Revitalizing Warehouse Districts: The Design District
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/1104854672_kpUcC-M.jpg)
Going to the Miami Design District is a journey not only of place but also of emotion; imagine the delight of discovering something around every corner; a fascinating piece of art, an exotic dish or a chair you never knew you had to have.
Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2010-nov-revitalizing-warehouse-districts-the-design-district
Great work.
Still looking for that parking meter.
The one pic looked like a handicapped spot with free parking in front and behind. Very inviting.
Field, North Miami and anyone else but I just had a thought. How about the Bay St. Pier Park District?
Robins has amassed 18 buildings.
How about 10 containers? various sizes and uses? We are a port city.
Lets get to Work- Just not in Jacksonville.
http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/gallery/14810586_H2wFY#1104856094_osEAN (http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/gallery/14810586_H2wFY#1104856094_osEAN)
Interesting artwork on the side of the building.
If that was in Jacksonville, the building owner would be cited for graffiti.
Sort of says a lot about why progress is a bit slow here.
While some of the plans shown to us for the warehouse district in Springfield have the warehouses mostly residential, it has always made more sense to me to keep them commercial and industrial. Things like custom furniture making, glass blowing, ceramics and even things like custom car work and custom boat building can be open for the public to view. Be entertained and shop at the some time. Think of how popular the reality TV shows are about such things. That would, of course promote eateries and clubs as well, if not next door, but down the road, just a short street car ride away. In my mind, none of it works without the fixed base transportation in place, and preferably street car to make it a destination for more than just local residents.
Quote from: Noone on November 30, 2010, 05:14:20 AM
Still looking for that parking meter.
The Design District has parking meters. Look at the picture of the Spinello Gallery and the picture of the mural and you will see them.
QuoteHe quickly realized that he could accomplish extraordinary success by buying a critical mass of undervalued property then implementing a clear vision of what that property could become.
What a genius!!! If only someone so visionary would be sent to save our fair city as well!!!!
What a common sense plan, but when executed well, made a huge difference. I would love to do something similar in La Villa or Springfield. We do have a great building stock to make something like this of our own. We just need a few people with a little money and a lot of energy to get this moving.
Quote from: finehoe on November 30, 2010, 09:48:54 AM
Quote from: Noone on November 30, 2010, 05:14:20 AM
Still looking for that parking meter.
The Design District has parking meters. Look at the picture of the Spinello Gallery and the picture of the mural and you will see them.
They have smart meters in South Florida. Typically, there's one meter per block, you purchase your time on that meter and it gives you a receipt that you stick on your dashboard.
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/Learning-From/Fort-Lauderdale-Nov2010/P1420534/1104753807_9jjDb-M.jpg)
A smart meter in downtown Fort Lauderdale.
Quote from: thelakelander on November 30, 2010, 10:06:23 AM
They have smart meters in South Florida.
Whatever you call them, they serve the same purpose. In places other than Jacksonville, it's difficult to make the argument that meters are responsible for killing an area's vitality.
^I'm not making an argument for or against meters and that's not reflected in the article. I was just responding to the posts made by you and Noone. They have meters in South Florida, they're just more end user friendly (accept credit cards, dimes, nickels, etc.). However, they also have better mass transit, so depending on what district you're in, you don't need a car at all. For example, I took an image of the meter in Fort Lauderdale because I drove in and parked on the street. On the other hand, I didn't think about meters in Brickell and Downtown Miami because I took the train in from Medley. Nevertheless, I did notice that a couple of private surface parking lots in the heart of Miami were around $5/day.
^^No, but that seemed to be Noone's point and it is a common refrain on the MJ forums that parking meters are somehow to blame for nobody going downtown. I'm simply noting that paying for on-street parking is a way of life in most American cities, so it is hardly the business-killer it is often made out to be by some on MJ. People don't stay away from downtown Jacksonville because they have to pay to park, they stay away because there is nothing there that makes it worthwhile to pay to park.
Downtown not being end user friendly is the problem. Parking enforcement and outdated meters help play a role in that but those are a couple of many problems that downtown has to deal with.
Quote from: thelakelander on November 30, 2010, 11:05:52 AM
Parking enforcement and outdated meters help play a role in that but those are a couple of many problems that downtown has to deal with.
An extremely minor role. You could install smart meters, or eliminate them completely tomorrow, and there would still be no reason for people to go there.
There are already several businesses operating in downtown. I would say smart meters combined with end user friendly parking enforcement would enhance opportunities for them. End users should not feel like they are being punished for visiting downtown.
It wasn't my intention to highjack this thread.
If you haven't been to the Design District, it should be on your list of things to do next time you're in Miami.
It's a little high-end to transfer directly to Springfield, but the concept of a unified district is one that could be a success in our fair city.
In Springfield, I could see incorporating and building around the industry and businesses that are already in the district. If I can remember correctly, there's Swisher, a millwork manufacturer, an auction house, recycler and Habijax operating in that area. I don't know if an unified theme is necessary but all the businesses there appear to be locally owned and operated. From a historical perspective, it was a pretty diverse mix of establishments operating there.
Quote from: finehoe on November 30, 2010, 10:56:24 AM
^^No, but that seemed to be Noone's point and it is a common refrain on the MJ forums that parking meters are somehow to blame for nobody going downtown. I'm simply noting that paying for on-street parking is a way of life in most American cities, so it is hardly the business-killer it is often made out to be by some on MJ. People don't stay away from downtown Jacksonville because they have to pay to park, they stay away because there is nothing there that makes it worthwhile to pay to park.
This, a thousand times.
Traveling up the east coast a couple weeks back, we paid to park in NYC, Boston, Washington DC and a couple other small cities in New Hampshire and Connecticut. Millions of people paid to park because there was stuff to do (other than the handful of attractions and lunch eateries in downtown Jax).
Of course, the parking doesn't help.
Back to the topic at hand, it would be awesome to see something like what was done in Miami happen in Jax. It would take some serious money and somebody with vision (and patience) behind it. But having driven around some of the abandoned warehouses pictured, I can totally see that... With or without metered parking.
Historically, the Springfield Warehouse District was dominated by the food and beverage industry, in addition to Swisher. Dorsey Baking Company (bakery), Merita Bread (bakery), Coca Cola (bottling) and Setzer (grocery store warehouse) occupied the largest buildings between 12th & 14th Streets.
(http://www.metrojacksonville.com/photos/thumbs/lrg-5569-mavis_bottling_company.jpg)
(http://www.metrojacksonville.com/photos/thumbs/lrg-5654-coca-cola-springfield-1934.jpg)
(http://www.metrojacksonville.com/photos/thumbs/lrg-5582-merita_bakery.jpg)
(http://www.metrojacksonville.com/photos/thumbs/lrg-5568-libertystreet.jpg)
(http://www.metrojacksonville.com/photos/thumbs/lrg-5583-swisher1.jpg)
(http://www.metrojacksonville.com/photos/thumbs/lrg-5653-warehouse_district_sline.jpg)
Other businesses included Dozier Paint, Chevrolet Parts Depot, Aetna Iron & Steel, and Hutting Sash & Door. What is the maritime tradition of the Springfield Warehouse District? That would add a layer that hasn't really been told.
yes, we pay to park EVERYWHERE in Miami and Miami Beach. Most meters are enforced 24 x 7. But as someone mentioned there are pay lots that are not too expensive and our meters are very easy to use. They take cash, coin and credit card and you can pay for multiple hours at a time...........very easy to use, unlike Jacksonville's downtown........
Heck even if you drive to a friends condo in Brickell, 99% of the time you will have to valet park your car usually starting around $10 or so an hour. Some nights I will spend up to $60 on parking and valet in one night if I am hitting different locations...........but it's Miami.......and you pay to play....
Any idea if the "Setzer" is related to Leonard Setzer of National Merchandise and Pic-N-Save?
Yes, I think so.
^yes, it is.
I remember when there was a Pic-N-Save warehouse in the warehouse district. My uncle used to work there.
What I would like to see for Jacksonville is for us to attract the attention of reputable furniture/home design studios like Clive Christian and Mitchell Gold/Bob Williams, etc. I always pick up the new Florida Design magazines from Publix (yes they sell them up here in Atlanta and I don't buy, just thumb through), and every featured house/condo/commercial space is from somewhere in S FL, Orlando, or Tampa Bay, and every design ad stems from a studio in S FL, or a national studio with an office in S FL, Orlando, and sometimes Tampa. We are never on the list or ever featured. I think we have some mighty fine architectural studios here and people here are doing great things, but we just aren't on the radar. Heck, Atlanta is barely on the radar compared to Miami and the world's largest mart complex is here, ADAC is here, several national studios/furniture/kitchen/tile studios are here, etc.
If there were going to be one area where Jacksonville concentrated design studios, I would not even currently guess any of the abandoned warehouse districts. I would guess the Phillips/University area where SCANDesign is.
Quote from: simms3 on December 01, 2010, 12:29:03 PM
What I would like to see for Jacksonville is for us to attract the attention of reputable furniture/home design studios like Clive Christian and Mitchell Gold/Bob Williams, etc.
I'd like to see that too, but I don't think Jacksonville can compete with South Florida which has already taken that niche. Jacksonville needs to stop trying to copy other places and come up with a unique brand so that when people think of ______, they think of Jacksonville.
Quote from: fsujax on November 30, 2010, 04:47:41 PM
I remember when there was a Pic-N-Save warehouse in the warehouse district. My uncle used to work there.
Oh yes. Before the glory days of wal mart, Pic-n-saver was the place to be. I acutally kind of miss Pic-N-Save to be honest.
QuoteThey take cash, coin and credit card and you can pay for multiple hours at a time...........very easy to use, unlike Jacksonville's downtown........
Why should the City spend money on new meters or a new parking system downtown? No one uses the parking decks or the meter down there now as it is. There is hardly any nightlife North of Forsyth Street (Jerry I rope you into Forsyth, since you are between Forsyth and Adams), so why again do we need to spend thousands on a parking system when the City is better at providing services, than jump starting a downtown renaissance?
What is the update on the Library, anyone know? I saw Mark Rinaman at the River Keeper event, forgot to ask him as I chatted with his beautiful wife Lisa. I don't even know if Mark is still involved with the library, but any info would be great! TIA
Great pictures above Lake!
^What business owners are going to want to open in an environment that is hostile to its customers?? In order to magically jump-start this renaissance that you believe is just waiting to happen, we need to first reduce the negative aspects of doing business downtown.
Funding or assistance would go a lot further if there was a positive business environment downtown.
This is something that the upcoming mayoral candidates need to voice on! Hopefully they all have something to say about the situation............warehouses, empty stores and downtown!
Quotewe need to first reduce the negative aspects of doing business downtown.
Such as.................
Let's not fool ourselves into thinking DT is all peaches and cream. There is a reason it continues to decline. You can start with parking enforcement, poor business visibility due to restrictions, bad image, confusing one way streets, vagrants, and poor public coordination.
Developer unveils project to transform Miami’s Design District into upscale pedestrian promenade
(http://media.miamiherald.com/smedia/2012/06/04/21/29/U2vF2.St.56.jpg)
A proposed $312 million makeover of Miami’s Design District would carve out a mini-Lincoln Road mall with luxury fashion shops, restaurants and public spaces.
full article: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/04/2832902/developer-unveils-project-to-transform.html
The Jacksonville version:
Developer unveils project to transform Jacksonville Warehouse District into suburban wasteland
Developer Raig Crobins’ plan to turn Jacksonville’s Warehouse District into a retail destination entails paving a four-acre parking lot in the heart of the compact neighborhood, which would also get an extensive makeover â€" by removing mature shade trees.
The ambitious scheme, which gets its first public airing before the city’s planning and zoning board on Wednesday, would create a smaller-scale version of any Wal-Mart location, though one lined with dollar stores, and dotted with fast food outlets and sun baked public plazas to discourage lingering.
“We’ve done the same thing we’ve always done, even though we know it’s never really worked,†Crobins said during a presentation to reporters Monday at the trash-strewn Warehouse District offices of the development group he leads, CRAPA. “It’s about redefining retail and creating a sterile suburban community at the heart of the city of Jacksonville.â€
The detailed blueprint, which CRAPA submitted to the city last week as a “Special Area Plan’’ under the Jacksonville 19 zoning code, also makes room for adding a Motel 6 and around 10 units of housing in a mid-rise tower far from the actual shopping area.
Although the motel and residential piece would require a slight up-zoning, most of the plan â€" which covers 51 properties that CRAPA controls, or roughly 65 percent of the entire area â€" fits within existing zoning and would preserve the district’s low-scale character, Crobins said. But existing buildings would be razed, Crobins said.
Crobins, a key early figure in the redevelopment of LaVilla and founder of the Drive Everywhere fair, said CRAPA’s plan hopes to eliminate the architectural bones of the district, and its focus on low-end shopping will create “a neighborhood in name only.’’
;D
Quote from: thelakelander on June 05, 2012, 07:32:56 AM
Developer unveils project to transform Miami’s Design District into upscale pedestrian promenade
(http://media.miamiherald.com/smedia/2012/06/04/21/29/U2vF2.St.56.jpg)
A proposed $312 million makeover of Miami’s Design District would carve out a mini-Lincoln Road mall with luxury fashion shops, restaurants and public spaces.
full article: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/04/2832902/developer-unveils-project-to-transform.html
Didn't read the article, but Washington Street in South Beach already has a successful pedestrian 'mall'.
LOL Finehoe. Sad, but probably true.
Just checked out the Design District for the first time (and Midtown Miami nearby). The Design District is definitely one of the hottest new districts for retailing with a Scotch and Soda, recently stole Cartier from Bal Harbor Shops, Armani Home, etc etc. It's very very cool, I wouldn't say it's an area for the "creative class" any moreso than it's an area for rich Miami housewives to hang out in and feel cool.
I loved the area, but it's definitely Miami in that by "design" they mean "designer". Atlanta has a similar district on the Westside with nearly all the same retailers in old warehouses and what not, and we have made no qualms about it that it's for yuppies and wealthy Buckhead Betties.
Midtown Miami was cheesy. They got out of the ground at the wrong time and could only attract mediocre tenants, but the architecture of the highrise condos is fantastic.
So on one side of the highway (195/Julia Tuttle Causeway) you have Ross, Carter's, Homegoods, Hurricane Grill, Loehmanns, Marhsalls, Massage Envy, Party City, Payless Shoesource, etc all in a fabricated development. On the other side in the District you have Christian Louboutin, Cartier, Jonathan Adler, Prada Home, Armani Home, Louis Vuitton, Yamamoto, Scotch and Soda, etc etc.
Dacra leasing new Design District phase
Bal Harbour Shops just a few years ago was Miami's ground zero for luxury retail brands, but that has changed. About 18 months ago, pioneering real estate developer Dacra, in partnership with L Real Estate, began plans for Miami Design District, a low-rise shopping enclave that features pedestrian promenades, lush landscaping and a definite upscale feel.
The developers have set out to create a destination mall to better its peers. "My hope is that, if there is one place you have to go in Miami, this will be it," said Craig Robins, Dacra CEO and founder.
At buildout, the $2 billion mixed-use development will boast 1.1 million square feet of retail, a hotel, low-rise residential units, restaurants and four garages. It's set on a four-block parcel on Northeast First Avenue from Northeast 38th to 42nd streets, and is planned around a landscaped pedestrian promenade.
"Leasing is going extraordinarily well," Mr. Robins said. "We've secured 50 major luxury brands, including Hermes, Cartier. Dior, Armani, Prada, Celine, Marc Jacobs and others."
Many of the high-ticket retailers have abandoned their Bal Harbour spaces and have chosen the Design District as their only Miami location. Some, including Prada and Armani, have chosen to maintain stores in both centers.
With phases I and II leased, except for one space "in case somebody great comes along," Mr. Robins said, Dacra is now focusing on leasing phase III, which is mainly on Northeast 40th and 41st streets. "We did a major renovation on 39th Street," Mr. Robins said, installing about 300 30-year-old native trees to create a welcoming space. "We've created roof gardens."
Many of the stores moving in have created two- and three-story flagships that are noteworthy in their design, he added.
Case in point: Helmut Lang and Theory have signed a lease for 5,000 square feet at 101 NE 40th St. The two-story building features high ceilings and the purveyors of luxury goods will get to design their own façade.
Audemars Piguet, Bulgari, Burberry, Dolce & Gabanna, Givenchy, Harry Winston, Hublot, Tiffany & Co., Tod's, Valentino, Versace, Zadig & Voltaire and Zegna have opened or are expected to open soon.
"The needs and wants of the retailer and consumer have both changed," said Tony Arellano, executive vice president of Metro 1 Properties, speaking about Miami Design District last fall. "Tom Ford, Theory, Helmut Lang, Ferragamo – these are brands you can buy at Saks. They have instead chosen to create their own flagships. It's an ode to the brand."
As the shopping destination grows, so will the demand for restaurants. "There are 16 new restaurants in the neighborhood, wonderful ones," Mr. Robins said. Dacra, he said, is in discussion with chef-owner Jean-Georges Vongerichten to open a restaurant there. In the neighborhood are MC Kitchen, A Crumb on Parchment, Mandolin, Michael's Genuine Food and Drink, Oak Tavern, Harry's Pizzeria, The Cypress Room and others.
The Institute of Contemporary Art, which moved to the neighborhood in December, and the long-established Design and Architecture Senior High demonstrate the area's ties to art and design.
"This district has years and years of history in furniture design, galleries and other forms of art," Mr. Robins said. He said he hopes the new enclave will be a draw to visitors who have never experienced this side of a Miami neighborhood that was largely forgotten as development moved west to the suburbs.
"Everybody is welcome; parking in the garages is $3," Mr. Robins said. "It's an asset to our community and it belongs to all of us. That's one of the really nice things that we can share."
http://www.miamitodaynews.com/2015/04/08/dacra-leasing-new-design-district-phase/