Recent posts

#31

History / New book explores Jacksonville...

Last post by thelakelander - February 08, 2026, 09:00:14 PM

In his first book since 2014, Jaxson co-owner Ennis Davis has collaborated with urban planner and historian Adrienne Burke to highlight the story of Jacksonville's Gullah Geechee Heritage. Preorder your copy of Jacksonville's Gullah Geechee Heritage today.

Read More: https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/book-explores-jacksonvilles-gullah-geechee-heritage/

#32

Downtown / Re: Council Meeting Set for Mo...

Last post by jcjohnpaint - February 08, 2026, 07:48:08 PM

Sorry if this comes off as a rant, but it was a long day, and I am tired.

I cannot remember which article I read this in, but Tarbert stated that the incentives in the core would be given higher priority when presented to the council. Not sure if this is something he brought from working in Baltimore, but it seems like it would need to be part of a broader master plan. This does make sense. Honestly, I am not sure why a master plan with such a strategy was not his first objective. Otherwise, we are running blind. I agree that offering blanket incentives to every project on this over-bloated downtown map is not a good idea. This is why things like Intuition did not work out, and Dora can't find tenants. Again, this has been discussed here repeatedly since I moved here in 2010. Same with the masterplan idea. I love Intuition, but I never went to their new location because I never had a reason to go to that area. When they were in Riverside, I went all the time, and I could walk home.

As for the council, I don't usually understand most of the new Republican logic. Sorry to you Republicans out there, but since DeSantis and Trump, I am at a loss. Cutting the city's millage rate was f**cking stupid, and so is following the advice of DeSantis. But then saying we don't have the money after a move like this makes me question their motives. Also, a healthy downtown generates significant revenue for the rest of the city. Having significant sites clustered helps them all win. If I go to the Zoo, I will drive there and then go home. I do it all the time. Again, I heard Tarbert say this, but it may need to be reinforced. Given Lahnen compared incentive asks to parts of town such as Riverside, Towncenter, and Mayo to downtown, he does not believe downtown is any different than any other part of town. This is just not true. This is why our best cities have such incredible downtowns.

If the council cuts off incentives now, especially with all that is happening in Gateway, I have no hope for the future. It will be a matter of months before Tarbert leaves, and the DIA is abolished, and we are wondering why our DT still sucks. Personally, I would love to make all council members sit down and read every article in both MJ and The Jaxon before we have to listen to another bone-headed idea from them.

#33

Downtown / Re: Rebuilding RISE Doro

Last post by jcjohnpaint - February 08, 2026, 03:32:07 PM

n summary, I think Jax's full effort should be focused on bringing more employment downtown and making sure the UF project is fully realized.

It would be challenging to administer, but I do wish their was some "incentive" mechanism we could leverage to protect existing business within the CBD while we wait for all of this new development to come online. 2028 seems to be around the time that a lot of things are going to finish. In the interim, it would be great to offer small retention grants to businesses considering relocation, and forgivable stopgap loans for businesses like Intuition and Bellwether that are just barely getting by.

I had the exact thought when Intuition announced their closure and love it in concept. It's such a slippery slope though where the DIA and/or City Council are forced to pick winners and losers. If you give the grant to Intuition and Bellwether and don't offer one to Dos Gatos or Cowford Chophouse, do they get angry and threaten to close too?

I don't have any inside info, but from reading Ben's closure email, my takeaway was that the decision reflected a lack of long term confidence more than short term cash flow. I think it ultimately comes down to the leaders of Downtown Jax demonstrating that there is light at the end of the tunnel for businesses currently struggling.

Apparently, the city might be considering exactly that to keep EverBank from following Citizens to the suburbs.

https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/sources-city-offering-everbank-nearly-10m-stay-downtown-amid-safety-concerns/TPGHZHEL3ZHTTA7EZYFUSQZNX4/#j1byb0gy0abmgfha36t91kxi56cpn07s

Spend that $10 million to MAKE DT safe instead of cutting a check to Citizens.

Was thinking the same thing. Same council that cut taxes and now are too broke. same council that compares town center to downtown when considering incentives. Same council that follows DumpyTrumpynomics. God help us.

#34

Downtown / Re: Rebuilding RISE Doro

Last post by Ken_FSU - February 08, 2026, 11:54:57 AM

n summary, I think Jax's full effort should be focused on bringing more employment downtown and making sure the UF project is fully realized.

It would be challenging to administer, but I do wish their was some "incentive" mechanism we could leverage to protect existing business within the CBD while we wait for all of this new development to come online. 2028 seems to be around the time that a lot of things are going to finish. In the interim, it would be great to offer small retention grants to businesses considering relocation, and forgivable stopgap loans for businesses like Intuition and Bellwether that are just barely getting by.

I had the exact thought when Intuition announced their closure and love it in concept. It's such a slippery slope though where the DIA and/or City Council are forced to pick winners and losers. If you give the grant to Intuition and Bellwether and don't offer one to Dos Gatos or Cowford Chophouse, do they get angry and threaten to close too?

I don't have any inside info, but from reading Ben's closure email, my takeaway was that the decision reflected a lack of long term confidence more than short term cash flow. I think it ultimately comes down to the leaders of Downtown Jax demonstrating that there is light at the end of the tunnel for businesses currently struggling.

Apparently, the city might be considering exactly that to keep EverBank from following Citizens to the suburbs.

https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/sources-city-offering-everbank-nearly-10m-stay-downtown-amid-safety-concerns/TPGHZHEL3ZHTTA7EZYFUSQZNX4/#j1byb0gy0abmgfha36t91kxi56cpn07s

Spend that $10 million to MAKE DT safe instead of cutting a check to Citizens.

The Council Members complaining that subsidies and incentives are still necessary in the CBD are the same Council Members who stripped homeless services and affordable housing out of the mayor's budget. Leading to truly insane, self-defeating situations like this. The DIA and city need to concentrate their full, undivided efforts on cleaning up and building out a vibrant CBD, hospitable to office workers, residents, and private developers. Everything else - Southbank and Brooklyn in particular - can wait. As Walter White famously said, half measures don't work. Get it right once, instead of another fifty years of start and stop. Broken record after all these years, but I'd take that $8 million in cash that we earmarked for a hospital's remote boutique hotel on the Southbank and invest it into JWJP and the surrounding blocks. And work outward from there.

#35

Downtown / Re: Rebuilding RISE Doro

Last post by vicupstate - February 08, 2026, 11:20:30 AM

n summary, I think Jax's full effort should be focused on bringing more employment downtown and making sure the UF project is fully realized.

It would be challenging to administer, but I do wish their was some "incentive" mechanism we could leverage to protect existing business within the CBD while we wait for all of this new development to come online. 2028 seems to be around the time that a lot of things are going to finish. In the interim, it would be great to offer small retention grants to businesses considering relocation, and forgivable stopgap loans for businesses like Intuition and Bellwether that are just barely getting by.

I had the exact thought when Intuition announced their closure and love it in concept. It's such a slippery slope though where the DIA and/or City Council are forced to pick winners and losers. If you give the grant to Intuition and Bellwether and don't offer one to Dos Gatos or Cowford Chophouse, do they get angry and threaten to close too?

I don't have any inside info, but from reading Ben's closure email, my takeaway was that the decision reflected a lack of long term confidence more than short term cash flow. I think it ultimately comes down to the leaders of Downtown Jax demonstrating that there is light at the end of the tunnel for businesses currently struggling.

Apparently, the city might be considering exactly that to keep EverBank from following Citizens to the suburbs.

https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/sources-city-offering-everbank-nearly-10m-stay-downtown-amid-safety-concerns/TPGHZHEL3ZHTTA7EZYFUSQZNX4/#j1byb0gy0abmgfha36t91kxi56cpn07s

Spend that $10 million to MAKE DT safe instead of cutting a check to Citizens.

#36

Downtown / Re: Rebuilding RISE Doro

Last post by marcuscnelson - February 07, 2026, 05:19:26 PM

n summary, I think Jax's full effort should be focused on bringing more employment downtown and making sure the UF project is fully realized.

It would be challenging to administer, but I do wish their was some "incentive" mechanism we could leverage to protect existing business within the CBD while we wait for all of this new development to come online. 2028 seems to be around the time that a lot of things are going to finish. In the interim, it would be great to offer small retention grants to businesses considering relocation, and forgivable stopgap loans for businesses like Intuition and Bellwether that are just barely getting by.

I had the exact thought when Intuition announced their closure and love it in concept. It's such a slippery slope though where the DIA and/or City Council are forced to pick winners and losers. If you give the grant to Intuition and Bellwether and don't offer one to Dos Gatos or Cowford Chophouse, do they get angry and threaten to close too?

I don't have any inside info, but from reading Ben's closure email, my takeaway was that the decision reflected a lack of long term confidence more than short term cash flow. I think it ultimately comes down to the leaders of Downtown Jax demonstrating that there is light at the end of the tunnel for businesses currently struggling.

Apparently, the city might be considering exactly that to keep EverBank from following Citizens to the suburbs.

https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/sources-city-offering-everbank-nearly-10m-stay-downtown-amid-safety-concerns/TPGHZHEL3ZHTTA7EZYFUSQZNX4/#j1byb0gy0abmgfha36t91kxi56cpn07s

#37

Science and Technology / Re: Wordle?

Last post by jaxlongtimer - February 07, 2026, 03:51:11 PM

Wordle 1,694 4/6

Connections - busted.  Also thought the green was an unfair grouping.  Lots of 2 way possibilities.

Strands - solved with no hints, Spangram #1

Pips #174 Easy - Can't get much easier than today  .
0:14
Pips #174 Medium - Nice again.
0:39
Pips #174 Hard - Just ruined a great Pip's day with another lock up  .
21:45

Daily Quordle 1475 - Total = 26
6️⃣9️⃣
3️⃣8️⃣
m-w.com/games/quordle/

#38

Science and Technology / Re: Wordle?

Last post by Charles Hunter - February 07, 2026, 12:24:59 PM

Wordle 1,694 - 4/6

Connections 972 - Busted
- tough one (5/5) - x-Y-x-B-x-x  (I swear I tried the Green combination)

Strands - no hints, Spangram 1st

Pips
Easy 0:18
Medium 2:22

#39

Downtown / Re: Council Meeting Set for Mo...

Last post by heights unknown - February 07, 2026, 11:50:20 AM

Most of what you guys talk about through this medium/forums are not my fields of expertise; but I am no dummy, and thanks to the information age and your posts, I have learned a lot. It doesn't take a Rocket Scientist to figure most of this out relative to ensuring the success and growth of downtown Jax. IMO, our leaders (and I don't know about the new DIA Head), have got it upside down and/or backwards. You can lure in, and build all of the housing you can downtown, the CBD, and Urban Core; but if there is nothing there, i.e., gas stations, shopping centers, grocery stores, bars, restaurants, parks, other/additional retail, etc., people will not want to move to an area/areas that don't have such amenities. IMO, being that the engine is revving at a high gear in downtown Jax, go ahead and build all of these and improve infrastructure so that it is in place when the people move in. It seems we are trying to move in that direction but along with pockets and quite a bit of "mis-direction." Bryan Moll/Gateway IMO have "got it right" so to speak, and hopefully City Leaders and other Developers looking at downtown Jax will take note of what Gateway is doing (or has done). I was just in Jax a few days ago (I live in Rural Suwannee County), and I was quite pleased with what I saw; however, there is much more work to be done; I am proud of what I saw and what is on the drawing boards for the immediate future. I also witnessed Bryan Moll and Company walking around Pearl Square and yelled, "great work Bryan," and he loudly yelled back, "thanks." I was born in Jax, lived in Jax for several years, and I am rooting hard for my City!

#40

Brooklyn / Re: Old Haskell Building

Last post by thelakelander - February 07, 2026, 10:07:40 AM

^I was surprised to this one being proposed for demolition and warehouses being the replacement. I wasn't aware that it was vacant but I haven't been back there in a while.