Revitalizing Warehouse Districts: The Design District

[thelakelander]

Historically, the Springfield Warehouse District was dominated by the food and beverage industry, in addition to Swisher.  Dorsey Baking Company (bakery), Merita Bread (bakery), Coca Cola (bottling) and Setzer (grocery store warehouse) occupied the largest buildings between 12th & 14th Streets.  













Other businesses included Dozier Paint, Chevrolet Parts Depot, Aetna Iron & Steel, and Hutting Sash & Door.  What is the maritime tradition of the Springfield Warehouse District?  That would add a layer that hasn't really been told.

[tpot]

yes, we pay to park EVERYWHERE in Miami and Miami Beach.  Most meters are enforced 24 x 7.  But as someone mentioned there are pay lots that are not too expensive and our meters are very easy to use.   They take cash, coin and credit card and you can pay for multiple hours at a time...........very easy to use, unlike Jacksonville's downtown........

Heck even if you drive to a friends condo in Brickell, 99% of the time you will have to valet park your car usually starting around $10 or so an hour. Some nights I will spend up to $60 on parking and valet in one night if I am hitting different locations...........but it's Miami.......and you pay to play....

[Bativac]

Any idea if the "Setzer" is related to Leonard Setzer of National Merchandise and Pic-N-Save?

[billy]

Yes, I think so.

[thelakelander]

^yes, it is.

[fsujax]

I remember when there was a Pic-N-Save warehouse in the warehouse district. My uncle used to work there.

[simms3]

What I would like to see for Jacksonville is for us to attract the attention of reputable furniture/home design studios like Clive Christian and Mitchell Gold/Bob Williams, etc.  I always pick up the new Florida Design magazines from Publix (yes they sell them up here in Atlanta and I don't buy, just thumb through), and every featured house/condo/commercial space is from somewhere in S FL, Orlando, or Tampa Bay, and every design ad stems from a studio in S FL, or a national studio with an office in S FL, Orlando, and sometimes Tampa.  We are never on the list or ever featured.  I think we have some mighty fine architectural studios here and people here are doing great things, but we just aren't on the radar.  Heck, Atlanta is barely on the radar compared to Miami and the world's largest mart complex is here, ADAC is here, several national studios/furniture/kitchen/tile studios are here, etc.

If there were going to be one area where Jacksonville concentrated design studios, I would not even currently guess any of the abandoned warehouse districts.  I would guess the Phillips/University area where SCANDesign is.

[finehoe]

What I would like to see for Jacksonville is for us to attract the attention of reputable furniture/home design studios like Clive Christian and Mitchell Gold/Bob Williams, etc. 

I'd like to see that too, but I don't think Jacksonville can compete with South Florida which has already taken that niche.  Jacksonville needs to stop trying to copy other places and come up with a unique brand so that when people think of ______, they think of Jacksonville.

[duvaldude08]

I remember when there was a Pic-N-Save warehouse in the warehouse district. My uncle used to work there.

Oh yes. Before the glory days of wal mart, Pic-n-saver was the place to be. I acutally kind of miss Pic-N-Save to be honest.

[mtraininjax]

They take cash, coin and credit card and you can pay for multiple hours at a time...........very easy to use, unlike Jacksonville's downtown........

Why should the City spend money on new meters or a new parking system downtown? No one uses the parking decks or the meter down there now as it is. There is hardly any nightlife North of Forsyth Street (Jerry I rope you into Forsyth, since you are between Forsyth and Adams), so why again do we need to spend thousands on a parking system when the City is better at providing services, than jump starting a downtown renaissance?

What is the update on the Library, anyone know? I saw Mark Rinaman at the River Keeper event, forgot to ask him as I chatted with his beautiful wife Lisa. I don't even know if Mark is still involved with the library, but any info would be great! TIA

Great pictures above Lake!

[Captain Zissou]

^What business owners are going to want to open in an environment that is hostile to its customers??  In order to magically jump-start this renaissance that you believe is just waiting to happen, we need to first reduce the negative aspects of doing business downtown.

Funding or assistance would go a lot further if there was a positive business environment downtown.

[CS Foltz]

This is something that the upcoming mayoral candidates need to voice on! Hopefully they all have something to say about the situation............warehouses, empty stores and downtown!

[mtraininjax]

we need to first reduce the negative aspects of doing business downtown.

Such as.................

[thelakelander]

Let's not fool ourselves into thinking DT is all peaches and cream. There is a reason it continues to decline. You can start with parking enforcement, poor business visibility due to restrictions, bad image, confusing one way streets, vagrants, and poor public coordination.

[thelakelander]

Developer unveils project to transform Miami’s Design District into upscale pedestrian promenade



A proposed $312 million makeover of Miami’s Design District would carve out a mini-Lincoln Road mall with luxury fashion shops, restaurants and public spaces.

full article: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/04/2832902/developer-unveils-project-to-transform.html