Good to see Akel's Deli and Birdies Coffee open in the lobby of 1 Independent Drive. Birdies opened today. Such an under utilized lobby, I frequently meet with people there.
Most are familiar with Akel's, but here's info about Birdies:
https://www.birdiecoffeecompany.com/
Nice! Where is Birdies Coffee located in the lobby?
What's up with the closed escalators in that building? The lobby is cold, boring and devoid of any character. They should have left the greenery and trees that gave it some color and personality. Spent millions to make it ugly.
I remember the restaurant on the mezzanine (Tree Top, as I recall) and Morrisons Cafeteria off the lobby. Had a jeweler, ice cream shop, bank, shoe shine, barber, I think, and more too. Was once like a small town square. Now, a few tables and chairs and a guard station.
Lots of empty parking spaces in the underground garage too. I wonder what the occupancy rate is nowadays? Wells Fargo eliminated several floors, Regency Centers out, etc. More exits from Downtown.
Quote from: jaxlongtimer on February 12, 2026, 11:53:24 PM
What's up with the closed escalators in that building? The lobby is cold, boring and devoid of any character. They should have left the greenery and trees that gave it some color and personality. Spent millions to make it ugly.
I remember the restaurant on the mezzanine (Tree Top, as I recall) and Morrisons Cafeteria off the lobby. Had a jeweler, ice cream shop, bank, shoe shine, barber, I think, and more too. Was once like a small town square. Now, a few tables and chairs and a guard station.
Lots of empty parking spaces in the underground garage too. I wonder what the occupancy rate is nowadays? Wells Fargo eliminated several floors, Regency Centers out, etc. More exits from Downtown.
I remember those days. Eating lunch at Morrison's, or for a treat the restaurant on the mezzanine. During Christmastime, they had a two-story 'Christmas tree' made up of poinsettias. I think I remember a newsstand in the lobby, as well: newspapers - local and major cities, magazines, some books, and sundries.
Quote from: jaxlongtimer on February 12, 2026, 11:53:24 PM
I remember the restaurant on the mezzanine (Tree Top, as I recall) and Morrisons Cafeteria off the lobby. Had a jeweler, ice cream shop, bank, shoe shine, barber, I think, and more too. Was once like a small town square. Now, a few tables and chairs and a guard station.
I know the experts are going to weigh in and dispute what I'm about to say, but we have the "Great Reset" and now AI to blame for a lot of downtown and office woes. Nobody places value on human interaction anymore. Expect more jobs to be lost or relocated to the burbs, at best.
Loved coming to the Independent Life building as a kid because the lobby was so cool and felt so alive, literally. Long gone are those days...
Too add, one thing that is going to further diminish the prospects for this building is if the City allows a tower between it and the river by the Main Street bridge. Crazy, just like the apartments squeezed in between the Prudential/One Call/Baptist tower and the river by the Acosta Bridge. Only in Jax do we feel a need to "develop" every square inch of "open" space. Just smother the vibe, literally.
I've been working from the Enterprise Center today, so I stopped by Birdies Coffee this morning. The lobby of the building is so quiet now and stale now. It would be great to circle back around to its original ground floor uses.