Riverfront Jacksonville: $1.1 billion Master Plan

[marcuscnelson]

Bill Gates takes control of Four Seasons Hotels.  Now, Khan can talk billionaire-to-billionaire!  And, every room can feature Microsoft products .  Maybe Khan can get Microsoft to build out a division here while he is at it.

Bill Gates will take control of the Four Seasons hotel chain after his investment firm agreed to acquire a stake from Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's Kingdom Holding Co., in a bet that luxury travel will rebound from a pandemic-induced slump.

....Gates's Cascade Investment will pay $2.2 billion in cash to boost its stake in Four Seasons Holdings to 71.25% from 47.5%, according to a statement Wednesday....

...The chain now manages 121 hotels and resorts, and 46 residential properties, and has more than 50 projects under development, according to the statement....

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/bill-gatess-firm-buys-part-of-saudi-princes-four-seasons-stake/

You, uh... in the wrong thread, buddy? Not sure what Microsoft or Khan have to do with Steve Atkins/Southeast's proposal for the riverfront.

[jaxlongtimer]

Bill Gates takes control of Four Seasons Hotels.  Now, Khan can talk billionaire-to-billionaire!  And, every room can feature Microsoft products .  Maybe Khan can get Microsoft to build out a division here while he is at it.

Bill Gates will take control of the Four Seasons hotel chain after his investment firm agreed to acquire a stake from Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's Kingdom Holding Co., in a bet that luxury travel will rebound from a pandemic-induced slump.

....Gates's Cascade Investment will pay $2.2 billion in cash to boost its stake in Four Seasons Holdings to 71.25% from 47.5%, according to a statement Wednesday....

...The chain now manages 121 hotels and resorts, and 46 residential properties, and has more than 50 projects under development, according to the statement....

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/bill-gatess-firm-buys-part-of-saudi-princes-four-seasons-stake/

You, uh... in the wrong thread, buddy? Not sure what Microsoft or Khan have to do with Steve Atkins/Southeast's proposal for the riverfront.

Yeah, I was rushed when I posted this.  Since the Forum doesn't seem to have a search feature (given the number of threads, it would really be an asset!), I grabbed the wrong thread in a hurry.  Saw "riverfront" and popped it in.  The rest of my comments were a feeble attempt at humor but seems everyone here tonight is kind of "serious."

[heights unknown]

After doing this for over 20 years, I am absolutely convinced that politics and poor public policy are the root causes of why Downtown's Northbank struggles. 

All areas and neighborhoods of downtown are important, but in my opinion the Northbank has suffered the most, and the worst and should be a top tier priority; just my opinion and just saying. Why? Because THAT area of Jax is where Jacksonville was created/born, and, THAT area is truly THE downtown that we've all known and been associated with; that's why.

[Ken_FSU]

Shots fired.

[jaxoNOLE]

Building goodwill with the DIA, I see

[landfall]

Akins is meeting with the chamber on Friday it seems

[thelakelander]

Shots fired.

LOL!!! This is hilarious

[jaxlongtimer]

^ Maybe some people are good with all or some of the LERP proposal.  I don't think developers should have so much influence that they ultimately decide for everyone what's "best."  As noted before, DIA got off on the wrong foot with this by not being more transparent and inviting wider community support.  Now we have this.  I hope if they back up, it's done right by the entire community, not just by Atkins and Khan types.  Listening to just the power players is exactly how we get into Lot J type scenarios.  When will the City learn this lesson?

The above said, for me, I am not convinced that the LERP isn't the, or close to the, iconic structure Jax needs to have to get on more maps.  As I posted before, I doubt any "iconic" landmark is going to be totally non-controversial.  In fact, it's often controversy that makes it iconic.  Maybe Jax is just too risk adverse as has been demonstrated repeatedly in the past.  And, thus, this response is both a reflection of the Clty's leadership and why we don't have more success Downtown.

The only "risks" our City leaders like to take are those involving giving millions to wealthy developers to subsidize often questionable projects that are far less than iconic (see Daily's Place, the Hyatt, numerous boxy hotels and apartment projects, etc.).

[jaxoNOLE]

FWIW, I like the LERP. But holistically, I prefer Atkins' proposal to everything the DIA has cooked up on the Northbank. Whether it's realistic or not....well, I have at least as much faith in him as I do the DIA.

[landfall]

FWIW, I like the LERP. But holistically, I prefer Atkins' proposal to everything the DIA has cooked up on the Northbank. Whether it's realistic or not....well, I have at least as much faith in him as I do the DIA.

I love the proposal. I also felt the Landing park proposals were just settling for something cheap and easy because they weren't capable of better. However I'm not sure Atkins has it in his locker to get this done as much as I like the idea. We've seen how drawn out the trio has been, so is he going to be capable of throwing up 10/12 buildings and landscaping a whole new riverfront?

Until theres a shovel in the ground, its all just renderings to me, bro.

[jaxoNOLE]

^That's why I hope he engages with the Ford on Bay RFP. I like his master plan approach from a PR perspective, because it fills the void the DIA can't seem to fill (a cohesive vision for the riverfront). But the likelihood of getting that unsolicited proposal greenlit anywhere close to as-is must be close to impossible.

Sell the vision to the public, then engage with the process to achieve as much of it as possible.  If it has to be "all or nothing" for the financing and return models to work, then yeah -- it's just fancy renderings.

[heights unknown]

FWIW, I like the LERP. But holistically, I prefer Atkins' proposal to everything the DIA has cooked up on the Northbank. Whether it's realistic or not....well, I have at least as much faith in him as I do the DIA.

I love the proposal. I also felt the Landing park proposals were just settling for something cheap and easy because they weren't capable of better. However I'm not sure Atkins has it in his locker to get this done as much as I like the idea. We've seen how drawn out the trio has been, so is he going to be capable of throwing up 10/12 buildings and landscaping a whole new riverfront?

Until theres a shovel in the ground, its all just renderings to me, bro.

I don't like the proposal, but overall agree with what you said.

[Ken_FSU]

^ Maybe some people are good with all or some of the LERP proposal.  I don't think developers should have so much influence that they ultimately decide for everyone what's "best."  As noted before, DIA got off on the wrong foot with this by not being more transparent and inviting wider community support.  Now we have this.  I hope if they back up, it's done right by the entire community, not just by Atkins and Khan types.  Listening to just the power players is exactly how we get into Lot J type scenarios.  When will the City learn this lesson?

The above said, for me, I am not convinced that the LERP isn't the, or close to the, iconic structure Jax needs to have to get on more maps.  As I posted before, I doubt any "iconic" landmark is going to be totally non-controversial.  In fact, it's often controversy that makes it iconic.  Maybe Jax is just too risk adverse as has been demonstrated repeatedly in the past.  And, thus, this response is both a reflection of the Clty's leadership and why we don't have more success Downtown.

I love the LERP proposal, and I think some simple changes to the scripting of the sculpture would make it much more popular.

And, I also love the idea of Jacksonville actually following through on something and rewarding the good faith of the companies like P+W who put months of work, research, surveying, and prep into their proposals rather than the city just changing its mind AGAIN, burning developers, and wasting everyone's time (see: convention center RFP; Ford on Bay; Shipyards; LaVilla Townhouses; etc).

I think it's pretty shameful that the DIA is backtracking because of negative public commentary, and it badly undermines whatever credibility they've got left.

I also think the average Jacksonville citizen wants to have their cake and eat it too in terms of bitching about outcomes without making the effort to be part of the process. The Landing design competition was very well publicized across local and social media. The meetings were streamed live. The DIA specifically asked for public input and provided a fairly long window to receive it. It was even factored in informally to the scoring.

But now, after the fact, all the dopey headline-readers on the socials who offered no feedback at the appropriate time want to cry because they don't like it because, from a very specific angle, a work-in-progress sculpture - which P+W clearly stated would be tweaked based on public feedback - looks like a non-existent word.

[Zac T]

At the downtown council meeting this morning, Steve Atkins gave a half-answer when asked whether he would participate in the RFP process for the Ford on Bay property but sounded like he might. A formal proposal for the Riverfront plan should be submitted in a few weeks and he said he's committed to seeing it through and is also looking at opportunities for affordable housing downtown.

He projected a November start to the Laura Street Trio and expects it to be a 24-month long project

[MusicMan]

Can someone tell me what iconic sculpture put Greenville SC on the map, and draws so many people to it?

Answer: there isn't one. I'd rather see the DIA / COJ spend the $11 to $15 million dollars on renovating and restoring what's left of our historic building stock, or supporting that effort. That will do more in the long term to revitalize downtown then the 'LERP/xaJ' sculpture ever will.