Abandoned Jacksonville: The Laura Street Trio

[nomeus]

Whoever remodels this place, please keep the original bank vault intact. Anyone whose been to Starbucks on King Street in Charleston knows how great that finish can look.

as you can see in my photos, the vaults are rusted through. the wheels dont even turn. it would probably be a huge amount of money to try to restore them.

[Timkin]

great pics btw, Nomeus.    If the Vaults can be opened and left open, perhaps just sealing them might be an option.. but restoring probably would be incredibly expensive.

[Mike D]

Thanks for the excellent pictures, Nomeus, and for taking us to a place we don't usually get to go...namely inside these beautiful buildings!  No doubt you're right about the cost of restoring the vaults, but I agree that they should be saved along with the buildings themselves.  This is a real test for downtown Jacksonville, because if we lose this trio and the Barnett Bank, you have to wonder if there's much chance of saving anything more.  It's mind boggling to consider the number of unique and significant buildings we have plowed down in this town.  Yes, Jacksonville is hardly alone in doing this...but it is a fact that few cities have so successfully undergone "urban renewal."  In the case of Jacksonville, it has left a once vibrant downtown an island surrounded by an eerie expanse of empty land.  We hear a lot about the need for parking, but let's not lose sight of the fact that people are willing to walk the equivalent of three or four city blocks on a busy day at the mall.  If the destination is worth reaching, they'll walk.  Admittedly, if any of these buildings were converted to condos, owners would want parking. But for other uses (restaurants, retail) easy parking is not as critical as some would have you believe.  Jacksonville has already torn down too many historic buildings for parking lots.  And, as downtown is already surrounded by the aforementioned wasteland of empty lots...use that land for parking, pay for security and regular shuttles and you'll still save money over the cost of razing the old and building new parking garages.   

[nomeus]

thank you everyone for the very kind words. it is my great pleasure and the pleasure of my team to not only be able to shoot these locations, but to be able to show everyone what they look like behind locked doors. it has long been my passion to show the beauty of the forgotten in hopes that someone, somewhere will see the potential of having the phoenix rise from the ashes. it pains me greatly to see such history and potential diminished to a pile of rubble and dirt. if my photos can bring the appropriate attention to these and any locations, then my work has been done.

thank you all again for your support!

nomeus

[Traveller]

I just noticed the Trio is featured on the front page of Wikipedia today.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

[JaxNative68]

the Old Florida National Bank could be an incredible restaurant space!

[mtraininjax]

but Jacksonville really doesn't need any more unfilled/unsellable condos on the market right now

That is plain and simple crazy talk. When was the last time you spoke with a realtor who has been selling condos downtown? Simple fact is that many of the empty units in Peninsula are now sold, they have less than double-digit units remaining, and the fees in that building are the most expensive downtown. So building a good structure, giving people what they want and pricing the units right, has a lot going for itself.

If you drive down Butler and you see all the Gardens of Bridge Hampton units for sale, understand that those units and others on the Southside were thrown up and are not constructed of the same that the downtown units are constructed. You cannot compare 11E with a condo on the southside, its like apples and oranges.

Barnett should be done on its own and it would be cool to see a parking garage, similar to that of 11E or the Main Street Library with retail on the ground floor and a nice deck for the patrons. It could be built to allow for the Laura Trio to use as well, because at some point, the Trio will be finished, its just a matter of when.

[JeffreyS]

Yes it is the suburban condos that are empty and suffering.

[MusicMan]

The developer has asked for a $5 million tax credit. Instead I would give them $5 million cash as soon as they were done with the renovations. Completeing the project they have "drawn up" would be worth way more than $5 million to downtown jacksonville not only in terms of Downtown Re-Development but also interms of drawing other investors, and REAL LIVING PEOPLE, downtown.

[Timkin]

Does someone know the price tag for the renovation on the Laura Trio and the break down of cost between the 3 buildings?

[Tacachale]

^The number that the Atkins Group was talking about was 70 million, after the 5 million for restoring the Trio. But that included the Barnett Bank Building as well as constructing a new building and a parking garage with first-floor retail, so the amount devoted to the Trio is presumably a good bit less. And that assumes they could actually pull it off, which sounds like it may not be the case.

[tufsu1]

Here's an article from this week's Business Journal on downtown (and the Laura Trio)

http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/print-edition/2011/11/25/stars-align-for-downtown.html

[Tacachale]

Can't seem to read it, though we have a subscription. Can you post the relevant quotations?

[urbaknight]

The residentials should be apartments for rent, not condos to buy.

[billy]

what does the article say? I can only open half of it....