Urban Construction Update - March 2012

[Metro Jacksonville]

Urban Construction Update - March 2012



A brief look at the status of various projects under construction in and around Downtown Jacksonville during the month of March 2012.

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2012-mar-urban-construction-update-march-2012

[Noone]

Not one picture of the super dredge of Hogans Creek or Bay St. Pier Park? Field could you post the pics you took Sat. when we were out there on Hogans Creek? Gary Anderson with the Jacksonville Waterways Commission was there as well. Good or Bad this will have a huge impact as it relates to Public Access and Economic opportunity to our St. Johns River our American Heritage River a Federal Initiative. That is a fact.

[thelakelander]

What's going on in Hogans Creek and the Shipyards?  I wasn't aware.  If you have them, send some images over and I'll add them to the article.

Edit: Now that I think about it, they are extending the riverwalk between the Shipyards and Berkman II to Bay Street.  Anything else?

[acme54321]

why were the Bisbee's windows removed?

[simms3]

What I have noticed with this update and with the last update is not a lot of construction, but a paradigm shift in neighborhood businesses to ones that are useful to residents.

For instance in the Shoppes of Avondale most of what was there was not necessarily useful to your average nearby resident.  You had a bunch of shops selling overpriced trinkets.  Now you have some regular businesses opening up that more people can utilize.  I'll miss have R. Roberts Gallery there on the corner, but Jax is fairly poor and without all of that home equity many people simply can't afford all that expensive art.  However, having a Sherwin Williams, which is a store selling a product anyone can afford and use to me is a sign that young people are moving to the area and demanding paint for their home projects.  I think it signals something.  I can tell you that many a house in the area needs a paint job, and with more people sticking around perhaps these paint jobs are getting done.

I also think this organic re-adaption of the intown neighborhoods of Avondale, Riverside and San Marco works well with the density and the fundamentals already in place.  I still believe downtown needs something more than just a piecemeal improvement.  It needs the organic bit by bit growth as well as a major catalyst or two as well as policy changes.

[jcjohnpaint]

The Bisbee Building's windows have been removed?

[fsujax]

they were falling out, a few Saturdays ago when it was super windy, one fell out onto the sidewalk. Not sure how much longer the buildings will make it and yes, us po folk here in Jacksonville can't afford expensive art work!

[fieldafm]

What's going on in Hogans Creek and the Shipyards?  I wasn't aware.  If you have them, send some images over and I'll add them to the article.

Edit: Now that I think about it, they are extending the riverwalk between the Shipyards and Berkman II to Bay Street.  Anything else?

The Riverwalk is being extended to connect to the sidewalk on the Berkman II property(not the Shipyards property.  Seems like a waste as that money could be spent at a later time to fill in the bulkhead work on the pier/Shipyards future Riverwalk instead of putting down a concrete path near a building that is starting to show bad damage to the rebar/concrete work closest to the new 'Riverwalk path'.  Especially considering that the Riverwalk ALREADY connects to the Bay Street sidewalk by way of the Berkman Plaza(there's even a water fountain feature there.

The overland bridge has been removed and the mouth of Hogans Creek is being expanded as part of a flood mitigation plan.  Again, the work is not being coordinated with the remediation efforts or future Hogans Creek Greenway upstream... once again proving that a clearing house that can coordinate a holistic approach to Hogans is sorely needed.  Things continue to be piecemealed... and that leads to waste.

Furthermore, the removal of the bridge is curious as it completly seperates the two land masses of the Shipyards property... yet the parcels aren't legally seperated.  Makes you wonder what the plan is there? 

On a bright note, the boons at the mouth of Hogans have kept some debris from floating upstream.  Over the last two weeks, you can start to better understand how much trash is being left from the homeless camps, versus what floats into Hogans from tidal currents.  The downside is the construction site is full of more trash than you would like... especially on a site in an environmentally sensitive area of the river, where very little wind resistance measures have also not been employed(meaning more silt and debris can fall into the river_you would think the City learned its lesson on the I-95 Overland Bridge projects near McCoys Creek... or the debris issues during the removal of the Fuller Warren Bridge).

but Jax is fairly poor

Might want to check your demographics 

BTW, R Roberts (smartly) now curates private shows instead of maintaining an expensive gallery. 

[fieldafm]

Also, M Shack isn't a rumor.  They are indeed converting TAG into an M Shack. 

The Panera bread development on Hendricks signed a second tenant a few weeks ago (ATT&T or Metro PCS, can't remember-it's some kind of cell phone company).

The sushi place in Avondale opens this week(Thursday I believe). 

[pwhitford]

The sign at the site advertising Panera bread's arrival also notes Boost Mobile as a new tenant.

[ben says]

Anyone know if Murphy/Anderson is taking up both floors of the new building? Would be interesting if they used the second floor but rented out the first for mixed use or retail.

[thelakelander]

Thanks for the updates to M Shack and Boost Mobile.  The article has been modified to reflect this information.

[finehoe]

When is the San Marco streetscape project scheduled to be completed?

[ubben]

I see that one zillion palm trees have been just planted around the I-295/Butler Blvd interchange. I can't say they did a great job placing them (unnatural rigid straight lines on the tip tops of the ramps--looks awkward) but was glad to see something. Any word on the 95-I-10 interchange? It looks really bare. It'd be nice to have a natural, local forest feel in the spaces that are large enough to accomodate them.

[thelakelander]

Were those palm trees at the JTB/295 interchange worth $2 million spent to purchase and plant them?