Today (Sunday, Aug. 30) the Times-Union published an editorial praising the level of activity downtown, and the DIA and Lori Boyer for fostering it.
https://www.jacksonville.com/story/opinion/editorials/2020/08/30/editorial-downtown-development-move-jacksonville-variety-new-projects/3431155001/
You can read the editorial for their reasoning, but the list includes:
Quote
The New FIS headquarters in Brooklyn and JEA's new headquarters building.
Restorations: VyStar's renovations ... and parking garage. Plus, VyStar plans to activate street-level spaces with retail and performances. The Ambassador Hotel and the original Independent Life Building are set to be redeveloped. Everything is not being torn down.
Old City Hall, Courthouse: Yes, the grassy areas on the Northbank look bad, but it's important to make sure that new development takes maximum advantage of this blank slate. ...the Spandrel Development. ... The pandemic has delayed negotiations on a term sheet as well as timing.
Jacksonville Landing site ... There probably will be a design competition among architects and the public will be invited to comment.
Pedestrian-friendly additions: The road diet along Riverplace Boulevard is basically completed; and coming will be a similar road diet for Park Street in Brooklyn. The Emerald Trail model mile ... Two-way street conversions ... bicycle track along Hogan Street. A new parking strategy ought to improve Downtown's bad policies.
Parks: Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing Park, the home of James Weldon Johnson in LaVilla, has been funded with help from Vestcor, ... the Friendship Fountain area ... the McCoys Creek area and will include park spaces.
The Landing (a grass lot with no budget for redevelopment) and Ford on Bay (a grass lot half tied up in legal dispute, with the other half way past the point where a term sheet on an unimpressive project stemming from a failed RFP was supposed to be signed) should not be included on a "list of impressive projects" downtown.
I've been seeing renders of Friendship Fountain/St. Johns River Park renovations for over two years; nothing yet.
It's also been two years since the Ambassador Hotel conversion was announced, and I haven't seen a human in the building for what's gotta be a year since interior demo completed.
New JEA headquarters I'd call a lateral move at best for downtown, rather than a win. Great that they stayed downtown, but it's a downsized HQ that probably paves the way for the demolition of one of the most architecturally interesting high-rises downtown.
Similarly, the continued development of LaVilla is fantastic, but I have a hard time patting the DIA on the back for the townhouses when a MUCH better option - paying respect to the site's history and adding vibrancy/mixed-use in coordination with one of the areas top restauranteurs - was passed over in favor of an objectively worse plan by Vestcor.
This quote:
QuoteDowntown development needed a push to create momentum that would carry it through the next recession... So we fully supported the hiring of Lori Boyer as the next CEO of the Downtown Investment Authority because she had already put into place important downtown projects like a riverfront nodes plan and a series of height restrictions for riverfront buildings... She has fulfilled that potential."
Seems akin to Dave Caldwell saying "It is built" after going 3-13.
Hoping for the best, agree with the analogy of blocking and tackling, I just think it's ludicrous that we should be congratulating ourselves on the state of our downtown and the great promise ahead when restaurants are closing left and right, a major hotel wants out, all of these grand plans exist on paper only (if that), and we're possibly in worse shape now than we were coming out of the last recession. But hey, at least we strung up some Christmas lights on the Acosta Bridge.
The article is really straining to look on the bright side of things.
FIS is genuinely a good thing, although it's over in Brooklyn. JEA seems like a bit of a stretch to include given it's city-owned.
Vystar coming downtown is great, although it's a hard bargain to call the whole thing a restoration rather than just the Life of the South building. The parking garage they're talking about was supposed to be part of the Trio, right? Feels like they're really counting their chickens on the Ambassador and Independent Life. Also the Hyatt Place seems to have simply vanished at this point.
QuoteYes, the grassy areas on the Northbank look bad, but it's important to make sure that new development takes maximum advantage od this blank slate.
This is just blatantly making excuses. They don't have to take point for Curry.
The Landing
was an iconic site with great public interest, before it was reduced to a grass field. They're straight-up guessing that "There probably will be a design competition among architects and the public will be invited to comment." They could have done that a year ago without tearing it down.
QuoteA new parking strategy ought to improve Downtown's bad policies.
They seem to just be saying this. This whole article is really less looking for the bright side and more making excuses for messing up basic fundamentals of community redevelopment, and just defending how things have been.
The Landing is impressive if you're a goat.
(https://p0.pikrepo.com/preview/119/149/white-goat-on-green-grass-field-during-daytime.jpg)
There's also this article from last week:
https://www.jacksonville.com/story/opinion/editorials/2020/08/27/editorial-progress-continues-through-downtown-jacksonville-but-parks-plan-needed/5642205002/
QuoteThe Downtown riverfront on the Northbank is like a blank page to a writer.
There is a grassy expanse extending from the old Jacksonville Landing site all the way to Metropolitan Park in the Stadium District.
No question, other peer cities with less potential than Jacksonville have redeveloped their downtowns into go-to places. J magazine, the former quarterly publication of the Times-Union Editorial Page, documented that fact.
But there is hope. It all comes down to leadership. With Lori Boyer leading the Downtown Investment Authority as its chief operating officer, there is hope.
Lol, this editorial makes quite a few reaches. It's actually one of the worst positions to apply to downtown's situation. Instead of holding people accountable for bad decisions, it makes excuses for certain outcomes and attempts to polish a turd of a result after a full decade of national economic prosperity. It lost me just as soon as two projects that have not broken ground (Independent Life and Ambassador) were used to suggest that not everything is being torn down.
Also no need to spin wasting tens of millions on the demolition of the Landing and Courthouse sites in a positive light. Was at the office again this Friday and the place was dead as a can be. You can't claim impressiveness without directly comparing it to something of similar scale. It's like they completely ignored local history by counting on things that have not broken ground to materialize. A design competition for the Landing site? That's the bright idea? Didn't we do this during the Alvin Brown administration? Brian Hughes used the last design as a tool to suggest no public involvement was needed to evict tenants and tear down the structure. At this rate, we might was well throw the Shipyards and the District on the success list too. At the end of the day, it's okay to admit that we've made some horrible decisions the last few years and that we're actively working to be better.
We'd be better off pointing out the couple of positives, highlighting how we can build off of them, while also zeroing in on the mistakes to ensure we limit ourselves from doing the same thing in the future.
"Probably" relative to the design competition for the Landing site; we know what that means. It MIGHT never happen. I don't know why they are patting her on the back; nothing is going on in DT Jax...NOTHING. You don't pat people on their backs for dreams, wishes, proposals, paper plans, you pat them on the back when everything has successfully come to fruition, been built, and is successful. Sheesh!!!
Short term, I wish the DIA would forget about the riverfront pie-in-the-sky projects for a year or two and put 100% of their focus and incentives into jump starting the following projects before the bottom fully falls out on the economy:
1) Laura Street Trio
2) Jones Bros Furniture
3) Ambassasor Hotel
4) Independent Life
5) Federal Reserve Building
6) 218 W. Church St.
7) Chamblin's Restaurant/Apartments
8 ) Laura Street Garage/Retail
9) Hemming Park upgrades
10) Northbank facade improvements & restaurant grants
Get those few blocks right and get some of these long-promised projects going, and you've genuinely got something you can build off of while you wait for Shad Khan and Hyatt and Spandrel and everyone else to figure their shit out.
I agree. I'd add the Porter House Mansion block that JWB just purchased to this list as well.
When the T-U was publishing J magazine, they were scaping the bottom of the barrel for articles with positive and optimistic outlooks on Downtown, many of them rehashes of worn-out promises of years past. I would suggest the magazine didn't survive because all that cheer-leading was just that - there was a lack of substance to measure up to it. So for the T-U to continue that train of thought seems to me to be "crying over their beer" at the demise of J magazine's premise and sustainability thereof.
Regardless of the owner, editor or reality, the T-U has always been a big cheerleader for Downtown. I salute their service to civic duty and credit them for explaining to suburbanites and country folk why they should care for and support Downtown. Unfortunately, this unabashed approach has created decades of false hopes and now has jaded most of the populace of the City and its surroundings leading to a typical response of an eye roll (see the parable of the boy who cried wolf!).
As noted here, if the T-U and other influencers would offer constructive criticism and hold appropriate officials accountable for our failure to keep up with peer cities, we would likely be much further along in developing the urban core. Too many people who control the fate of Downtown are spending way too much time self-congratulating themselves for meaningless announcements, broken promises, low probability or unsustainable projects, minuscule and over-hyped advancements, misdirected subsidies and investments, short term over long term initiatives, etc. instead of addressing the hard core underlying reasons why Downtown is falling forever behind other central business districts of every size, location and kind around the country.
Until someone "shows us the beef," don't expect to find much excitement over these types of editorials.
P.S. The T-U "failed" to mention these Downtown happenings:
Loss of up to 500 jobs at Stein Mart HQ's.
Khan letting his development agreement lapse for the Shipyards and dragging his feet on Lot J.
Rummel's District failing to break ground and possibly following Khan's Shipyard lead.
Downsizing JEA HQ's.
Omni likely going downscale upon sale.
Restaurants and bars treading water if that.
Continued destruction of the City's historic buildings with no replacements other than grass fields and illegal parking lots.
The arrival of a suburban style gas station because Downtown land isn't useful for real downtown style developments.
The failure of the City to address resiliency to flooding.
The failure to maintain parks and streets that are crumbling everywhere you look.
The lack of robust urban core mass transit (i.e. not the flyers to the suburbs) and the failed Skyway.
The failure of Downtown to connect with surrounding neighborhoods.
The failure to advance the traditional Downtown on the Northbank vs. Brooklyn and San Marco/Southbank for which City leaders deserve little credit. In reality, the successes in those areas are also indications of the failure to properly nurture the Northbank mother-ship.
The collapse of the First Baptist Church and their efforts to develop their properties.
The long term impact of COVID-19 on Downtown.
Subtract the Fidelity/FIS/Black Knight, Vystar and Baptist expansions and Vestcor's heavily subsidized housing projects and what do we have left? Almost all the major other Fintech announcements (high paying office type jobs that would be ideal for Downtown) have headed to the suburbs.
Right on the money. Somehow we've relegated ourselves to dead last in Florida cities for so long that we've deluded ourselves into thinking that everything is fine and we're totally on the up and coming, while every other city is speeding generations ahead of us. It's a problem that isn't just about the last 8 years (well, it will be 8 years by the time Curry leaves), but really the last 20, even the last 60 when you think about it.
Here is another Downtown tidbit the Times Union editorial overlooked:
https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/hyatt-regency-jacksonville-riverfront-files-another-layoff-notice (https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/hyatt-regency-jacksonville-riverfront-files-another-layoff-notice)
So . . . removal of the Main Street Bridge ramp next year is a given?
Sounds like it. Early '21.
Can't say I'm opposed to it. Might as well give the next administration the maximum amount of space to try and get something built.
Might as well do the same one on the other side too if you're going to the well.
Make the bridge go 100% to Bay Street? Interesting idea.
Quote from: Lunican on August 30, 2020, 11:20:29 AM
The Landing is impressive if you're a goat.
(https://p0.pikrepo.com/preview/119/149/white-goat-on-green-grass-field-during-daytime.jpg)
You didn't know that the goat is really Lenny Curry (Mayor) in costume? He always wanted to know what it was like to graze an empty lawn. Just playing, Mr. Mayor, you're doing an excellent job meeting and exceeding the goal(s) of demolition and adding more empty razed lots to downtown Jacksonville; by the way, Jax is Florida's largest City...isn't it?
Quote from: marcuscnelson on September 02, 2020, 04:57:01 PM
Make the bridge go 100% to Bay Street? Interesting idea.
Or Ocean, but yes that's the idea. Get rid of the funky ramp to Water/Independent.
^Also, if I remember right Bay Street was one-way Westbound until they did the reversible lanes on Bay so making a right from the Bridge to Bay Street wouldn't be possible previously. There was also a second road from Independent to Ocean (used to be around both sides of the bridge ramp).
Now that it is the ramp is useless.
Further, with unlimited money I'd redo the ramps to come down on Independent - install one traffic light that controlled both directions of the Bridge ramps and Independent. The northbound would still feed to Ocean Street. This then:
- Makes Independent more walkable since you could cross the road without playing frogger
- Allows for Independent to get on the bridge without circling the block
- Better pedestrian flow for the bridge overall.
The exit from the Chamber parking lot would be weird as would the Well Fargo Center Loading Dock, but should be able to be reconfigured somehow.
Quote from: heights unknown on September 03, 2020, 08:24:25 AM
Just playing, Mr. Mayor, you're doing an excellent job meeting and exceeding the goal(s) of demolition and adding more empty razed lots to downtown Jacksonville; by the way, Jax is Florida's largest City...isn't it?
Jax is the largest city in Florida by population because of consolidation, same reason it's the largest city in the continental US by land area.
Quote from: Steve on September 03, 2020, 10:02:16 AM
^Also, if I remember right Bay Street was one-way Westbound until they did the reversible lanes on Bay so making a right from the Bridge to Bay Street wouldn't be possible previously.
The 2-way on Bay Street starts at Ocean Street, so traffic coming across the Main Street Bridge can head toward the Sports Complex.
QuoteThere was also a second road from Independent to Ocean (used to be around both sides of the bridge ramp).
Now that it is the ramp is useless.
The remaining ramp allows traffic from Independent Drive to turn left to get to the Main Street Bridge, or continue west on Bay. Once the on-ramp from Independent to the bridge is gone, this will be how traffic along Water Street will get to the bridge.
Quote
Further, with unlimited money I'd redo the ramps to come down on Independent - install one traffic light that controlled both directions of the Bridge ramps and Independent. The northbound would still feed to Ocean Street. This then:
- Makes Independent more walkable since you could cross the road without playing frogger
- Allows for Independent to get on the bridge without circling the block
- Better pedestrian flow for the bridge overall.
The exit from the Chamber parking lot would be weird as would the Well Fargo Center Loading Dock, but should be able to be reconfigured somehow.
Just eyeballing, it seems coming down to Independent Drive will cause the ramp to be too steep. The existing ramps to/from Independent are curved, so much of the slope is going east-west instead of north-south.
Base for at least one tower crane has been installed at FIS. It will be blue. I thought I might have seen a second base from the Fuller Warren today but cannot be positive. Will be exciting to watch.
Quote from: simms3 on September 08, 2020, 06:30:33 PM
Base for at least one tower crane has been installed at FIS. It will be blue. I thought I might have seen a second base from the Fuller Warren today but cannot be positive. Will be exciting to watch.
I came to post the same.
We are about to have not one, but TWO tower cranes downtown :o. Crazy times ;D
Where's heightsunknown when you need him?
This doesn't fix that after one of the biggest periods of economic growth in American history, all we have to show for it is one new office tower. For a major city, that's pretty bad.
^I'd counter this by saying that Jacksonville has shown some pretty amazing growth during this economic cycle.
It just hasn't been downtown.
Brooklyn/LaVilla, the beaches, and the Town Center area have exploded since the recession, as have the bedroom communities outside of Duval.
Retailers and restaurants have flocked to Jax like no time in the last 50 years this economic cycle, and Jax has also taken a huge leap forward culturally as well.
You look at the progress almost anywhere else in the city as compared to the CBD, and it's pretty obvious that the city government is doing more harm than good with its meddling and planning.
^ Excluding downtown though, that amazing growth during this economic cycle is Florida as a whole. Unfortunately, downtown would be there too, if not for self sabotage. Even as amazing as we think development in Brooklyn has been, there's only been 4 multifamily projects built in the last decade (two of these are still under construction). Those things come a dime a dozen in Central and South Florida, Tallahassee and Gainesville. I was literally blown away by how much has been built in and around downtown St. Pete over the last 20 years. The amount of infill that has popped up on Central Avenue between Downtown and 34th Street is insane.
John Bachman tweeted this (https://twitter.com/BachmanANjax/status/1303757243825950723?s=20) today:
QuoteIf you haven't cruised through LaVilla recently...even with rain, it's a cool spot. And it's getting cooler by the month. Stay tuned...
@ActionNewsJax
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EhfgTUeWoBIYMzd?format=jpg&name=large)
The latest from FIS:
(https://i916.photobucket.com/albums/ad1/jsimms3/6F6DAC00-8688-419C-9164-C9FE50515C0C_zpseq9zgqvi.jpeg)
(https://i916.photobucket.com/albums/ad1/jsimms3/000134ED-99D9-46FE-B5C9-5A1E901AA08C_zpstryd1nzz.jpeg)
Is that 2 tower cranes? That's a +10 year DT Jax record.
Quote from: thelakelander on September 11, 2020, 08:59:24 AM
Is that 2 tower cranes? That's a +10 year DT Jax record.
Certainly for the Northbank it is. I think the last time there was more than 1 on the northbank was when Berkman I/Adam's Mark/Federal Courthouse. I think all 3 were under construction at one point at the same time. I don't think there were tower cranes for any of the Better Jax projects.
Though a single digit number of floors, I'd also assume JEA would necessitate a Tower Crane because of the footprint.
Quote from: marcuscnelson on September 09, 2020, 07:47:22 PM
John Bachman tweeted this (https://twitter.com/BachmanANjax/status/1303757243825950723?s=20) today:
QuoteIf you haven't cruised through LaVilla recently...even with rain, it's a cool spot. And it's getting cooler by the month. Stay tuned...
@ActionNewsJax
https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/below-deck-mediterranean-star-reveals-plans-for-restaurant
Nice. I'm a little surprised how much they're doing to the front between the bricks and redoing the entryway. Looks like it'll be cool.
Now if only we could get the Sax Seafood building onto the tax rolls...
Are they renovating the Fire Station? I thought I read they would demolish it and rebuild there. If they are renovating I'm pleasantly surprised.
Overall I'm happy to see this and wish her well - the design is great and I can't find anything to complain about even if I wanted to complain about it - excellent use of roll-up doors (I imagine the building had two roll-ups at one point), and it looks like she's either doing a wood burning oven or something as there's a couple references to access for wood storage.
Only concern is the location is a little isolated, though it has potential as an after-work place for the courthouse staff.
I wonder if there is selective demo and rebuild involved? The proposed front facade does not match the existing.
Quote from: thelakelander on September 12, 2020, 05:15:12 PM
I wonder if there is selective demo and rebuild involved? The proposed front facade does not match the existing.
Windows are all in the same place on the second story. I wonder if they plan to remove all of that stucco and this rendering I'd what they're hoping to uncover(ish).
The windows seem a little off (the borders between the middle ones), but I'll chalk that up to rendering.
Yes, the windows in the center of the second floor are different from what's there today and the bell tower is different as well. So either the rendering is slightly off or that's a new facade.
I thought I remembered an earlier article saying it would have to be complete tear-down, due to the poor structural condition.
Times Union doubling down on its optimism for Downtown with another editorial:
https://www.jacksonville.com/story/opinion/editorials/2020/09/15/editorial-downtown-progress-jacksonville-still-has-momentum-despite-downturn/5802173002/ (https://www.jacksonville.com/story/opinion/editorials/2020/09/15/editorial-downtown-progress-jacksonville-still-has-momentum-despite-downturn/5802173002/)