Park View Inn construction?

[billy]

What is the status of the soil contamination issue between Park View, and the Park?

[MusicMan]

If the current owner of the Park View has a "vision", then all the best to them, AS LONG AS IT IS PRIVATE FINANCING. When the current owner can convince a bank or other lender to give them the $$$$$$ to make it beautiful, I wish them the best. Can we please stop talking about what the city can do and focus on what the current owner has actually done. NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  It is a disgusting unsafe rat nursery, and it should be condemned. Give the current owner a time frame to fix it or knock it down. A clear vacant lot will more likely attract a responsible owner (and open the space to unlimited development) than the dump that is sitting there now. 

[tufsu1]

Are MusicMan and CS Foltz the same person?

[thelakelander]

If the current owner of the Park View has a "vision", then all the best to them, AS LONG AS IT IS PRIVATE FINANCING. When the current owner can convince a bank or other lender to give them the $$$$$$ to make it beautiful, I wish them the best. Can we please stop talking about what the city can do and focus on what the current owner has actually done. NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  It is a disgusting unsafe rat nursery, and it should be condemned. Give the current owner a time frame to fix it or knock it down. A clear vacant lot will more likely attract a responsible owner (and open the space to unlimited development) than the dump that is sitting there now.  

Do you feel its right to spend $1.5 million of taxpayer money to tear it down?  If so, isn't this view hypocritical? As a taxpayer, it could sit there for eternity in abandonment before I'd advocate spending that much public money to tear a private structure down.  If we have that type of money to throw around, it would be better used a number of public realm oriented projects.

[strider]

What is the status of the soil contamination issue between Park View, and the Park?

There have been several heated threads on this forum and others about this.  Basically, there is contamination.  There have been studies done that prove this and also provide for what remediation must be done to utilize the existing building.  It does not involve anything with Hogans Creek's issues. That does not mean they are not related, but simply that the existing building can be made safe to use without doing anything to Hogan's Creek.

Once the building is torn down I believe the remediation required to build new on the site would become much more extensive than is required to utilize the existing building.  I also suspect that if the city demos this building, that remediation would eventually end up being paid for by our tax dollars.

Utilizing the existing building in some way seems to be the more practical thing to do.  If it takes tax payer money now to use this building rather than tear it down for 1.5 mil we will never get back and then who knows how much more later on to get someone to build on that lot or use it as park land, then I am all for it. At least the public will get some value now for our investment.

[thelakelander]

Once the building is torn down I believe the remediation required to build new on the site would become much more extensive than is required to utilize the existing building.  I also suspect that if the city demos this building, that remediation would eventually end up being paid for by our tax dollars.

From my understanding, the foundation of the building is essentially a cap for the crap that may be underneath.  Remove that and unearth whatever is under there and we'll have to pay for that cleanup.  If demolished, my guess is the city would probably leave the foundation in place to not deal with the unknown and you would have another block like this:

[Cliffs_Daughter]

That's really such a shame, because there's no better place for the college to work in some sort of housing concept. And if they partnered with JTA a bit, it could really take off as a greater educational institution.

It shouldn't be an absolute NO - considering the school is one of the few growing, positive businesses we have, it should really be encouraged by all parties to reopen and test the grounds once and for all.

[Sportmotor]

You know they could turn Park View Inn into a heck of a club

[mtraininjax]

Do you feel its right to spend $1.5 million of taxpayer money to tear it down?  If so, isn't this view hypocritical? As a taxpayer, it could sit there for eternity in abandonment before I'd advocate spending that much public money to tear a private structure down.

Oh my gosh, next thing I know, the people will be coming out of the woodwork to claim this is a Historical and contributing structure. Hogwash, its a decrepid old aging structure that is a blight on the community. It probably costs $100,000 to tear down, but $1.4 million to remove all the nastiness inside.

Who in their sound or right mind would actually park there? I think the owners are infected by what is in the ground.

[strider]

Actually, if you refer to the article on MetroJacksonville about this site, it is sort of historical.  It was, after all, one of THE places to stay in Jacksonville at one time.

Many people have advocated tearing this place down.  Perhaps if all that effort on behalf of certain orgs and people had gone to advocating actually doing something worthwhile with the existing building instead of saying all the time it had to go, we would not be having this conversation and the building would be a useful and important part of downtown by now.

Doing something with the existing building is a plus, tearing it down at tax payer expense to the tune of 1.5 mil is obscene and does nothing what so ever for downtown except create another abandoned and unlikely to be built upon ugly lot.

[thelakelander]

^Just in case Mtrain missed the actual proposed use in the article:

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.

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

Maybe its just me, but it would seem the parking garage (which happens to be already in place) would serve the street level retail on the block.

Oh my gosh, next thing I know, the people will be coming out of the woodwork to claim this is a Historical and contributing structure. Hogwash, its a decrepid old aging structure that is a blight on the community.

Wouldn't renovation (assuming the owner is serious of course) solve the blight issue and also save taxpayers money?

[mtraininjax]

Maybe its just me, but it would seem the parking garage (which happens to be already in place) would serve the street level retail on the block.

Lake, in order for retail to work, there needs to be other retail, and GASP, people near the retail. This location has neither.

[thelakelander]

There are different types of retail (imagine that). While the GAP or Macy's won't be coming in, that's a great location for something like a pharmacy or quick serve restaurant. Also, there is a Burger King, Winn Dixie and other businesses already along that stretch.  Both are examples of forms of retail, btw.

[mtraininjax]

Also, there is a Burger King, Winn Dixie and other businesses already along that stretch.

Stretch is a good word. I can think you are stretching the truth when you say, "already along that stretch", but who in their right mind would park at the Inn to go to Burger King or Winn Dixie, or for that matter shop at the Inn? If there was retail next to or across the street, it makes more sense, but what is next to the Inn? Across the busy street is the Shell station, already thriving with various night and day residents, probably the same who live at the Inn now. What else is around the Inn? A manufacturing business next to it on Ocean, a distributor on Orange, JEA across Main and a vacant lot across the street.

What other retail is up and down State and Union to tie this in? If the owners want to throw their money at it, fine by me. Seems like more of a waste to clean it up, and try and run retail from it. The City will not be kind with them in permitting, and you will have to bring the building up to new codes. This will not be a cheap renovation.

[thelakelander]

Seriously, did you read the article? This is the proposal.

A. Take down the hotel tower on the north side of the property.

B. Keep the existing parking garage, which is located on the site's NE corner.

C. Convert the hotel's existing first floor space along Ocean and Main (SE corner) into retail.

Thus, people who park in the property's garage will most likely be working, shopping or eating at the retail spaces attached to it within the same structure.  Sort of like the parking lot in front of the Riverside Publix.  Most visiting that lot either shop, work, eat or visit the retail spaces adjacent to it.