A Look at the Proposed Bank Hotel

[Timkin]

Agree with you completely M

[stjr]

Sadly, Laura street is a major street in downtown

If New York can close Broadway in Times Square and Washington can permanently close Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House, we can close Laura or some other Jax street on weekends!  

P.S.  With the current construction, the blocks of Laura are going to be closed in succession every day of the week.  I gather we will weather it OK.

[Keith-N-Jax]

Well when we get our street cars it will not matter . Close off Bay and Main and lets do it like we did during the Super Bowl. We should do this more often. Its great to be DT especially along the water front.

[thelakelander]

They are widening the sidewalks on Laura Street now.  There will be opportunity for restaurants/bars with outdoor seating.  In fact, outdoor seating is proposed for both the Barnett and Laura Trio buildings at street level.  If the Landing gets their parking lot, additional outdoor seating will go up at the corner of Independent and Hogan Streets.  If DVI can find a way to get existing towers to better expose and integrate their street level businesses with the sidewalks, DT's street atmosphere would change overnight.

[JeffreyS]

BOA's Cafe is on the Luara street side of the building and it would be nice if it opened some outdoor seating.

[comncense]

I think the widening of the sidewalks is a really good idea but how many more buildings are there along Laura street that could be opened up for ground floor restaurants? Starting from Hemming Plaza down to the Landing, I can't really think of that many vacant buildings that a new restaurant could go into.

[thelakelander]

BOA, MODIS, Suntrust and the Landing have retailers or retail space at street level.  Along with the Trio/Barnett and Snyder Memorial, Laura Street would look and feel completely different if they all were better integrated at street level. 

[comncense]

Hmm yeah, I wasn't really thinking about the bank buildings or Modis. I guess I assumed BOA and Suntrust were currently using their ground floor areas. Modis... ehh. Actually Suntrust and Modis would probably be a nice feel now that the roundabout will be there.

[Keith-N-Jax]

I think so. I just hope they all get on board once the trio is complete.

[thelakelander]

Hmm yeah, I wasn't really thinking about the bank buildings or Modis. I guess I assumed BOA and Suntrust were currently using their ground floor areas. Modis... ehh. Actually Suntrust and Modis would probably be a nice feel now that the roundabout will be there.

The ground floor of MODIS is essentially a small indoor shopping mall.  There are hair salons, restaurants, jewelry shops and convenience stores in there.  The backs of these places face Laura, Bay and Main Streets.  The Laura Street side of BOA has a restaurant and a gift shop.  Suntrust's ground floor may be occupied (I'm not sure) but the space can accommodate a restaurant or retail at ground level if the opportunity presented itself.  Assuming the Trio project happens, if the city can find a way to encourage the bank towers to establish a visual presence along the sidewalk, there would be continuous activity the entire stretch between the Landing and Hemming Plaza.

[comncense]

Yeah that would be great if things come together that way. Off topic... I remember going into Modis a while back when I was obsessed about working downtown. It kinda struck me as Normandy Mall'ish inside. But that was years ago... maybe I'm just remembering it wrong.

[comncense]

Hope that little Westside reference didn't go over anyone's head

[Traveller]

if the city can find a way to encourage the bank towers to establish a visual presence along the sidewalk

Unfortunately, the management at BofA Tower prohibits any sort of external advertising by its tenants.  The gift shop can get around this restriction somewhat by displaying its wares in the window, but other tenants, like the coffee stand in the lobby or the Skyline cafeteria, are unable to do so.

[thelakelander]

Sounds like something DVI should attempt to try and work with building management on for the betterment of the surrounding area.

Hope that little Westside reference didn't go over anyone's head

That reference put the Soul Food Bistro in my head.  Now I'm hungry.

[Springfield Girl]

Tens of thousands of people work Downtown. How many would spend the night in a cool hotel after a night of drinking, not wanting to risk a drive to the Beach or St. Johns County? I personally love the idea. Even though I live in Springfield I have stayed Downtown for a mini get away. Recently I was out looking at wedding/reception spots with my daughter. As we are intown people she was interested in Downtown sites, especially the library. There just are not any ideal spots for an outdoor wedding/indoor reception at this time though, so we went with the Casa Monica in St Augustine. The Bank Hotel would fill this void and be a great location for functions, as well as being a classy destination for a night out on the town. I hope this development happens. Finally Downtown is happening and The Bank Hotel will be a destination.