$135 Million redevelopment of Berkman II proposed

[Captain Zissou]

This is holding up other projects in the area, so whatever it takes just knock it down!

[vicupstate]

This is holding up other projects in the area, so whatever it takes just knock it down!

Anything besides Ford on Bay?

[Ken_FSU]

This is holding up other projects in the area, so whatever it takes just knock it down!

Anything besides Ford on Bay?

Standalone Fuddruckers on Lenny's lawn.

They're not budging until the Berkman comes down.

[heights unknown]

This is holding up other projects in the area, so whatever it takes just knock it down!

Anything besides Ford on Bay?

Standalone Fuddruckers on Lenny's lawn.

They're not budging until the Berkman comes down.

What happened to the major park projects? Are they still being considered or are a go? (proposed)

[Captain Zissou]

Shipyards requires the fire museum to be moved over to that area and the support building for the Orlek will be close by.  They won't start on those until the building has been brought down.

[Ken_FSU]

Ironic that the most justifiable demo is the only that we can't seem to get right.

I think back to when I first stumbled upon this site and read the Downtown Frankenstein article.

I'm like, "Man, how could the city be so stupid?"

And then you look up and down the river and see what's happened in the last five years.

Doro District - gone; construction appears to have stalled at the site.

City Hall Annex and Old Courthouse - gone; now on the third RFP for one-half of the property.

Berkman 2 - on the way out; likely to be tied in legal hell indefinitely.

Jacksonville Landing - gone; replacement years away.

Times-Union property - demolition imminent.

River City Brewery - demolition imminent.

Hopefully some new development comes from all the wreckage, but that's a lot of interesting building stock meeting the wrecking ball.

[thelakelander]

^I saw many the COJ owned property train wrecks coming a mile away and wrote about every single one. Our history illustrated right where we were headed because the things being done were carbon copies of similar moves that had failed in the past. However, the best thing for downtown was one that had not occurred in the past. The Downtown Historic Preservation and Revitalization Trust Fun having some money put behind it. It will take a few years to enjoy the fruits of that move but you can see several restoration projects underway now. Nevertheless, the one thing that still is concerning is the inability to quickly do the little things (upgrading public spaces, placemaking, placekeeping, two-waying streets, creating attractive sidewalk cafe style environments, etc.). You can completely change an urban environment by doing these little things, even without new private development projects.

[jcjohnpaint]

and that stuff is cheap and easy.

[jaxlongtimer]

Ironic that the most justifiable demo is the only that we can't seem to get right.

I think back to when I first stumbled upon this site and read the Downtown Frankenstein article.

I'm like, "Man, how could the city be so stupid?"

And then you look up and down the river and see what's happened in the last five years.

Doro District - gone; construction appears to have stalled at the site.

City Hall Annex and Old Courthouse - gone; now on the third RFP for one-half of the property.

Berkman 2 - on the way out; likely to be tied in legal hell indefinitely.

Jacksonville Landing - gone; replacement years away.

Times-Union property - demolition imminent.

River City Brewery - demolition imminent.

Hopefully some new development comes from all the wreckage, but that's a lot of interesting building stock meeting the wrecking ball.

Unlike many here, I am not all that unhappy that many of these projects are stumbling.  Why?  Because their success would just motivate copy cats with more destruction of historic buildings, more poorly designed buildings and more misuse of the land below them in addition to sucking the City bank accounts dry - all creating a blight on the City that will outlast at least my lifetime.

If we can just make it beyond the Curry administration, hopefully, we get better City planning, higher standards of design and development, more historic preservation, less need for big incentives and not approving projects just for the sake of saying we built something.

Patience is a virtue - as they say, Rome wasn't built in a day and neither should Jacksonville.  I get the decades of frustration with little to show for it but that's, in my opinion, for the same reasons the last few years have gone nowhere:  poor City leadership.  We don't need to make up for it now by dropping development down to the lowest standards but rather by raising City leadership to the highest standards.

There are plenty of cities that have learned this lesson and we should too.  We don't need to earn (or maybe retain?) the nickname "Hick-son-ville" or worse.

[jaxoNOLE]

For what it's worth, demo is now scheduled for March 6 on the city's dime.

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/mayor-curry-berkman-ii-implosion-is-march-6

[Charles Hunter]

From an interview with Park Beeler, who wants t develop the Berkman 2 site once the City clears it. And he pays off the City's lien for the demo.
https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2022/03/02/berkman-ii-implosion-nears-developer-says-he-wants-to-replace-with-citys-tallest-skyscraper/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=snd&utm_content=wjxt4&fbclid=IwAR1LlpFtNI2jnCPfxz8X65G1MaxTlfUYfRz2gkahtlmbWYla8o6MeFSz63A

The original plans Beeler had for the site included apartments, condos and some retail space. He says those plans have changed, and the plan is to build a huge tower — the highest in the city.

"That will be residential, consisting of apartments and condominiums and possibly a hotel," Beeler said.

He added, "At the ground level, retail with a restaurant and other retail components and, including if we can get an agreement, a specialty grocery."

Beeler hopes to have the new renderings to release in the near future.

Hey! hightowerlover!

[Captain Zissou]

Yeahhhhh.... Any doubts I had about this getting completed have now multiplied five-fold.  No way this happens in the next decade.

[acme54321]

If the lien goes unpaid I assume the city can foreclose on the property after some amount of time.  If so I'm guessing that's the final outcome.

[Charles Hunter]

If the lien goes unpaid I assume the city can foreclose on the property after some amount of time.  If so I'm guessing that's the final outcome.

Per the article

"The city has agreed as soon as the site is cleared, they will file a lien and we will have 90 days to resolve that lien," Beeler said.
/

[Zac T]

Some more info from the JBJ:

https://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2022/03/02/heres-what-happens-after-berkman-ii-is-demolished.html

They expect to submit design and site plans to the DDRB within 30-45 days