay for the riverwalk, and it looks nice, too bad it stops looking nice after the Acosta...

[copperfiend]

Here's the site plan.  It's not really pedestrian friendly

Agreed.

[Jason]

With the proposed parking at the end of Forrest, a nice little cafe would be great along the riverwalk.

[gatorback]

LEED certified?

[Steve]

This shows that they obviously had no thoughts regarding pedestrian friendliness on this site.  All they would hav to do is flip the building, and it would have been much better.

[Jason]

LEED certified?

Are you asking if it is LEED Certified?  Or are you asking whet that means?

Just and FYI,

LEED stands for "Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design".  If a biulding is LEED certified then is meets certain criteria regarding its environmental friendliness and energy effeciency.

Here are some more details...
http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CategoryID=19

[Jason]

Ground broken on new duPont Trust building on Riverside


07/18/2007

by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer


When Alfred I. duPont died in 1935 at 71 years old, he left a legacy of companies and buildings that still help define Jacksonville. He also left an estate valued at $40 million. In his last will and testament, duPont made it poignantly clear that his estate was to go to the care of sick children, thus the Alfred I. duPont Testamentary Trust was established and The Nemours Foundation was created.

According to Trust Chairman Hugh Durden, the Trust is worth about $5.5 billion today. Tuesday morning, the six Trustees, many from Nemour’s and Wolfson Children’s Hospital and several from local businesses gathered to break ground on the Foundation’s new headquarters building on Riverside Avenue.


Tucked on the river between the new EverBank Building and the St. Joe Building, the five-story building will serve as the headquarters for the Trust.

A proposed rendering of the building from the riverwalk....




Read the rest here: http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showst...Story_id=48023

[Jason]

Here is an aerial view of the site.

[thelakelander]

That aerial helps explain why there won't be any street retail inside of this structure.  Also, looking at the amount of land, it's hard to make a compelling argument that preserving the fire station gets in the way of future development.