St. Johns Point still a go?

[thelakelander]

Crosswinds National LLC, based in Novi, Mich., said it is the site's majority owner. Crosswinds is a residential builder and developer with properties throughout the U.S., including five in Northeast Florida.

The company is proceeding with plans to transform the industrial land on Adams Street into a mixed-use project featuring three towers -- the tallest of which may be 30 stories -- and a marina, said Jock McCartney, Crosswinds vice president of planning and engineering. Construction could begin early next year.

full article: http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/2007/07/02/story1.html?b=1183348800^1483696

[Seraphs]

This is a good area for developement and would enhance this portion of the riverfront.  However, I feel at this point this project is a looooong shot.

[Steve]

I'd be shocked if this broke ground.  I mean, the area is not exactly bustling.  It seems it would make more sense to develop near the core.

On the other hand, since it is away from the core, that may make the project more affordable (possibly)

[Jason]

I wonder if they'll run into some environmental roadblocks.  That area has been pretty industrial for a very long time.

[fsujax]

I really doubt this will ever get built.

[chris]

From a development standpoint, the project is still at least 2 years from breaking ground in the best possible circumstances. Crosswinds is probably betting that if the bigger guys like Hines and Landmar are willing to risk the investment in a still not finished downward spiral, they can too. The St. Johns Point project is also a little more balanced than Shipyards and will take less time to coalesce than the master-planned Northbank behemoth. My guess is that the only problem with any future development on either side of the river is the environmental situation, which is what Cowford is running into with the former JEA site. I really don't think many people truly understand the amount of sludge lurking just 10 feet underwater. I mean, just think of trying to jump off your that is tied off at the complex's marina, only to find that the bottom is a strange mixture of creosote and lead ash... YUM!

Let's just cross our fingers and hope we're not that screwed:\

[thelakelander]

After looking at these historic pics of this area, it should be pretty clear that there's probably some nasty stuff under there.

[Lunican]

Is the Mathews Bridge under construction in this shot? It looks like the entire middle section is missing.

[thelakelander]

It's under construction.