QuoteBy Karen Brune Mathis, Managing Editor
Veteran developer and place-maker Peter Rummell has an idea, and he considers it a big one.
"I don't want to let this sort of idealism slip away," Rummell said Monday during an interview.
Rummell wants to create what he calls "Healthy Town," although that's more of a description than an ultimate name.
It would be a residential community for all ages that focused on health of mind, body and spirit — from offering a "base camp" of health and wellness guidance to focusing on designs that encourage activity to offering gardens that renters and owners could plant and reap for fresh produce.
"Health is going to do to (real estate) value what golf did 40 years ago," Rummell said, referring to the start and proliferation of golf-course communities.
Rummell had designed "Healthy Town" for the 30-acre Southbank JEA site, but he won't stand in the way of a potential Deutsche Bank consolidation on the property.
Deutsche Bank is reviewing the riverfront site for a major office project of at least 300,000 square feet to accommodate its expanding suburban operations, sources have said. JEA issued a Request for Proposals are due May 6 for developers who are interested in buying the property.
Rummell said he would turn his attention to other sites and make way for Deutsche Bank to proceed and bring what he understands eventually could be 4,000 to 5,000 jobs Downtown.
full article: http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=542559
I'd also suggest looking at overlooked and underutilized urban core sites such as the land around the Prime Osborn/LaVilla, Sugar Hill between I-95 and Hogans Creek, some areas along McCoys Creek, etc. Everything doesn't "have" to be on the river.
Quote• 700-800 multifamily units for sale and for rent
• A unit mix from studios to penthouses that would attract, for example, residents ranging from new college graduates taking their first jobs to more affluent professionals to retirees.
• Multistory residential buildings of three to four floors that are designed with the stairs up front and the elevators in back, which could entice residents to take the stairs. "If you walk to your fourth floor five times a day, that's a lot of exercise you wouldn't get otherwise," he said.
• 75,000 to 85,000 square feet of retail, food and beverage space to serve residents and visitors.
• "A riverfront cool bar and restaurant."
• Garden space for rent that encourages residents to plant and reap their produce, but would be tended by staff if the residents prefer.
• The "hardware" of fitness centers and amenities that encourage a healthy lifestyle.
• Most important, he said, is the "base camp" and software services that would be staffed by people who could help residents with questions ranging from finding a church to booking an appointment with a medical center.
Sounds like a great concept and potential game changer for downtown. I wonder if they will show the conceptual site plans at the ULI thing today?
I think it may be a mistake to let the cat out of the bag before acquiring the necessary land though. Especially if they can't get either the JEA or Shipyards and have to acquire multiple privately owned properties.
An Actionnewsjax vid concerning this issue.
www.actionnewsjax.com/content/topstories/story/Is-there-a-solution-for-downtown-Jacksonville/70ICIPDR4EKLllIvL_pCkw.cspx
Quote from: thelakelander on March 26, 2014, 10:54:47 AM
Quote
• Multistory residential buildings of three to four floors that are designed with the stairs up front and the elevators in back, which could entice residents to take the stairs. "If you walk to your fourth floor five times a day, that's a lot of exercise you wouldn't get otherwise," he said.
LoL
I kind of think of stairs in Jacksonville like I view public transit/car-free lifestyles in Jacksonville. It's a great idea...the building I live in is 5 stories with stairs in front and stairs in back (I'm on Fl 5). I use the back stairs to walk up and the front stairs to walk down. There is a freight elevator that moves 1 floor in 10 seconds (almost a minute to get up 5 floors) that nobody takes except to move. The way to force stair use is not to simply have one flight of stairs. It is to make the elevator so painful to use that nobody will even consider it. I imagine, though, mentality wise and culture wise, it will take A LOT more to entice Jacksonvillians to use stairs over elevators. Kinda' like how difficult it will be to wean people off of cars (like that is basically not happening any time soon! no matter how close an apartment is to downtown).
Also, my "walk-up" is $4500 to rent for a 2BR and reserved parking is $200-$300 I believe ( though I don't have a car). 16 units overall, obviously no amenities though you are paying to live in SF which offers amenities (not free obviously) at your doorstep. In Jax, this will get you a mortgage payment for a mansion on the river and a multi-car garage. I think anyone paying top of the market for Jax rents (i.e. $1000 or greater) will want the convenience of a nice, decently fast elevator and a few amenities. Good luck getting people to pay decent rents for a walk-up. It's not market for Jax, at all.
Why is Deutsche Bank going to build another building when there's already so much vacant office space and so many buildings for sale downtown? I never understand the decision making process when it comes to this. It certainly doesn't make financial sense either.
QuoteWhy is Deutsche Bank going to build another building when there's already so much vacant office space and so many buildings for sale downtown? I never understand the decision making process when it comes to this. It certainly doesn't make financial sense either.
As if your memory does not work so well, because BANKERS are greedy sniveling a-holes who sent us all into financial hell and none of these thieves ever went to jail, they only paid fines and they are getting ready to do it all over again.
I'm with Lake, Rummell can look out the windows of Haskell and see that Brooklyn/Lavilla are the next to catch fire, why go to the SS Gen Station? It's obvious what side of the river has momentum, but they do say that the first thing to go in age is the memory or it could be the eyesight.
Quoteit will take A LOT more to entice Jacksonvillians to use stairs over elevators.
Isn't the point to bill it as a "healthy lifestyle" apartment? I think people will be choosing to get themselves into this situation. It will take the right type of Jaxson, but I think there are enough to fill up one (small) facility ;)
Quote from: InnerCityPressure on March 27, 2014, 08:11:11 AM
Quoteit will take A LOT more to entice Jacksonvillians to use stairs over elevators.
Isn't the point to bill it as a "healthy lifestyle" apartment? I think people will be choosing to get themselves into this situation. It will take the right type of Jaxson, but I think there are enough to fill up one (small) facility ;)
No way, we love elevators here. This will only work in San Fran or other such cosmopolitan areas.
This is a good concept. I really like the gardens and growing what you eat. I have harvested some onions and potatoes from my own yard before; usually smaller than what you buy in the store but very, very fresh and tasty.
Quote from: mtraininjax on March 27, 2014, 07:57:26 AM
QuoteWhy is Deutsche Bank going to build another building when there's already so much vacant office space and so many buildings for sale downtown? I never understand the decision making process when it comes to this. It certainly doesn't make financial sense either.
As if your memory does not work so well, because BANKERS are greedy sniveling a-holes who sent us all into financial hell and none of these thieves ever went to jail, they only paid fines and they are getting ready to do it all over again.
I'm with Lake, Rummell can look out the windows of Haskell and see that Brooklyn/Lavilla are the next to catch fire, why go to the SS Gen Station? It's obvious what side of the river has momentum, but they do say that the first thing to go in age is the memory or it could be the eyesight.
BC DB wants to house hundreds to thousands of employees, requiring a certain "block" of space all to themselves, either not available downtown at all, or not available in the format that they want (which is certainly "premier" office space).
Quote from: duvalbill on March 27, 2014, 08:50:13 AM
Quote from: InnerCityPressure on March 27, 2014, 08:11:11 AM
Quoteit will take A LOT more to entice Jacksonvillians to use stairs over elevators.
Isn't the point to bill it as a "healthy lifestyle" apartment? I think people will be choosing to get themselves into this situation. It will take the right type of Jaxson, but I think there are enough to fill up one (small) facility ;)
No way, we love elevators here. This will only work in San Fran or other such cosmopolitan areas.
Love your sarcastic hit on me, however, even in NYC, SF, or other cosmo cities developers aren't billing apartments as "healthy" apartments meant to kick your ass in shape and force you to use the stairs. Walk-ups are typically smaller buildings with fewer apartments and NO amenities. Like I said, mine is 16 units in 5 stories. Rummell is talking about 700-800 units in a city where "market" is totally different. The way Rummell talks ("stairs in front") sounds like a traditional walk-up, not 700-800 units (which for new construction actually sounds more high rise!). Also, his apartments will have to come with lots of amenities, especially in that area, and so at the end of the day, I see no difference between what he's referring to and what's already being built garden style all over the SS. All of those apartments have stairs in the fire escapes and people may already be using them, however, they aren't forced into taking stairs as the only way to get up...that's not going to be a selling point in Jax (whereas in NYC or SF it's totally market to move into a true walk-up with no on-site amenities, no parking, stairs only, etc etc...can you picture that en masse in Jax? No). That's all I was saying.
Quote from: duvalbill on March 27, 2014, 08:50:13 AM
No way, we love elevators here. This will only work in San Fran or other such cosmopolitan areas.
And actually, your premise is certainly wrong. People in SF and NYC and other cities (Boston, etc) are inherently different in their tastes, wants, desires, outlook, and just about everything than people in Jax, almost certainly as a function of their environment. It's not far-fetched at all to say something will only work in scale in these cities, and not Jax.
It's totally one thing to ask a New Yorker to abandon his/her car...in fact, you don't even need to ask. It's another to ask a person in Jax. It's one thing to ask a New Yorker to use stairs all the time for entering/leaving (I mean flightSSS). Hauling grocery bags from your walk at the local market and walking up stairs, hauling laundry down to get to the local mat (which we have apps for that now ;) ), Jax is a very suburban, slow, non-dense market that is inexpensive. You don't pay up just to have the "privilege of living in Jax". In SF and New York, even new construction developers can assume that people who can pay top top even for those markets ($6,000+ rents) will have some degree of relaxation when it comes to building amenities. I guess I'm saying top of the market communities even in DC, which has a lot more "new" construction, are required to come with more amenities, more parking, things like a fast elevator, etc etc as a function of inherent cultural/market demands. In the tightest, densest, most expensive markets people are simply willing to pay $$$ for absolute shit, because that's what we're used to and we're just happy to even have a place there.
Long story short, speaking from my personal experience, in SF just having an apartment at all in the city is enough to get you laid, let alone an apartment of any sort in any of the "desirable" neighborhoods. There are shit walk-up apartments in Pac Heights sandwiched between billionaires' $30M homes. You'll pay $2700 for a studio that's on the 4th or 5th fl and almost has a view of the bay, but is "kinda' falling apart". In Atlanta, to get laid you needed to have a baller place in like a high rise, preferably one of the new ones, with floor to ceiling glass windows, a sweeping view, marble or granite, etc etc. It's simply not enough to call the city itself home or a certain area home. I imagine in Jax it's a little more like Atlanta. ;)
Quote from: mtraininjax on March 27, 2014, 07:57:26 AM
I'm with Lake, Rummell can look out the windows of Haskell and see that Brooklyn/Lavilla are the next to catch fire, why go to the SS Gen Station? It's obvious what side of the river has momentum, but they do say that the first thing to go in age is the memory or it could be the eyesight.
Or maybe Rummell wants to drive development instead of following others.
QuoteOr maybe Rummell wants to drive development instead of following others.
He has an entire palette of landscape to work with between Brooklyn and LaVilla. What's worse is he can see it all from his offices.
You covet what you see.....everyday!