Jones Furniture

[Matt]

Ok. Completely random, but does anyone know how much the Jones Furniture building is worth?

[thelakelander]

Don't know, but Chris Hionedes owns it.  I'll see if I can dig up an old article about it.

[thelakelander]

Historic furniture building to house law offices

June 3, 2005

DOWNTOWN -- It was built to capture the furniture business after a 1901 fire destroyed much of Downtown Jacksonville.

Now, the former Standard Furniture Co. building on North Hogan Street is being transformed into an office complex for attorneys who frequent the 2-year-old U.S. Federal Courthouse a few blocks away.

The North Hogan Street property, also known by its later name of the Jones Brothers Furniture building, is owned by O.U.R. Properties Inc., a private investment group that owns several Downtown lots and buildings, and whose members include local businessman Chris Hionides.

Though Hionides did not return phone calls seeking comment on the seven-story structure's redevelopment into an office building, architect Steven Hutchins said he has designed the renovation of the Spanish Revival-style commercial structure with law offices in mind.

To Hutchins, updating the Jacksonville landmark structure for modern use while preserving its historic features is a unique task.

"The building was designed with a particular use and time frame in mind," said Hutchins, owner of Jacksonville-based Steven Hutchins Architects Inc. "When we become involved, we have to do the research and figure out what the original architect's objectives were and what they were trying to accomplish. Then, our objective is to restore to the greatest extent possible what it was before, while making decisions that close the gap to a contemporary design for a different use."

Striking the balance between old and new, in the case of this 1926 structure, means restoring significant features such as the exterior tan and dark brick face that sits on the building's concrete frame, Hutchins said.

The prism glass above the street-level entrance from its 1954 renovation will also be refurbished and the roll door built to bring furniture in and out replaced, he said.

Other exterior architectural features Hutchins deemed worth preserving include the seventh-floor windows with wrought-iron balconies and spiral columns and a decorative wrought-iron staircase visible from the inside lobby.

Hutchins is also designing the 5,000-square-foot office spaces on the second through seventh floors, which Hionides hopes to lease to attorneys.

Hutchins' wife, Vibha, is subcontracted to design the 2,000-square-foot lobby.

Because the space formerly served as a furniture showroom and loading bay, Vibha Hutchins said she has chosen materials that will make it "feel like a throwback to the grand lobbies" of the past and a contemporary place that can accommodate an intimate meeting or midsize group.

That means keeping the inside ground-floor area open, using a rich color pattern and employing modern muted lighting techniques.

The couple expects their respective designs to be completed and out for bid in the next two months, with an eight- to nine-month construction period,Steven Hutchins said.

Hutchins' last job for Hionides was designing a portion of the East Bay Street block. He has redeveloped more than 20 historic structures in the U.S. and the Caribbean.

http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/2005/06/06/story4.html?page=1

[thelakelander]

Taking stock

December 12, 2003

...Just down the road from the former department store is the Jones Brothers Furniture building, 520 N. Hogan St., built in 1926 and now vacant. Its owner is Christos Hionides, a property developer and president of Surface Technologies Corporation Inc., a Jacksonville-based company that resurfaces ship decks for the U.S. Navy.

The building has been vacant since 1986 when the furniture store closed, but it's headed for a contemporary makeover that began with John Falconetti, a developer with White Oak Capital Inc., who laid plans with his two business partners two years ago to transform the boarded-up building into affordable loft apartments. Those partners -- Steve Diebenow, who now works for the mayor's office; and Tripp Gulliford, who is undertaking the 1661 Riverside mixed-use project with partner Will Parham -- have since left, and Falconetti has moved the project to the next phase by selling to Hionides, who Falconetti says has the construction experience and vision to make the project happen.

"It had always been part of the plan to bring someone else in who has experience" with construction, Falconetti said. Once White Oak Capital Inc. solved some of the property's parking issues, the group gave the project over to Hionides, whose hands-on expertise was greater than their own. "It was a matter of knowing our educational limitations," Falconetti said.

http://209.85.215.104/search?q=cache:TB18Z0jv_7oJ:www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/2003/12/15/focus1.html+jones+furniture+building+jacksonville&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us

[thelakelander]

It was purchased in 2001 for $540,000.00.  According the property appraiser's website, the just market value is $798,907.00

http://apps.coj.net/PAO_PropertySearch/Basic/Detail.aspx?RE=0738570000

OUR Properties, Inc. Jones Furniture Building Historic Renovation located at 502 Hogan Street in downtown Jacksonville. This project is a vacant 7-story 37,000 square foot building planned for historic renovation into professional offices, with ground-floor retail/lobby. Estimated cost is $2.3 million.

www.co.putnam.fl.us/palatka/Master%20Plan/DUKE%20WILLIAMS/JamesWilliamsProposal.pdf

[Matt]

hmm....interesting. Thank you very much.

I love that building.  I wonder why no one has redone it yet. The housing or office could be pretty affordable, i think (...i know nothing about costs).

We should do a metjax fundraiser and buy the building!

[heights unknown]

I don't think Matt has a clue Stephen of what he would do there, but I think what he is getting at is, MetroJax buys the building, and all of us get together and come up with the best use for it; of course good solid and successful planning says to know what you will use the building for or what it will be before you purchase it.......but the previous owners of the building didn't stick to that theory so why should we?

Just a thought here Stephen in Matt's defense.

Heights Unknown

[Matt]

Aww shucks stephendare, thanks for the compliment!

Anyway, in regards the building, the possibilities are endless.
We could convert it into affordable housing for real people, the hostel is a killer idea, a club would be cool, but i dont know how it would fly with the people on the upper levels; heck, we could have a dailyplanet-esque HQ!!! (adorned with a metjax globe, of course) Anyway, i would be fine with whatever preserved the building and helped out the DT scene.

[Lunican]

Here are a few photos of the building being discussed.

[Driven1]

it would take actual dollars to buy the building too.

[RiversideGator]

And millions to properly rehab it. 

[Driven1]

i was thinking of Craig Van Horning it.

[Matt]

very cool.   I think its a great idea.

when do you want to get started?

How much time do you want to invest in it?

well, i get to go to italy to visit relatives in two weeks and i'll be there for all of june, so sometime after that. now we're talking fundraising, right? any ideas?