Urban Core Construction Update - May 2011

[peestandingup]

and then there's the courthouse.
yup, i just threw up in my mouth a little.

Yeah, that thing looks completely ridiculous sitting there towering in the middle of an area that looks like a bomb went off in. Too bad they didn't use that money to rebuild what they did there.

what's taking Pulp so long to open up?

Would like to know this as well. They always include a shot of them in the Construction Updates & it never changes after months & months. Something may be different on the inside for all I know, but I've never seen any activity there whatsoever.

I wonder if they're still going forward with it or if they've ran dry on money to finish or what??

[ubben]

The line of live oak trees in front of the John Gorrie school look awesome. Just like they would have looked before the city decided to chop five of them down in the Shoppes of Avondale during the street 'improvements'. That's why the entire block along St. Johns Avenue from the north end of the Brick to Talbot Avenue looks completely bald, ugly and is 15 degrees hotter than the sidewalks shaded by the mature oaks that weren't chopped down.

Stupid stupid stupid, poor planning, lack of vision!

[urbaknight]

Which building do you work in? Which floor? I thought all floors above the ground level were closed and empty. Tell me  about this area, as I see it, that block is the best example of urban density that we have anywhere in Jax. Please tell me there's activity in those upper floors.

I work on the 7th floor of the old Atlantic Bank Annex building (white building in image).



You are correct that most of the upper floor spaces along this stretch are empty.  That's the reason there's little foot traffic in what should be one of the most vibrant urban corridors in the city.  From my office's back windown, you can see the BOA tower, straight through the Jacksonville Bank Building's empty floors a block away.  I still don't know why Zodiac stays open for dinner.  I applaud them but we need a lot more clustering and special events down here to stimulate the foot traffic to justify business owners keeping later hours.  They do great at lunch but they stopped serving breakfast a few months ago, due to the lack of decent foot traffic.

I'm glad to hear that there's some activity going on there. Is there rooftop access? That would be a great place to hang out on nice nights. But the buildings on both sides would be perfect as apartment units. They could probably accommodate at least a few hundred residents. Foot traffic on Adams st (partially) solved!

[Captain Zissou]

My roommate sent me a picture this morning of the new trees they have put in on Bay Street at the shipyards.  He said there are tons.


And..... [drum roll]............................... THEY AREN'T PALMS!!

I'll see if I can get the pic up here

[fsujax]

I cant see it!

[Captain Zissou]

hmmm....  I have employed all methods that I currently know to try and get photos up.  This usually works.  I can see it on my comp...

[PhanLord]

seems like you copied URL out of your email, luckily we cant read your email so we cant see the pic.

[tufsu1]

My roommate sent me a picture this morning of the new trees they have put in on Bay Street at the shipyards.  He said there are tons.

And..... [drum roll]............................... THEY AREN'T PALMS!!

sadly they're still using palms...just on San Marco Blvd instead!

[PeeJayEss]

See if this works

[PeeJayEss]

I imagine they will be maturing quite nicely when development is finally ready for that land and they all get chopped down.

[fsujax]

Those trees will be nice there. Plenty of room for them to grow. Palm trees in city landscaping arent going away. We will always use them.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

I think JEA was eyeing that ROW to run some overhead lines.  Those trees need to be cultivated U-Shaped. 

[JeffreyS]

I drove by earlier they look good.

[SarahTay]

Olio will not be open for dinner.

SJTR, the San Marco BofA is undergoing renovation.  The branch is not closed.

Does anyone know how late Icon stays open on weekdays?  Are they open Saturdays?

I think they are. The grand opening is Memorial Day - it's located next to Burro Bar.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=205962146109699

[duvaldude08]

Ok somebody help me understand this. If we just built the current courthouse in 2002, why did we decide to build another one? Then what is the court house annex and why is not anywhere near the courthouse? I am soooooo confused about that. Is there a courthouse on bay street too???