Huge new development proposed on Fishweir Creek and St. John's Ave

[JeffreyS]

Hopefully it will be a productive event. The site needs to be redeveloped.

Let's see if we can
1.hide most of the surface parking.
2. Create great continuous public river access from the Fishweir creek bridge all the way arround the property back to St. John's ave.
3. Ensure a context sensitive facade.
4. Wide sidewalks
5. Bike lanes and racks.
6. Developer help on dredging.

Yes the developer will need to add a good amount of units to pay for the needed project. Go for win-win.

[Noone]

ANNOUNCEMENT â€" TOWN HALL MEETING TONIGHT
From Jim Love's office:

A TOWN HALL MEETING, hosted by District 14 City Councilman Jim Love, will be held on Monday, May 13, from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm, at the FSCJ Kent Campus Auditorium (Park St. & US-17),  for the purpose of discussing and gathering public input related to the proposed development and rezoning to PUD at 3946 & 4000 St. Johns Ave., “St. Johns Village”  (located near the intersection of St. Johns Ave. and Herschel St.).  The developer of this project and his representative, Mr. Steve Diebenow, will make a presentation, answer questions and receive suggestions from the public concerning this project.

Grimss, Thanks for the heads up. It was nice to see Councilmembers Anderson and Lumb make the Town Hall meeting in addition to councilman Love hosting it. Just under a 100 people in attendance. The kayak launch will be a positive benefit for everyone to continue to access, promote, celebrate, a Great River which is  our St. johns River our American Heritage River a FEDERAL initiative.

[ricker]

Chase Properties owner Michael Balanky has a rezoning proposal submitted to the City to move the Commander Apartments and the adjacent shopping center from CCG to PUD.  Chase is the current owner of the property.

He wants to tear down the Commander Apartments and the shopping center which have about 150,000 sq ft of floor space and replace it with a single, mixed-use building with 600,000 sq. ft. of retail, restaurant and high density residential space.


http://maps.coj.net/luzap/SearchLandUsePublic.aspx

Click on "Search Land Use" tab on the side and insert PUD number 2013C-010 to see the status and meeting notices.

The PUD designation is necessary as this is in the Riverside/Avondale Zoning Overlay area.

I have a PDF of the full application and can PM it to anyone interested as I do not know how to post a PDF file or a link to one in the forum.  Advice on how to do this would be greatly appreciated.

I was unable to attend as I was otherwise engaged with a prior obligation, but I would love to know how this meeting and presentation was conducted and received.

Dog Walker, what say you, sir!?

[grimss]

I was at the meeting and thought Balanky had a hard time winning over the audience; unfortunately for him, his AV presentation failed halfway through, and so no one got to see any project renderings. An audio of the town hall can be found here: http://commander-rezoning.com/costs-benefits/. I didn't listen to the full audio so don't know if it captured the entire meeting, but there's a summary of the primary issues discussed as well. Balanky has promised to hold more meetings.

[dougskiles]

http://commander-rezoning.com/costs-benefits/

Nice website!

[Trixie]

FYI, the St. Johns Village Center proposed land use amendment and PUD are on the Agenda for the City Council Meeting on Tuesday, June 11, 2013.  The City Council meeting starts at 5:00 p.m.

Here's a link to the Agenda for the meeting:

http://cityclts.coj.net/coj/CurrentYear/Council/88-June-11-13-AGENDA.htm

These matters will be specifically addressed under the "Public Hearings on Land Use Amendments and Certain Companion Rezonings" portion of the meeting.

The City Ordinance numbers for the St. Johns Village Center matters are: a) proposed land use amendment (2013-341) and b) proposed rezoning (2013-342). 

2013-341
   
ORD Adopt Small-Scale Amend to FLUM 2030 Comp Plan on St Johns Ave bet Herschel St & DuPont Cir (3.01± Acres) - CGC to HDR - St Johns Village Center, LLC. (Appl# 2013C-010) (Dist 14-Love) (Reingold) (LUZ)
(Rezoning 3013-342)
LUZ PH 6/18/13
Public Hearing Pursuant to Sec 163.3187(2), F.S. & Chapt 650, Pt 4, Ord Code - 6/11/13 & 6/25/13

2013-342

ORD-Q Rezoning Propty on St Johns Ave bet Herschel St & DuPont Cir (5.97± Acres) - PUD to PUD (Multi-Family Residential, Commercial & Ofc Uses) - St Johns Village Center, LLC. (Dist 14-Love) (Reingold) (LUZ)
(Small Scale 2013-341)
LUZ PH 6/18/13
Public Hearing Pursuant to Chapt 166, F.S. & CR 3.601 - 6/11/13 & 6/25/13

* To obtain additional information about each Ordinance listed above, you may open the link by each Ordinance number on the City Council Agenda web-site.  (Click on "Bill Details" once you open each item.)

It is my understanding the Applicant said he will seek a deferral regarding these matters once the item is opened on the Agenda.

There will be an opportunity for public comment at the City Council meeting.  The public comments made when the Ordinances are specifically addressed during the meeting will become part of the record for these Ordinances.

[grimss]

Thanks, Trixie, for the info.

[fieldafm]

http://commander-rezoning.com/costs-benefits/

Nice website!

Agree.  It's clear the developer is being as transparent as possible and wants to keep open lines of communication with neighbors.  Perhaps it's a little too early to tar and feather him?

[grimss]

The developer has released new conceptual drawings for the Commander redevelopment, but notes that these, too, are subject to change: http://commander-rezoning.com/2013/07/16/developer-to-present-revised-conceptual-drawings-at-july-17th-meeting/. There will be another town hall meeting this Wedesday at 7pm, FSCJ, Kent campus.

[fieldafm]

Anxious to see the elevations of the retail portion wrapped around the parking garage.

Looks like ELM is doing pretty good work on the residential side.... I like the proposed facade treatments, clean lines that are modern but not incompatible with historic homes nearby... very complementary to the site lines, flow and form of the home a block away on Greenwood, IMO.   

I like the public kayak launch.  Looks like there will be a direct path from the sidewalk to the launch site in those renderings.

Would really like the City to address the intersection of Herschel and St Johns.  A roundabout would work great to calm traffic traffic and provide a safer atmosphere for pedestrians and cyclists (both things I do through that intersection nearly every day).   

[grimss]

Anxious to see the elevations of the retail portion wrapped around the parking garage.

From what I understand, the only building that will have retail is the in the middle of the full parcel, and it will be serviced by surface parking in front along St. Johns rather than by a parking garage. (The retail has been reduced to 12,000 s.f.)

The building closest to Herschel will have a ground floor parking garage, topped by two stories of residential. The roof of the garage will be landscaped, although I think that greenspace will be viewable only to building residents, as opposed to pedestrians at street level.   As presently designed, both this garage and the 3-story garage on the proposed tower will be open, apparently for ventilation purposes. The 3rd story roof of the proposed tower garage also will be landscaped as some sort of courtyard for residents.

[Trixie]

Thanks for your update, grimss:

"The developer has released new conceptual drawings for the Commander redevelopment, but notes that these, too, are subject to change: http://commander-rezoning.com/2013/07/16/developer-to-present-revised-conceptual-drawings-at-july-17th-meeting/. There will be another town hall meeting this Wedesday at 7pm, FSCJ, Kent campus." 

Will someone please post page 15 of the developer's new conceptual drawings from the link grimss shared above?  It shows the proposed development, with cars on the site, entrances, etc. 

And, FYI, there's an article in today's paper about the proposed St. Johns Village redevelopment project:

http://jacksonville.com/business/2013-07-16/story/avondale-project-gets-scrutinized-neighbors

[Intuition Ale Works]

Any idea how many more residential units will be added?

Also, how much more retail square footage will be added?

[If_I_Loved_you]

Commander needs to go. Great news if it pans out.

-1

[grimss]

Any idea how many more residential units will be added?

Also, how much more retail square footage will be added?

As of last night's meeting, the present number of units planned is 300 (216 in the proposed tower and the other units spread out between two other three-story buildings). The proposed commercial square footage is now 12,000 s.f. Lot coverage still 85%.