http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=548569
Per the Daily Record, JEA approved an extension on Tuesday for the closing of the land deal for the District. The new close date for the contract is Dec. 31st, 2017, but closing will need to take place within 45 days of approval of all state and local entitlements and agreements for the project. Rummell's group is hoping to have everything signed off on, with shovels in the ground, by April, and possibly earlier.
DDRB will review and potentially approve the master plan for the project on Wednesday (they've already approved the conceptuals, and approval of individual components has been waived by the DDRB), then the DIA signs off, then the mayor's budget revenue committee, and finally, approval by the City Council.
Negotiations underway with retail tenets and developers.
Awesome. Hope all of these things get built; looking kind of murky for our country; many things going wrong.
Quote from: KenFSU on October 20, 2016, 02:47:33 PM
Per the Daily Record, JEA approved an extension on Tuesday for the closing of the land deal for the District. The new close date for the contract is Dec. 31st, 2017, but closing will need to take place within 45 days...
Did you mean Dec. 31st, 2016?
^Nope, new deadline to close is December 31st, 2017.
Or, more likely, the deadline to close is 45 days after the DDRB, DIA, mayor's office, and City Council give their approvals.
If Rummell's group is expecting to break ground by April, and perhaps earlier, and are actively looking for retail tenets, they must not be expecting much resistance.
Pretty sure the Dec 2017 deadline just protects them in case they face excessive red tape.
You can view the full 58 page Master Design presentation, to be presented to DDRB tomorrow, over at the Business Journal.
I like the design language and materials, and love the spillover seating for the restaurants along the river.
http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2016/10/24/the-district-seeks-final-site-approval-on-design.html#g1
How long have they been planning to make one of the buildings 350 ft tall? That would be the 7th tallest building in Jacksonville, putting it between the SunTrust Tower and The Strand.
^For awhile now, I believe since the first conceptuals.
Rummell's group should be meeting with the DDRB as we speak to review the Master Site Design.
Hope it's a greenlight so we can get some shovels in the ground as quickly as possible.
Approved, per the JBJ.
Huge step for the District.
Construction could begin within six months.
http://jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=548615
The icing is ready to spread. Now it's time to make and bake the cake.
The Downtown Development Review Board approved on Wednesday the master plan design guidelines for The District, the mixed-use project proposed on the former JEA Southside Generating Station site Downtown along the Southbank.
The product of months of work between Downtown Investment Authority staff and architects working with Elements Development of Jacksonville LLC, the plan lays out comprehensive standards for building heights, set-back and build-to lines and streetscape standards.
"This document gives staff specificity. We'll use it to give us guidance in the final product," said Jim Klement, authority development coordinator.
The District will comprise numerous structures and amenities on the 28.6-acre parcel including apartments, condominium towers, a hotel, retail and restaurant space, as well as public parks and parking lots.
"It's a unique public and destination-oriented product," Klement said.
As each component is designed, architects will use the master plan as their design standard. Any deviation will have to come before the board for its review and decision.
Elements partner Michael Munz said the master plan will be used as the basis for all aspects of each project as agreements are negotiated with developers who become part of The District.
"We'll make the design guidebook a condition of closing," he said. "This (document) will live with the project."
Elements is required to submit a progress report to the board five years after the project begins. The master plan is effective for 10 years unless amended.
"This shows that when the public and private sectors work together, we can make great things happen," Munz said.
Authority CEO Aundra Wallace agreed. He said the project and its master plan validate creation of the authority.
Staff, Elements and its design team spent 17 months working out the details of the master plan to protect the city and the developer as the project moves closer to its construction phase, estimated at $400 million to $500 million.
"We know they are taking a risk. They have to have predictability," Wallace said.
Working together will continue as the two sides "make and bake the cake."
Negotiations will now begin on the development agreement that lays out the city's responsibilities for the project, such as providing utilities, drainage, roads, sidewalks and other infrastructure.
Economic incentives such as property tax credits and other concessions on the city's part also will likely be part of the negotiations and the budget source for each phase of the city's contribution will have to be identified and approved.
"We need to understand the nature of the request (from Elements) and the timing of vertical development," Wallace said.
The authority granted Elements the development rights for the project in September 2015. The development agreement must be drafted by the authority and then approved by City Council within 24 months.
"Now it's time for the city's work to begin," said Jim Bailey, authority chair and publisher of the Daily Record.
mmarbut@jaxdailyrecord.com
(904) 356-2466
Good stuff. We live nearby and this is one project I am looking forward to actually happening. That Publix tho....
Nice, that whole area will look 100% better, I was in town a few weeks ago and its nice to see all the construction going on, still lots to do but nice to see some progress
KUDOS JAX! It's about damn time something happens, something big like this. Now if we can just get the city and others to come together on the Laura Street Trio in the same way, not only will we be "baking a cake" on the south bank, but we'll be baking a turkey, ham, roast, and game hen all in the same oven on the North Bank!
From a purely 'City booster' standpoint, completely discounting common sense, its a damn shame one of the buildings isn't 750+ feet tall surrounded by complimenting structures. As it is... YAWN! It's basically a Bay Meadows office/residential park moved north.
One has to wonder if and when Brightline/AAF ever expands to Jax and perhaps Atlanta, what they'll do with a mixed use station complex somewhere downtown? Miami Central Station it won't be, but maybe it will trump 'Healthy Town.' I just wish they could commit to the city before another fortune is blown on JTA's latest version of the JRTC debacle... Meanwhile the grand old natural gateway to Florida sits mostly empty, hosting gun and fishing shows! UGH!
Any further updates on this one? Is there a date set for groundbreaking? Has Rummel's group closed on the real estate yet?
$2 million set aside by the DIA for the project has been approved:
http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2017/05/18/dia-proposed-budget-approved-includes-money-for.html