DDRB Workshop on Brooklyn Retail Project Today

[thelakelander]

City board and architects fine-tune design for Brooklyn Riverside Retail Project

"We have an opportunity to step up the landscaping and make it as lush as we can. That would help relieve the pressure on the parking lot," said board member and landscape architect Chris Flagg.

"We like to have lush centers," said Greer Scoggins, director of construction for Fuqua Development.

Another suggestion was to construct a low wall along Riverside Avenue to block the view of the parking lot. Board member Andy Sikes said blocking the view of the parking lot with a wall wouldn't change the fact there is a grocery store on the site.

"Riverside Avenue is not a tourist trap. When people go down that road one time, they'll know what's behind the wall," he said.

The design of the grocery store was described by architect Michael Brown, principal of Ponte Vedra Beach-based Wakefield Beasley & Associates, as "white and gray with accent colors to complement the tenant's brand."

He said the potential tenant requires outdoor dining and space outside the store for cooking demonstrations.

full article: http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/downtowntoday.php?dt_date=2013-06-18

[Keith-N-Jax]

So to you experts on here or should I say guy/gals with urban planning experience is this better than what was originally planned?

[thelakelander]

Lipstick on a pig. Just look on the bright side and realize that behind its horrible exterior and body shape, you'll have downtown access to fresh bacon.

[Cheshire Cat]

City board and architects fine-tune design for Brooklyn Riverside Retail Project

"We have an opportunity to step up the landscaping and make it as lush as we can. That would help relieve the pressure on the parking lot," said board member and landscape architect Chris Flagg.

"We like to have lush centers," said Greer Scoggins, director of construction for Fuqua Development.

Another suggestion was to construct a low wall along Riverside Avenue to block the view of the parking lot. Board member Andy Sikes said blocking the view of the parking lot with a wall wouldn't change the fact there is a grocery store on the site.

"Riverside Avenue is not a tourist trap. When people go down that road one time, they'll know what's behind the wall," he said.

The design of the grocery store was described by architect Michael Brown, principal of Ponte Vedra Beach-based Wakefield Beasley & Associates, as "white and gray with accent colors to complement the tenant's brand."

He said the potential tenant requires outdoor dining and space outside the store for cooking demonstrations.

full article: http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/downtowntoday.php?dt_date=2013-06-18

Just build a wall around it!!!!!  This is the mindset of those who make planning and design decisions.  Pathetic and so off base.  Has anyone contacted JTA directly to see if all of theses city advisers and planners have spoken directly with them about these plans and how the plans as they stand would interface and enhance a skyway extension?  The incompetence (yes incompetence) in tandem with the lack of understanding of what is needed to create the vibrancy required seriously upsets me.  Over and over again we see bargain basement design on the back of promises of great things and on the back of millions invested.  Amazing!

[fieldafm]

During the Parador parking garage discussions, Roland said 'I don't think ground floor retail is important'.

That should tell you everything you want to know about DDRB.  Ashame b/c there are smart people on that board.

[Cheshire Cat]

During the Parador parking garage discussions, Roland said 'I don't think ground floor retail is important'.

That should tell you everything you want to know about DDRB.  Ashame b/c there are smart people on that board.

Your kidding me right Mike?  Kidding? This mindset and approach is not acceptable!  Is this Roland on the board?  What is his last name and what is the background in experience he supposedly brings to the table when it comes to issues reviewed by the DDRB?

[thelakelander]

Unfortunately, Mike is right.  I remember that quote.  Btw, if a developer is trying to keep the project's costs down, building a wall around the parking lot isn't going to achieve that goal.....

Speaking of downtown retail, right now I'm working on creating a color coded GIS-based "heat map" of downtown for a friend.  Going building-by-building, block-by-block, the frontage of structures that embrace the pedestrian realm is coded green.  Those that need improvement but offer that opportunity are being coded yellow.  Sidewalk frontage that's pedestrian hostile (ex. surface lots, blank walls, parking garages with no street level retail, etc.) are coded red.  The hope is that the result provides a visual map of where targeted improvements could generate the most bang for our buck, in terms of street level vibrancy and connectivity.

Out of the 71 initial blocks I'm doing, it's pretty clear why downtown struggles.  It looks like someone stabbed my computer to death.

[Cheshire Cat]

Computer violence!  Oh no! Is it bleeding bits?

Seriously Ennis, I look forward to seeing the result of the map.  Perhaps it is time that an education effort is undertaken in this city and directed towards those employed by the city or sitting on relevant boards to bring them up to speed on what it takes to create real vibrancy and thoughtful progress that makes positive change and growth possible.  Clearly some don't get it at all!

[Captain Zissou]

We have had a grocery store downtown for years, but it has failed to make much of an impact due to a suburban site plan. It has had so little impact, for example, that the mayor who used to work for that company refuses to acknowledge its existence. Why would we build another grocery store in the same manner?? 4 years from now people will be clamoring for a grocery store downtown when they will have 2 within a mile of the city center. We need a pedestrian friendly grocery store that anyone within the urban core can easily reach without the help of a car. An urban store with a skyway stop and a bike rack would accomplish this. The current design does not.

[thelakelander]

Great point about Winn-Dixie. Yeah, downtown will have the same issue after this new project goes up. Unfortunately, for those wanting a pedestrian friendly store, those chances will drop because there won't be a market for one with two large stores in the vicinity.  Hopefully, JTA is successful in their efforts to get the Skyway into Brooklyn, which should alleviate this problem, despite Fuqua's site plan.

[Charles Hunter]

Is all this "lush landscape" (planting the crepe myrtles closer together?) going to be in the skyway/utility easement along Riverside?  As I understand it, part of that clear space is a Build Nothing Here utility strip.

[thelakelander]

Yes, the green strip between Riverside Avenue and the shopping center outparcels is the reserved Skyway ROW.

[Charles Hunter]

So, if the DDRB accepts that as "part of" the shopping center's landscaping, what happens when JTA does extend the Skyway?  Or JEA has to dig it up to work on the buried utilities? 

It seems wrong to accept landscaping as part of a project on property you don't own or control.  Perhaps I could propose a project with 100% lot coverage, but claim the adjacent Hogan Creek Park as "my" landscaping?

[JaxNative68]

horrible!

[simms3]

Perhaps Jacksonville gets this out of their system.  Hopes are that once 220 Riverside and this really start taking shape, DDRB/Jax leaders won't be quite as "desperate" for any old development deal to happen near the core (not that 220 is bad, just saying in general).

I will vouch that Jacksonville is a market that peeks interest to retailers and some opportunistic deal/development capital due to its fairly consistent high growth and recent job growth rebound, as well as cheap land (blessing and curse) but everyone knows how untested the urban market is and how risky the entire market is in general for a host of reasons.  While some retailers may be willing to enter Nashville with a less formulaic urban concept in a rapidly developing neighborhood (like the Gulch), Jax is quite far behind and they may want to come in with a tried and true formula until there is less risk in doing something more unique.  That said, even slight enhancements to this wretched site plan can make a difference without compromising the "must haves" or the proforma for the developer/nationals interested in this location (though architectural soft costs are hilariously large and time to execute is crucial in high-risk markets...this dragging on at this point is probably a deal breaker).  And unlike Nashville where an entire side of town has the demographics retailers are looking for, folks have to be "educated" on how Jax demographics work.