What To Do With The Shipyards?

[tufsu1]

The Mayor had set aside around $7 million for Metro Park, which didn't include the ampitheater area....but Cuncil shifted $3+ million over to Toney Sleiman for Landing parking...which is why there is only $3.1 million left

[Rocshaboc]

Can someone tell me what idea or project that will be beneficiary for an ENTIRE downtown? A convention center? Maybe I'm missing the BIG picture in this behind-the-time city. So people coming downtown to a amusement park won't say "Hmm, lets walk down to the Landing." Or "Lets take my boat down to the RAM." Or 'Let's take the trolley down to The Prime Osborne." Or "Let's take the SkyWay from the Hilton Garden Inn before Northbank walking down to the AMUSEMENT PARK" Or or after dinner at the elegant Marble Bank Steakhouse, let's go take a ride Ferris wheel. That sea of emptiness. I guess I'm missing something

[tufsu1]

there is no one single bullet that can benefit ALL of downtown...with the possible exception of a better circulation (i.e, transit) system

[spuwho]

The Mayor had set aside around $7 million for Metro Park, which didn't include the ampitheater area....but Cuncil shifted $3+ million over to Toney Sleiman for Landing parking...which is why there is only $3.1 million left

Unfortunate, but the right thing to do as The Landing has been given the parking shaft from COJ for several years.

[thelakelander]

It's a good thing that money was taken and they need to delay spending the rest.  With the city becoming the owner of the Shipyards, the future of the entire Sports District should be evaluated in unison instead of isolated individual parcels.

[tufsu1]

The Mayor had set aside around $7 million for Metro Park, which didn't include the ampitheater area....but Cuncil shifted $3+ million over to Toney Sleiman for Landing parking...which is why there is only $3.1 million left

Unfortunate, but the right thing to do as The Landing has been given the parking shaft from COJ for several years.

I sure hope Sleiman does more with it than the City would have....but, sad as this is to say, I'm not sure he will

[Keith-N-Jax]

City would have wasted it, like they usually do. Which is sad.

[tufsu1]

City would have wasted it, like they usually do. Which is sad.

and just what do you think Sleiman will do with it?

[Keith-N-Jax]

Let's wait and find out. We already know the cities track record on spending money dont we?

[KuroiKetsunoHana]

we already know sleiman's, too.  he's really no better than the city.

[fieldafm]

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2010-09-03/story/jacksonville-eyes-park-public-use-after-two-failed-shipyards

Jacksonville eyes park, public use after two failed Shipyards developments

By Matt Galnor
Within a week or so, the ink will quietly meet paper on what city officials say could be one of Jacksonville's signature real estate transactions.

Now that the City Council has cleared the way legally, the city is likely to close any day now on the former Shipyards property, more than 40 acres of downtown land along the St. Johns River.

But don't look for any elaborate renderings or the city to hook up with a new developer anytime soon.

The failures of two grand development plans, compounded by a crippled real estate market and strapped city budget, have the city now planning on only the minimal improvements needed to open the land for public use.

"It's really about making it green and friendly," Mayor John Peyton said. "We obviously don't have the dollars to make a significant investment."

And despite the lack of development, investments have been made on the property.

In all, about $34 million in public improvements have been finished on the property - $14 million by original developer TriLegacy and about $20 million by LandMar, which acquired the property in 2005 and whose parent company filed for bankruptcy protection last year.

Nearly the entire bulkhead along the river has been replaced, and only pavers are needed to finish off the Northbank Riverwalk from just east of the half-built Berkman Plaza 2 to the Hogan's Creek bridge.

Ron Barton, executive director of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission, estimates it would take about $4 million or $5 million to smooth out the land and light the park so it's safe at night.

Peyton says that's money the city doesn't have right now. But throwing down some grass seed and ripping down the chain-link fence is doable, according to the mayor.

The property is a mish-mash of concrete and grass, bare patches and weeds. It is, after all, an old shipyard.

It's coming back into the city's hands now after Landmar's parent company, Charlotte-based Crescent Resources, emerged from bankruptcy in June.

The main components in LandMar's public portion of the development were:

- Extending the Northbank Riverwalk from Berkman Plaza east to Metropolitan Park.

- Preserving the longest of the three piers as a public fishing pier.

- Finishing the footbridge over Hogan's Creek and dredging the creek.
The pier and the footbridge haven't been started, but the city isn't starting from scratch on the property, Barton said.

If the Riverwalk can be finished - there's a less than 10-foot connection needed behind Berkman 2 - it would run all the way from the Riverside Arts Market to Metropolitan Park, a more than three-mile stretch.
The city's focus should be on the core of downtown, such as the improvements under way on Laura Street, Barton said. The market isn't turning anytime soon, and making the property a park is a way to land-bank the riverfront tract, Barton said.

The mix of residential, shopping and a marina are now among the boom-era plans that have since fizzled. But it could be much worse than a riverfront park, Barton said.

"I'm sorry the development didn't happen," he said, "but we're not in a bad place on this."

[tpot]

Jacksonville can't even properly maintain the current parks in place.........this will just be a larger version of the other park the city built across from the library on Main St........

[north miami]

Jacksonville can't even properly maintain the current parks in place.........this will just be a larger version of the other park the city built across from the library on Main St........

This one will be front & center stage.

[buckethead]

I think opening the space and adding grass is the right approach. Get some people fishing out there. Let some dogs run. Some streaking, on occasion.

Here's a thought. Stop wasting money trying to convert it to $10.00 parking. Make it $5 and eliminate half of the lighting. I can park free if I walk on extra block. If the games start selling out, the $10 parking will sell. Not before.

[CS Foltz]

buckethead........from the article in the TU, the other day edition, most of the mayoral candidates seem to favor using that property as a park! As John Boy said " some grass seed and fence removal seems in order"! I concur! Since the City is broke, even though we have come up with $3.1 Million for the Park and $15 Million for the River Walk, anything is better than nothing at all!