Illuminate JAX proposes to light up the skyline

[fsujax]

The skyline looks fine during the day, impressive actually and yet decieving. At night you can barely see the BofA tower. Most of the lights are timed to turn off around midnight (Wells Fargo Center) and that's fine. No need for them to run all night. I do not think anyone is suggesting that.

Came across this article earlier. Paris' tallest building to get major makeover. Including lighting displays, etc.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324665604579079293620661018.html?mod=itp

[thelakelander]

The real issue I see still revolves around who pays.  It's obvious the current owners of buildings don't view spending money on night lighting worth the negative ROI.  Or else, the lights they have cut off would already be on.  If this issue can't be resolved, then money will have to come from somewhere else.  With that in mind, I believe council slightly slashed the DIA's operating budget last night.

[Lunican]

The EverBank Center at 301 W. Bay St. is currently 84 percent leased, but AT&T's departure will reduce that to 59 percent, Smith said.

Smith said that will leave the building with largest contiguous block of Class A downtown office space in the Southeast, outside of Atlanta. And she expects that it will need a new company moving into town.

"I don't think we can redo EverBank," she said. "That was a once in a lifetime thing."

EverBank announced in 2011 that it would move its 1,500 employees from the Southside to the former AT&T Tower, which was renamed EverBank Center.

Last year, owner El Ad Florida LLC, listed the building for sale.

Smith said a few offers came it but they weren't accepted and the building was withdrawn from the market.

The owners are about to start work on $4 million-$5 million worth of HVAC and elevator work, Smith said, that should take about a year and a half to complete.

The building was built in 1983. El Ad bought it in 2004 for $90.9 million.

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/business/2013-08-13/story/downtowns-largest-building-big-hole-fill-att-leaving-everbank-center#ixzz2fuKmfVTR

So Everbank Center (which was so widely celebrated as a huge win for downtown) is half empty. The owners want to sell but can't because offers were too low. They moved in 1,500 workers in a 'once in a lifetime deal'. They are putting $5 million into the building but it is likely required to keep the elevators and AC running. Meanwhile the DIA is debating the market value of a retail spot that has never once had a tenant in it.

By the way Simms, according to Bloomberg the Empire State Building got an offer for $2.1 billion in June.

[thelakelander]

Kind of sounds like there's a gulf between what we think DT is worth and what the rest of the world believes.

[Jason]

I wonder if this could all be coordinated directly through JEA?  Perhaps some sort of rebate program for offsetting some peak hours consumption (using lighting control systems, occupancy sensors, daylight harvesting, etc) that would allow enough savings to keep the lights on at night?

[Wacca Pilatka]

As it stands now, the skyline looks pretty impressive driving through.  After all, there's virtually nothing (in terms of urbanism) worth seeing on I-95 between Richmond and South Florida (excluding Jax) or on I-10 between Mobile and Jacksonville.  The way the highways rip through the heart of the urban core, you get looks of the skyline from a variety of views during a single trip. 

This is the very reason I fell in love with Jacksonville when I was little, as my family drove from the DC area to central FL regularly.  The various views of the skyline and river, and the long buildup to seeing an urban place after 600 miles of post-Richmond rural driving, made it seem to me like the most intriguing place on the planet.

[fieldafm]

It's obvious the current owners of buildings don't view spending money on night lighting worth the negative ROI.  Or else, the lights they have cut off would already be on.

Because it's been dark since after the Super Bowl, many people may not remember that the top of the Bank of America Tower lights up.  Liberty doesn't want to pay for the expense of turning those lights on now, so why would they want to pay for the expense to add even more lights? 

There are two camps in regards to downtown... those that think it has a marketing problem, and those that think it has a neighborhood problem.  I'm not of the opinion that there is a marketing problem.  Telling me how awesome it is, doesn't hide the fact that it simply isn't as attractive as nearby vibrant neighborhoods like San Marco or Riverside.  Downtown needs to have more special events and more unique businesses, not more window dressing.

[thelakelander]

As it stands now, the skyline looks pretty impressive driving through.  After all, there's virtually nothing (in terms of urbanism) worth seeing on I-95 between Richmond and South Florida (excluding Jax) or on I-10 between Mobile and Jacksonville.  The way the highways rip through the heart of the urban core, you get looks of the skyline from a variety of views during a single trip. 

This is the very reason I fell in love with Jacksonville when I was little, as my family drove from the DC area to central FL regularly.  The various views of the skyline and river, and the long buildup to seeing an urban place after 600 miles of post-Richmond rural driving, made it seem to me like the most intriguing place on the planet.

This is funny.  I've taken a weird liking to Richmond and Mobile over the years for the same reason.  When driving, I'm the guy who refuses to take the bypass when approaching Petersburg.

[thelakelander]

There are two camps in regards to downtown... those that think it has a marketing problem, and those that think it has a neighborhood problem.  I'm not of the opinion that there is a marketing problem.  Telling me how awesome it is, doesn't hide the fact that it simply isn't as attractive as nearby vibrant neighborhoods like San Marco or Riverside.  Downtown needs to have more special events and more unique businesses, not more window dressing.

Bingo.  I believe this is a problem locally because we've built this imaginary wall around downtown and many believe it IS the urban core.  The reality is people don't want to live in downtowns because the buildings are tall.  They desire to live in walkable communities that offer a lifestyle where you can enjoy a diverse range of activities within a compact setting. An environment like Downtown just happens to a form of a walkable community.

However, so is Riverside, San Marco, Springfield and every adjacent neighborhood in this city developed before WWII.  We do ourselves a disservice by overlooking this fact and the opportunities created (even for downtown specifically) by connecting these core neighborhoods with reliable multimodal transportation options. Cities grow organically.  So all the overregulation and tunnel-visioned dreams earmarked for downtown only lead to the natural market taking advantage of opportunities in adjacent neighborhoods that also offer the walkable environment.