Southbank Riverwalk Plan Unveiled

[stjr]

How about extending the Southbank Riverwalk to the JEA property and beginning to use it for public events, green space, and recreation rather than letting it sit fallow for years and years waiting for some next "great thing" to show up. This property represents a huge value producing zero return for a decade or more.  What a waste.

Regardless of how this property ultimately gets used, the Riverwalk should/will come to it so why not sooner than later.  Provisional use of the property would give us a chance to see how it functions and whether it is worthy of further development as a public space (which I suspect it is).

[Bativac]

How about extending the Southbank Riverwalk to the JEA property and beginning to use it for public events, green space, and recreation rather than letting it sit fallow for years and years waiting for some next "great thing" to show up. This property represents a huge value producing zero return for a decade or more.  What a waste.

Regardless of how this property ultimately gets used, the Riverwalk should/will come to it so why not sooner than later.  Provisional use of the property would give us a chance to see how it functions and whether it is worthy of further development as a public space (which I suspect it is).

That is a huge, empty space. Is there any reason it can't be used for public events? I'm sure it'd have to be cleaned up first, but still... Didn't JEA plan to do something with the site at some point?

Surely there are better uses for a huge piece of riverfront property than letting nature reclaim it.

[tufsu1]

well the same thing can be said for the Shipyards property...and I'd much rather see that used for public events first

[urbaknight]

How about extending the Southbank Riverwalk to the JEA property and beginning to use it for public events, green space, and recreation rather than letting it sit fallow for years and years waiting for some next "great thing" to show up. This property represents a huge value producing zero return for a decade or more.  What a waste.

Regardless of how this property ultimately gets used, the Riverwalk should/will come to it so why not sooner than later.  Provisional use of the property would give us a chance to see how it functions and whether it is worthy of further development as a public space (which I suspect it is).

That is a huge, empty space. Is there any reason it can't be used for public events? I'm sure it'd have to be cleaned up first, but still... Didn't JEA plan to do something with the site at some point?

Surely there are better uses for a huge piece of riverfront property than letting nature reclaim it.

I'd like to see a few high rises go up on that property. We already have met park for public events. No need for another one on the southbank. Or, how about a go-cart track, mini golfcourse, or anything that the whole family can enjoy, while making money and paying into the cities tax base.

[tufsu1]

careful urbaknight...some are talking about just those kind of amusement gimmicks for the Shipyards land

[wsansewjs]

How about extending the Southbank Riverwalk to the JEA property and beginning to use it for public events, green space, and recreation rather than letting it sit fallow for years and years waiting for some next "great thing" to show up. This property represents a huge value producing zero return for a decade or more.  What a waste.

Regardless of how this property ultimately gets used, the Riverwalk should/will come to it so why not sooner than later.  Provisional use of the property would give us a chance to see how it functions and whether it is worthy of further development as a public space (which I suspect it is).

That is a huge, empty space. Is there any reason it can't be used for public events? I'm sure it'd have to be cleaned up first, but still... Didn't JEA plan to do something with the site at some point?

Surely there are better uses for a huge piece of riverfront property than letting nature reclaim it.

I'd like to see a few high rises go up on that property. We already have met park for public events. No need for another one on the southbank. Or, how about a go-cart track, mini golfcourse, or anything that the whole family can enjoy, while making money and paying into the cities tax base.

Adventure Landing and other places would do anything to push the go-kart business to their location. Having one at the southbank would take away from their business.

-Josh

[Bativac]

How about extending the Southbank Riverwalk to the JEA property and beginning to use it for public events, green space, and recreation rather than letting it sit fallow for years and years waiting for some next "great thing" to show up. This property represents a huge value producing zero return for a decade or more.  What a waste.

Regardless of how this property ultimately gets used, the Riverwalk should/will come to it so why not sooner than later.  Provisional use of the property would give us a chance to see how it functions and whether it is worthy of further development as a public space (which I suspect it is).

That is a huge, empty space. Is there any reason it can't be used for public events? I'm sure it'd have to be cleaned up first, but still... Didn't JEA plan to do something with the site at some point?

Surely there are better uses for a huge piece of riverfront property than letting nature reclaim it.

I'd like to see a few high rises go up on that property. We already have met park for public events. No need for another one on the southbank. Or, how about a go-cart track, mini golfcourse, or anything that the whole family can enjoy, while making money and paying into the cities tax base.

Some kind of amusement park would be cool. A Coney Island style boardwalk or something like what used to be in Daytona before condos moved in and tore it all down.

Somehow, I don't see any private enterprise rushing to erect anymore hirise residential buildings anywhere near downtown anytime soon.

[dougskiles]

I think about what could be done on the old JEA property frequently.  #1 on my list would be a charter high school with an environmental focus.  The Riverkeeper & JU could be major players in the water quality aspect and JEA could be a major player in laboratories for green energy.

We already have enough empty buildings and vacant surface lots on the north part of downtown.  No need to create more empty space by building new high rises at this location.

[urbaknight]

How about extending the Southbank Riverwalk to the JEA property and beginning to use it for public events, green space, and recreation rather than letting it sit fallow for years and years waiting for some next "great thing" to show up. This property represents a huge value producing zero return for a decade or more.  What a waste.

Regardless of how this property ultimately gets used, the Riverwalk should/will come to it so why not sooner than later.  Provisional use of the property would give us a chance to see how it functions and whether it is worthy of further development as a public space (which I suspect it is).

That is a huge, empty space. Is there any reason it can't be used for public events? I'm sure it'd have to be cleaned up first, but still... Didn't JEA plan to do something with the site at some point?

Surely there are better uses for a huge piece of riverfront property than letting nature reclaim it.

I'd like to see a few high rises go up on that property. We already have met park for public events. No need for another one on the southbank. Or, how about a go-cart track, mini golfcourse, or anything that the whole family can enjoy, while making money and paying into the cities tax base.

Some kind of amusement park would be cool. A Coney Island style boardwalk or something like what used to be in Daytona before condos moved in and tore it all down.

Somehow, I don't see any private enterprise rushing to erect anymore hirise residential buildings anywhere near downtown anytime soon.

It's a shame that there aren't plans to build more residential buildings, don't they realize that's the magic bullet that will solve much of the the problems of an empty DT. That should be a priority, building or renovating old buildings for people to live in. We can't wait for an economic recovery. I regret to predict, we're in this crisis for at least the next decade, and that's if we're lucky! More realistically it will take two or (God forbid) three decades! It may not get worse, but it won't get any better for a long time.

[tufsu1]

market demand plays a pretty big role in that issue urbaknight

[urbaknight]

I know it does, what we need is to manipulate the market somehow, Or a building moratorium on suburban development, forcing developers to focus exclusively on the core. I don't know how exactly to manipulate the market, or if it can even be done. All I know is that we need to be in your face and very aggressive about what needs to be done.

[jcjohnpaint]

yeah I agree, but no politician around here..or at least the ones people like would ever take a risk like that.  You would probably have to have the majority of those in power up for something like that and we have the opposite. 

[120North]

One of the project's requirements is a connection to the east side of the Main Street Bridge.  It is part of the plan as far as I know.

[jcjohnpaint]

that would be great

[Dapperdan]

How about extending the Southbank Riverwalk to the JEA property and beginning to use it for public events, green space, and recreation rather than letting it sit fallow for years and years waiting for some next "great thing" to show up. This property represents a huge value producing zero return for a decade or more.  What a waste.

Regardless of how this property ultimately gets used, the Riverwalk should/will come to it so why not sooner than later.  Provisional use of the property would give us a chance to see how it functions and whether it is worthy of further development as a public space (which I suspect it is).

That is a huge, empty space. Is there any reason it can't be used for public events? I'm sure it'd have to be cleaned up first, but still... Didn't JEA plan to do something with the site at some point?

Surely there are better uses for a huge piece of riverfront property than letting nature reclaim it.

I'd like to see a few high rises go up on that property. We already have met park for public events. No need for another one on the southbank. Or, how about a go-cart track, mini golfcourse, or anything that the whole family can enjoy, while making money and paying into the cities tax base.

market demand plays a pretty big role in that issue urbaknight

UrbaKnight,
I think we need to sell out the ones we have already built first, then investors will come back. All the new towers on the South bank are definitly not sold. It is also not the city's job to renovate buildings for lofts or such. That is where individuals or comapnies come into play and we will not see much if any residential developement for a while, I am afraid. You barely see any residential movement in the suburbs. All that is moving now is foreclosures and short sales.