DIA wants the Landing to start with a park

[Charles Hunter]

I ran into the "locked" message earlier, but tried again a few minutes ago, and am listening to the Q&A.

[jaxoNOLE]

Thanks! I was able to get in for the last half of the Q&A as well. The overview they had on the Q&A slide looked nice; I would've liked to catch the presentation. DIA board reactions seemed very positive overall.

[CityLife]

Would be nice if they made a recording of the video available to the public after the event for those that couldn't watch live.

[Charles Hunter]

The Zoom feed says it is being recorded. I hope when they post it, they break it into separate recordings for each team.

[Ken_FSU]

https://www.news4jax.com/video/news/2021/06/24/watch-live-3-design-teams-present-proposals-for-former-site-of-jacksonville-landing/

[Ken_FSU]

Didn't get to follow closely, but Perkins and Will's plan in particular was pretty epic.

Looking forward to watching the full presentations.

[Charles Hunter]

They said they were going to try to have links up on the COJ Procurement site in the next (work) day or so.  If it were me, I'd put the links on the DIA site, too.  But, they didn't ask me.

[Ken_FSU]

Olin Partnership (out of Philadelphia):
https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/photo-gallery/riverfront-plaza-design-competition-olin-partnership-ltd-jax-park#photo-12

Agency Landscape + Planning (Camrbridge Mass):
https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/photo-gallery/riverfront-plaza-design-competition-agency-landscape-planning#photo-1

Perkins & Will (Chicago):
https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/photo-gallery/riverfront-plaza-design-competition-perkins-and-will-one-park-jax

[heights unknown]

I like the Agency Landscaping and Planning from Cambridge, MA rendering best.

[heights unknown]

Perkins and Will would be my second choice; they are not too far off from Agency Landscaping; might be a tie between the two. I like them both but Agency Landscaping is my 1st preference though by the slimmest of margins.

[jaxlongtimer]

Based on the renderings, which might not be the only way to evaluate but is all we have for now, I favor the Perkins & Will design.  Seems to me to be more engaging, a wider range of features, an iconic sculpture and a bit more greenery/shade trees.

The other designs are OK but don't seem as inspired to me.

[edjax]

To me Perkins and Will and it's not even close. 

[CityLife]

On quick glance, I really like the Perkins and Will design. They hit on a lot of the concepts I mentioned as seemingly no brainer ideas (beer garden, splash pad/kids play area, heavily shaded outdoor dining, and open event space) https://www.metrojacksonville.com/forum/index.php/topic,36872.msg510446.html#msg510446

But they took it to the next level with the Jax sculpture and some other features.  Like I've said along, it will be very easy for these firms to design something far better for the general public than The Landing. Just a matter of whether or not the City will fund it. IMO, a design like this will be far more impactful than a Four Seasons in improving Jax's reputation and drawing people downtown. Really nicely done.

[Ken_FSU]

Just looking a the renderings, Perkins & Will is the clear frontrunner to me.

Both from a design perspective and from checking the boxes in the RFP.

I think it's pretty stunning.

I also think it might be the easiest to get public buy-in on.

Which will be necessary with a $23 to $30 million price tag (depending on whether the sculpture is brushed metal or a mirrored finish).

[Ken_FSU]

Presentations/videos:

https://coj365-my.sharepoint.com/personal/rmezini_coj_net/_layouts/15/guestaccess.aspx?folderid=0d9f2fc4345b241aa93f899407aa76fb8&authkey=AeypNIdOUXA8KM2rBjpHKoo&e=V8VYtv