Why council should send FBC demo decision back to HPC

[heights unknown]

So are they going to sell or raze the big auditorium; and...has attendance suffered that badly that they have to retro back to the much much smaller Hobson building/sanctuary (the original FBC I would guess)?

[Steve]

Sounds like they're keeping the big auditorium and consolidating down to that block, plus perhaps a little more and selling the rest when the time is right.

It makes no sense for them to pay to demolish buildings just to sell the land. None of the buildings are in imminent danger of collapse. (huh, where have I heard that before).

[thelakelander]

None of the buildings are in danger of collapsing and the land without the buildings is probably worth less than it is with the buildings and garages on them.

[vicupstate]

In some ways the biggest white elephant is now off the market: the large auditorium.

I thought they were still trying to off-load the 10,000 seat auditorium and were consolidating back to a smaller 3000 seat auditorium?
---

The parking decks are valuable in terms of the present value, to be sure. But who would ever need that much parking UNLESS they were building a major office building nearby?  If you were going to build the 20+ story building that would need even one of those garages, would you want to build it there? 

In many cities it would be obvious that the city would be the most likely buyer (especially for the garages), but given JAX's history as a land owner, that would be disaster.

[Jagsdrew]

So are they going to sell or raze the big auditorium; and...has attendance suffered that badly that they have to retro back to the much much smaller Hobson building/sanctuary (the original FBC I would guess)?

Attendance has declined, no doubt about that due to a number of factors.

The idea was to create a more smaller, welcoming environment with multiple services which the Hobson provided. Since that has changed, the Lindsey Memorial Auditorium which is bigger than the Hobson but smaller than their main auditorium is now their current plan.  I think the main auditorium will be used for one-off services and no longer the regular Sunday service venue.

[Steve]

I think I missed a detail: I thought the LMA was the big auditorium; I didn't realize there were three (Hobson, LMA, Large Auditorium).

Since LMA is now their plan, I do wonder ultimately what they'd like to sell - I'm sure they keep one garage; maybe the one on Laura.

I bet they'd sell the Hobson block less the garage for the right price. That still leaves the giant auditorium (which unfortunately, not sure who else needs a 10k seat auditorium. If the concert business was in better shape (thanks COVID), then it may be able to be retrofitted as it would actually be the largest indoor auditorium style venue in the city. Somebody with some cash could actually make that an amazing music area by retrofitting the ground level into retail/restaurants/small concert venues, etc.

[jaxlongtimer]

That still leaves the giant auditorium (which unfortunately, not sure who else needs a 10k seat auditorium. If the concert business was in better shape (thanks COVID), then it may be able to be retrofitted as it would actually be the largest indoor auditorium style venue in the city. Somebody with some cash could actually make that an amazing music area by retrofitting the ground level into retail/restaurants/small concert venues, etc.

Too little, too late, but I bet the RNC would have liked to have looked at before they abandoned Jacksonville  .   As I recall, the large auditorium is also set up for television cameras (since they broadcast their services) and a significant TV production studio is in the building, thus ready made for TV events.  Maybe next time!

[Steve]

That still leaves the giant auditorium (which unfortunately, not sure who else needs a 10k seat auditorium. If the concert business was in better shape (thanks COVID), then it may be able to be retrofitted as it would actually be the largest indoor auditorium style venue in the city. Somebody with some cash could actually make that an amazing music area by retrofitting the ground level into retail/restaurants/small concert venues, etc.

Too little, too late, but I bet the RNC would have liked to have looked at before they abandoned Jacksonville  .   As I recall, the large auditorium is also set up for television cameras (since they broadcast their services) and a significant TV production studio in the building, thus ready made for TV events.  Maybe next time!

Haha - it would be fitting in some ways wouldn't it?

It's a conundrum....FBC said themselves that the people interested aren't returning calls. I personally understood the decision to sell it as a group but had zero confidence in it working in this city....even before COVID. so the private sector is out.

If it was smaller I could potentially see FSCJ wanting it. Maybe they can scale it back and redevelop the rest. In any event I'd love the FSCJ campus to come south of State and Union. Plus, the Rosa Parks redevelopment could be the link there.

[thelakelander]

First Baptist Church applies for $1 million renovation Downtown

First Baptist Church of Jacksonville applied to the city for a permit to renovate the Lindsay Memorial Auditorium at its Downtown campus at an estimated cost of $1 million.

Williams & Rowe Co. Inc. is listed as the contractor. Novus Architects of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, is the architect

Plans say the scope of work includes renovation of the existing sanctuary and the back-of-house choir rehearsal area.

Full article: https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/first-baptist-church-applies-for-dollar1-million-renovation-downtown

[MusicMan]

"As I recall, the large auditorium is also set up for television cameras (since they broadcast their services) and a significant TV production studio is in the building, thus ready made for TV events.  Maybe next time!"

Pitch it to Tony Khan for the wrestling business.

[Jagsdrew]

The congregation voted on Sunday to sell Parking Garage #4 (721 N. Pearl St.) for $5.8 million. It's the one with the lighthouse at one of the corners.

Don't have any details on the buyer or their plans though.

[thelakelander]

Good for them. They sold some properties in the vicinity of that garage recently, so perhaps it can be used to support one of those future redevelopment sites. You can't buy a full downtown block and construct a new parking garage that size on it for $5.8 million today.

[Jagsdrew]

Good for them. They sold some properties in the vicinity of that garage recently, so perhaps it can be used to support one of those future redevelopment sites. You can't buy a full downtown block and construct a new parking garage that size on it for $5.8 million today.

Nope! That's a bargain! Also, could be a nice compliment to any residential development in that area since there's been some quite a few proposals in that pocket.

[marcuscnelson]

DIA lifted minimum parking requirements for downtown, right? So a developer can just gain access to that garage and not need to build any parking on their own property?

[thelakelander]

^Yes, you could develop a property nearby and use the garage for off street parking to support the development. That garage has +800 spaces, so it's a pretty large one.