Midtown Centre: The Nation's First Office Park
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/2407245173_cx4wnMt-M.jpg)
Several innovative ideas envisioned and produced in Jacksonville have significantly altered the urban development of our country. Today, thousands of office parks line major highways in cities all across America. Unknown to most Jaxons, the nation's first suburban office park was developed in Jacksonville in 1957 and still exists today.
Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2013-mar-midtown-centre-the-nations-first-office-park
Koger also donated $15 million to the University of South Carolina for it's Performing Arts Center which is named for him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koger_Center
The implication of this idea has had a significant effect on the world in general, but by knowing this fact it is also easy to see why Jacksonville is the way it is. A strong and early leaning toward suburban growth means that community leaders had a chance to think on this issue first. Unfortunately, being first means you don't get to use the valuable asset of hindsight.
JTA should be user-friendly, it's not. The LGBT community should have rights, they don't. Religious leaders shouldn't be running this city, they do. Suburbs have broken down the traditional idea of a city and turned it into a FOX News oasis. Cities are supposed to be places where people come to exchange ideas. Instead they have turned into prisons, housing consumers in isolation, feeding the corporatocracy. We were bamboozled. We were sold snake oil and we still love it. I could deal with its existence if only I didn't believe that within it lies the seeds of our own destruction.
^ Had a rough morning Mathew?
Is it that apparent?
:) Heh, just looks like the second paragraph included some venting, but trust me, I feel the same pain!
The article is very intesting and explains a lot about why Jax is the way she is. IMO, it gives us the opportunity to be on the forefront of correcting our subruban wrongs through the continuation of the Mobility Fee. We could once again be the model for the rest of the world.
What is now located in the office park space that used to be the art museum?
I think it's empty.
@Jason
I completely agree with you. Jacksonville would be better served by a strong transit system. It could be the model for the rest of the world. The current political climate does not allow for that. I'm actually ashamed of my own race. More than any group they are the cause. I'm not sure how to sway them, but a second wave of white flight might get enough of them out to allow other people to get into leadership position to create change. Of course, I'm not advocating that position, but there is a clear disconnect between white and blacks as far as public transit is concerned.
Mathew whites aren't the only ones moving to the suburbs.
I understand, but there is a clear correlation to inner city demographics and suburban masses.
I had no idea about this first in Jacksonville. Thanks for sharing!
Matthew, if it makes you feel any better I really don't think it's your "race" but just your particular small sample size. There are plenty of mass transit advocates around the country and world who are white.
Washington DC, among many others, is also a good example of the reversal of white flight...higher incomes (including a large percentage of whites) moving back into a predominantly black city...with good mass transit.
Again, I understand that both races participants in advocating for public transit. I was more venting about the overall political climate in Jacksonville. In a way, I think public transit has been used in this city to segregate segments of the population. Those with power and money have utilized JTA to create a modern Jim Crow scenario. It's as bad as red lining.
Midtown Centre was purchased from Lennar Commercial by Kellogg Development. Kellogg Development then went on to purchase other former Koger properties, Charlotte East in North Carolina and Piedmont Center in Greenville, SC.
Kellogg Development after that sold a majority interest in Midtown Centre to D Group Equities which is run by the Dubon Family of Puerto Rico.
Roger Kellogg of Kellogg Development should get most of the credit of reviving Midtown Center. He spent a lot of time with Suzanne Jenkins and the St Nicholas Community working on ways to better improve the place with local input. They spent alot of time developing a charrette for the area. Unfortunately he was unable to get the rest of his plans afoot before he sold it to D Group.
JTA optimized their routes through the park to accommodate tenants.
Once considered "suburban" it now has become a part of the urban infill ring around downtown Jacksonville.
Quote"Born in Charleston, SC, Koger first came to Jacksonville in 1939 to serve as an advertising manager for an afternoon newspaper. "
Did the history research reveal which afternoon newspaper? Jacksonville had an EXCELLENT afternoon paper, "THE JACKSONVILLE JOURNAL," which retained it's solid common sense approach under the management and direction of the late great George Harmon. The journal under his leadership as well as before his direction would often take a position that didn't necessarily jive with the parent TU or the city's 'main stream.' In a very real sense, when the Journal died, it was the end of the great newspaper era in Jacksonville. The Journal ceased publication on October 28, 1988. only one year after celebrating its 100th anniversary.
The Journal's final circulation was around 30,000 weekdays, plus an advance Sunday edition. To me the idea that '30,000' was too small for profit in the TU hierarchy speaks volumes about the management. Consider some of the other locals, the Palatka Daily News publishes Tuesday through Saturday with a daily circulation of 11,733 appearing to be alive and well. The St. Augustine Record’s weekday circulation, in contrast, rose from 17,481 last year to 19,291, and the Palm Coast Observer has grown to 24,000. The Lake Regions Monitor was founded in 1973. It covers Keystone Heights and the surrounding communities of the Lake Region, as well as Bradford and Clay counties, Florida with a circulation of 2,300 copies.
The day of the great newspapers seems to be over, but the small community based papers and advertiser or speciality papers are booming. Interesting grounds for a little 'METRO JACKSONVILLE JOURNAL' research! LOL! ;)
Did Koger really create the office park concept or just popularize it in America? I ask because the Slough Trading Estate (as seen in BBC's The Office) was founded in 1920, on farmland in a suburb. Koger would've been eight years old at the time!
Isn't Slough considered to be an industrial complex?
Quote from: thelakelander on March 15, 2013, 09:39:26 AM
Isn't Slough considered to be an industrial complex?
It's mixed-use. Offices and industry. Back in the day, you'd see a lot of light industry with offices located on-site (much like the fictional Wernham-Hogg Paper Company). But it still is a business park of a sort and certainly was developed to give office space (and warehouse space) to businesses outside of the city. Kind of like what Koger was doing.
There are similarities but there are also large differences. Slough initially started off with heavy industry built around a rail line, similar to the old industrial/warehouse districts of the early 20th century. Over time, it's added a mix of additional uses. Koger's concept is an example of a single specific use (office) catering to the highway/automobile/suburban growth in Jacksonville and the US after WWII.
Quote from: thelakelander on March 15, 2013, 10:24:01 AM
There are similarities but there are also large differences. Slough initially started off with heavy industry built around a rail line, similar to the old industrial/warehouse districts of the early 20th century. Over time, it's added a mix of additional uses. Koger's concept is an example of a single specific use (office) catering to the highway/automobile/suburban growth in Jacksonville and the US after WWII.
Thanks Lake.