Inside the Park View Inn

[fsu813]

i don't think the plans are set in stone....

[JeffreyS]

Any ideas put forth so far.

[strider]

To all those who for years have asked for this structure to be torn down, this is a definite "watch what you wish for, it may come true."....   All the pushing for something to be done, all the calls made to attempt getting your wishes and this is what you ...and we ... get.. Another parking lot...but not,  as this one will still have an ugly two story, half done looking parking garage on it.  I would rather have that half burnt empty building that may some day have been a nice place again than a half aXX parking garage that will be there for ever!

[DavidWilliams]

I don't want another parking lot. What can be done with it? Anyone know? In it current state of decay it seems hopeless for the structure.

[buckethead]

Here is a shot provided by a really good photographer who has posted many shots (mostly surfing but some more diverse) on surf-station dot com MB St Auggie

More great shots

There are some really great shots of the Park View Inn as well as a closed steel manufacturing plant (as he described it) somhere west of town. Maybe someone could identify it too?

Kid has an eye, and is shooting renegade style. No permission.

[thelakelander]

The steel plant is the old National Wire Southeast (?) mill on West Church Street.  It's directly north of JTA's property and a part of the plant has been built over the old S-Line ROW.

[riverside_mail]

Good call, Lake. I remember delivering mail there when i first started at the Post Office. I believe it's been vacant about 8 years or so.

[Dan B]

no significant contamination found at the spot.  This was an untrue campaign actually.

The EHThompson building is owned by Petra and they are doing their best to fill it.

Yup. None at all.

[Dan B]

I beg to differ. The reason the park and the creek have oil contamination is because of that site. You simply cannot clean up the park and creak without cleaning up the source contamination.

I think they need to take the building down, do a full remediation, then get it back on the market for development. As it sits, nothing is moving forward, its creating  a barrier between Springfield and Downtown, and its a safety hazard. We already had a firefighters career ended because of that nasty old building... Time to s%$t or get off the pot, one way or the other.

I agree!

[02roadking]

I found this Bill that is in commitee I guess. If the Bill goes through, I guessing I'll be looking at the shell of a building for few more years or are they going to rehab it now. Anybody got an answer or did I miss the memo 



Bill Type and Number: Ordinance 2010-184

Sponsor: Council President at the request of the Mayor

Date of Introduction: March 9, 2010

Committee(s) of Reference: F, RCD

Date of Analysis: March 11, 2010

Type of Action: Appropriation

Bill Summary: The bill re-appropriates $2,213,722 within the Department of Housing and Neighborhoods’ “Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP)” funds to reallocate the funding to different programs under the NSP umbrella.  The bill reallocates $1.5 million previously appropriated to the demolition of the former Park View Inn hotel on State Street (Ordinance 2009-450-E) to the NSP Homebuyer Assistance program; reallocates $400,000 from the NSP Multi-Family Rehab and Resale program to the NSP Homebuyer Assistance program; and reallocates $313,722 from the Multi-Family Rehab and Resale program to the Land Banking activity for financing to acquire properties for future affordable housing development.  All funds are authorized for carryover from FY10 to FY11.

Background Information:  The funding previously allocated for demolition of the Park View Inn is being reallocated to another use since the owner of the hotel has reappeared and sought City funding assistance for restoration and reuse of the building.  Since the building is no longer considered abandoned, it does not qualify under the NSP funding guidelines for demolition.   The Housing and Neighborhoods Department has determined that the remaining $713,722 in the Multi-Family Rehab and Resale account is insufficient to fund a multi-family rehab of any real size, so the department recommends shifting $400,000 from that fund and the $1.5 million from the Park View Inn demolition project to the very popular Homebuyer Assistance Program.  The remaining $313,722 is proposed for transfer to the Land Banking activity (which already has an $800,000 balance) for use by a developer who has proposed purchasing a portfolio of scattered site, small multi-family units (duplexes, triplexes) for affordable housing purposes.

Policy Impact Area: Affordable housing

Fiscal Impact: The bill reallocates $2,213,722 within the Neighborhood Stabilization Program funding to other uses.

Analyst: Clements

[urbanlibertarian]

And the "owner of the hotel" would be Robert Van Winkle?

[Timkin]

Before someone gets seriously injured or killed in this dilapidated POS ,  it needs to come down. It has no hope whatsoever of having a new day of use.  It is so far down the chain of reusable buildings , it is not even funny.  Its gotta go.

[Sportmotor]

hey it has a great use still Timkin!

for crack heads, homeless, prostitution, meth heads, potential murder site, death trap, eye sore, fugus growing area...



really tho I agree after going to ever single corner of it, the garage seems to be the only spot saveable, if it wasnt so far from anything I say the site itself could be used as parking garage tho if someone wanted to run transportation to and from the area.

[Timkin]

not that we really need another parking garage..but tear the building down and use the lot for FREE parking..thatd be a nice switch downtown

[blizz01]

Park View Inn property avoids wrecking ball

Jacksonville’s plans to demolish the old Park View Inn in downtown have been thwarted by the property owners’ latest plans to renovate.
The city had planned to use $1.5 million in federal dollars to demolish the boarded-up, graffiti-covered building and clear the corner on State and Main streets that has attracted vagrants and vandals for the past few years. That money was approved by the City Council in June.
But by August, owners Robert Van Winkel and David Muyres  had approached the city with a plan to keep much of the existing structure intact to re-purpose the building as mainly a parking garage.
Their proposal is to keep the existing underground parking spaces and turn the second floor into another parking deck. The first-floor space would be converted into storefronts for retail use.
“We want to make use of the viable parts of the building instead of just destroying the whole structure,” Van Winkel said Monday.
The council, at its meeting next Tuesday,  is scheduled to approve new uses for the $1.5 million it would have spent to demolish Park View Inn.
The property owners have now requested $1.3 million from another pot of federal dollars to help finance the project, including $350,000 to pay for partial demolition and asbestos abatement in the old hotel.
Van Winkel said the total project cost is about $2.5 million to $3 million and could provide 400 parking spaces. He said the new facility can provide downtown businesses with low-cost alternatives for employee parking.
Van Winkel said he and Muyres are confident that they can get financing to cover the project costs because the parking garage plan has a much lower cost than other proposals for the property, which included one to convert the hotel into condominiums.
Plans to fix up the blighted property, built in 1966, were slowed down initially because of environmental issues because the hotel and surrounding properties were built on contaminated soil. Then, the recession further hindered owners’ efforts to sell the property and other owners eventually gave up their stake.
Over the years, the hotel amassed more than $100,000 in code-enforcement fines. When the owners didn’t fix the issues, the city decided to demolish the property.
The city is reviewing Van Winkel and Muyres’ application for Community Development Block Grant dollars. However, the city only has about $5 million to distribute among 64 applicants, and it is unlikely the owners will get the entire $1.3 million.
Councilman Johnny Gaffney said he was briefed on the owners’ plan for the site and feels it is “doable, but I’m not enthusiastic.”
“I haven’t met the owners,” he said, “so it’s still a lot of promises.”
Gaffney, who represents the Springfield area, said he is not sure a parking structure is needed and wondered if there are better uses for the property. But he wants something to replace the boarded-up windows and graffiti-covered walls.
“I would rather something be there,” he said, “than just have a condemned building.”

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2010-05-03/story/park-view-inn-property-avoids-wrecking-ball