The old Independent Life Building, the empty one by Sweet Pete's, has an owner with big plans for it. Is residential downtown starting to become a thing? Or wait and see if this or any other projects actually break ground and follow-up the few going on right now?
https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/old-independent-life-building-slated-for-downtown-apartments-grocery-store
Residential in downtown has been a thing for a while now. When projects actually get built, they tend to lease up real quick.
I remember when this project was first announced....5 years ago.
Not the same people.
Yep. Totally different group and project.
Lol!
Klassic Kerry....
Quote from: Kerry on October 16, 2019, 06:45:15 AM
I remember when this project was first announced....5 years ago.
But hey....good to have you back! I was wondering if you said, screw this place and moved to OKC permanently! I strangely missed the whole, "Find the negative in holding the winning lottery ticket," viewpoint.
Quote from: Captain Zissou on October 16, 2019, 09:14:30 AM
Klassic Kerry....
Captain Zissou....he probably ate some bad deer meat, so disregard.
Developer claims to have a grocery operator on board.
https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/group-planning-to-renovate-downtown-building-says-it-has-operator-for-a-grocery-store
Both stories in this thread are amazingly similar for being 5 months apart.
Looks like the multifamily component of the Ambassador Hotel project has been canceled, with those multifamily/garage efforts instead being focused on the Independent Life project.
https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/augustine-development-postpones-apartments-garage-at-ambassador-hotel
Quote from: Ken_FSU on March 10, 2020, 11:37:56 AM
Looks like the multifamily component of the Ambassador Hotel project has been canceled, with those multifamily/garage efforts instead being focused on the Independent Life project.
https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/augustine-development-postpones-apartments-garage-at-ambassador-hotel
Makes sense to me. Acquiring the former Independent Life Building and redeveloping/constructing multi-family there, along with the garage, ensures no duplication by having it also at the Ambassador Site along with the garage. I would guess it's a "money thing" as well because if you are building/constructing the same thing on two sites, across the street from each other, and you're constructing the same thing at the same time, that's a little bit more money being thrown around in my opinion for the two developments. I'm not as well versed in this stuff as you all are, but I've learned a lot since joining this forum. I hope we see more developments and redevelopments of this nature rise up and Jax gets it together and gets moving.
Quote from: Ken_FSU on March 10, 2020, 11:37:56 AM
Looks like the multifamily component of the Ambassador Hotel project has been canceled, with those multifamily/garage efforts instead being focused on the Independent Life project.
https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/augustine-development-postpones-apartments-garage-at-ambassador-hotel (https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/augustine-development-postpones-apartments-garage-at-ambassador-hotel)
Damn. I'd ask if they could just give the multifamily component to someone else, but with how the economy's looking, that's not happening.
I got a tour of these buildings today. Sounds like a pretty cool project. The grocery component isn't a 20k square foot traditional grocery store. It's a mix of a market and a five vendor food hall. IMO, that makes a lot more sense than the idea of a chain like Whole Foods or Publix opening in the Northbank.
Across the street, the Ambassador would be a boutique hotel with a restaurant on the ground floor at the corner of Julia and Church streets. Vestcor is out but the plan to build apartments on the site is not. The development will be phased. A parking garage would be built in the middle of the block behind the Ambassador. It will serve both blocks and eventually be wrapped Texas donut style with infill apartments. The old Marine National Bank Building next to the Ambassador would be retrofitted into apartments as well. I'm looking forward to seeing if they can pull this off.
Do you have any idea why Vestcor pulled out? Are they over committed with all of their other ongoing urban core projects at the moment?
Sounds all like promising things. I can't wait to see active construction on these sites and hope this current uncertainty doesn't derail the project.
Vestcor was unsuccessful in getting the subsidies it recieved for other projects recently completed in LaVilla and under construction in Brooklyn. At this point, I don't know the status of their townhouse project in LaVilla, the Cathedral District and Murray Hill projects and if they are seeking subsidies for them.
That makes sense but also shows the difficulty of always relying on subsidies. I guess that's the difficulty with affordable housing. I'm not sure that I've seen an affordable housing project that did not include some level of subsidies. I do hope that the Lavilla project is able to move forward. Downtown needs more for sale housing and, of course, more activity in Lavilla.
That's basically their business model. Getting federal tax credits and incentives to build affordable housing in different markets. So it's not a reflection on downtown Jax specifically. They got incentives for the LaVilla townhouse project as well, in the form of three full city blocks basically for free in order to do "market rate" housing. Hopefully, they'll break ground soon but I'm sure coronavirus could delay things a bit with the city literally shutting down.
Bill filed for $3 million Independent Life historic preservation grant
https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/bill-filed-for-dollar3-million-independent-life-historic-preservation-grant
Great news. I remember as a kid in the mid-60's, always gazing at all of the neon signs on the buildings back then; but the one that stuck out was this building. That stem coming up at the top had a flourescent light in it that flashed solid, and then blinked incessantly and rapidly, then solid again, and then blinked again from the bottom to the top; I hope they find a way to get it working again. I'm going to try to find that online if available. But super news about this historic buildling.
I imagine it'd be LED this time like the Maxwell Coffee sign, it does sound cool though.
But yeah, let's get this done. Augustine Development and JWB aren't getting enough credit for the work they're doing downtown.
Quote from: marcuscnelson on November 24, 2020, 10:25:19 AM
But yeah, let's get this done. Augustine Development and JWB aren't getting enough credit for the work they're doing downtown.
Agreed. If we spent $10 million or maybe $20 million on 2 waying streets, and improving the esthetics of the Northbank generally, we would get a lot more investment from them and others that would follow them. Far more than anything that is going to happen at Lot J and for a tiny fraction of the cost.
^This is why I can't take "the Jags are the only ones trying to do anything downtown" sentiment seriously. What could groups like Augustine Development and JWB do if 50% of their development costs were publicly funded? My guess, is a hell of a lot more than they're already doing. Set aside $200 million in public funding to assist projects like these and you'll have a revitalized Northbank prior to the first guest being able to order a plate of chicken wings at Lot J in 2028. This doesn't mean I'm saying don't do Lot J. But it does mean that I believe the narrative should change towards it and other projects in downtown.