QuoteThe 42-story Bank of America Tower at 50 N. Laura St. Downtown is set for an interior face-lift that, along with other upgrades, could bring retail to the first floor and add a restaurant space.
CBRE Senior Vice President Oliver Barakat, the building's primary leasing agent, said May 5 during a tour group visit the work at the city's tallest office building will be in three stages, starting with the lobby.
New furniture, lighting and art will be installed over the summer. Those changes are mostly cosmetic.
"The timeless features like the marble, wood paneling and ceiling heights won't be changed," Barakat said in an e-mail May 6.
It is expected that the first phase, which will include elevator modernization, will cost $7 million.
https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/bank-of-america-tower-downtown-plans-renovations-potential-new-retail-restaurant-space
Hopefully the Wells Fargo Center owners can take note of flipping the ground floor retail outside as well. Glad to see the BofA tower folks do this.
Quote from: Steve on May 10, 2022, 10:51:46 AM
Hopefully the Wells Fargo Center owners can take note of flipping the ground floor retail outside as well. Glad to see the BofA tower folks do this.
Unfortunately, the WF tower has a lot of physical barriers to street level making it a real pilgrimage to enter the sides. Two sides have ramps from the underground parking garage, one side is a loading dock hemmed in by the Main Street bridge and the river side has a delivery/drop off driveway. I recall this was not a concern in the design because it was expected that the building's elevated entry would connect with above-the-street walkways connecting to other buildings. It's why the BB&T building and original Duval Federal Building (now part of the BofA Tower complex) also has an elevated entry and/or "balcony." Of course, this just became another Downtown vision that went to File 13.
One idea might be to close Independent Drive in front of the tower and directly connect it to the Landing site. That might give room for some expansion of the ground floor toward the river or allow for retail/restaurant where the street is now.
The sides with the garage ramps may be salvageable given there are steps at the building corners leading to "proprietary" elevated, somewhat obscure and street-separated sidewalks on those sides which, with some attractive redesign and inducements, might bring adequate pedestrian traffic.
Quote from: Steve on May 10, 2022, 10:51:46 AM
Hopefully the Wells Fargo Center owners can take note of flipping the ground floor retail outside as well. Glad to see the BofA tower folks do this.
Wells Fargo Center lobby is being renovated currently - but don't expect anything like that
Quote from: jaxlongtimer on May 10, 2022, 09:16:15 PM
Quote from: Steve on May 10, 2022, 10:51:46 AM
Hopefully the Wells Fargo Center owners can take note of flipping the ground floor retail outside as well. Glad to see the BofA tower folks do this.
Unfortunately, the WF tower has a lot of physical barriers to street level making it a real pilgrimage to enter the sides. Two sides have ramps from the underground parking garage, one side is a loading dock hemmed in by the Main Street bridge and the river side has a delivery/drop off driveway. I recall this was not a concern in the design because it was expected that the building's elevated entry would connect with above-the-street walkways connecting to other buildings. It's why the BB&T building and original Duval Federal Building (now part of the BofA Tower complex) also has an elevated entry and/or "balcony." Of course, this just became another Downtown vision that went to File 13.
One idea might be to close Independent Drive in front of the tower and directly connect it to the Landing site. That might give room for some expansion of the ground floor toward the river or allow for retail/restaurant where the street is now.
The sides with the garage ramps may be salvageable given there are steps at the building corners leading to "proprietary" elevated, somewhat obscure and street-separated sidewalks on those sides which, with some attractive redesign and inducements, might bring adequate pedestrian traffic.
Yea I mean just the sides facing Laura and Bay. Forget about the Main St bridge ramp and the entrance. If you just did the two sides it would be a dramatic improvement.
Quote from: tufsu1 on May 10, 2022, 10:07:13 PM
Quote from: Steve on May 10, 2022, 10:51:46 AM
Hopefully the Wells Fargo Center owners can take note of flipping the ground floor retail outside as well. Glad to see the BofA tower folks do this.
Wells Fargo Center lobby is being renovated currently - but don't expect anything like that
LOL, I liked the greenery-laden original lobby a lot better. This update looks "cold" to me. Will take another look when it is finally finished but not holding out for much of a change.
Will the lobby ever function again as a bank?