Urban Core Construction Update - December 2009

[JaxNative68]

^ they are probably still wrestling with the city's messed up signage ordinance.

[mtraininjax]

you think Perdue Office Interiros could install some singnange on their building? how the heck is anyone supposed to know who or what they are?

Just because they are downtown, they still have to go through the permit process. They had a LOT more expenses involved in the building than they first thought, so a sign is probably not high on the list right now.

[fsujax]

Well, Perdue Office must have read my post. They have erected a large banner on the corner of the building facing Main St and Forsyth St.. It's a start.

[mtraininjax]

a large banner

With a City permit, of course.

[stjr]

For inquiring minds, here is the Florida T-U update on some area projects as they see it:

Works in progress: An update on development, construction around Jacksonville

    * By Roger Bull
    * Story updated at 12:29 AM on Sunday, Jan. 10, 2010

East San Marco

The buildings have been torn down for a couple of years now. The old SouthTrust bank on Hendricks Avenue is gone, and so are the storefronts around the corner on Atlantic Boulevard. But all that stands of the much-discussed East San Marco development is an empty city block, cleared of all but a half-dozen trees, surrounded by a chain-link fence and marked with a couple of signs.

Discussions about bringing a Publix to San Marco have been going on for most of the past decade, with plans announced, canceled and announced again. Finally, East San Marco was announced with plans to bring a Publix, five levels of condos and 27,000 square feet of other retail. Opening was scheduled in 2009.

But the housing slump put it on hold, and in 2007 officials with developers Regency Centers and the St. Joe Co. told the Times-Union that the $86 million project was being delayed and that they were rethinking the 125 condo units.

Last week, a spokeswoman for Regency Centers said there is nothing new to report.

A Publix spokesman would say only that the grocery chain would be part of the development "if the market adjusts."

The Publix would be 38,000 square feet, a size between its usual 45,000 and the Riverside store's 27,000.

Black Hammock Island

Paul Fletcher spent more than two years trying to build 143 upscale homes on a 348-acre patch of Black Hammock Island in the northeast corner of Duval County.

He was met with lawsuits from environmentalists and objections from neighbors. The lawsuits were dropped, compromises made and the land rezoned.

He promised to pay $100,000 to fix failing septic tanks in the area. In the end, though, he gave up.

"We had an option on the land," he said, "but the housing business and the credit markets just dried up. I've been in the business 40 years, and it's the worst I've seen.

"We got some of the rezoning that we needed, but there were stipulations that we were concerned with. In a very, very good market, we could probably live with it. But I've been in the business 40 years; it just didn't make sense anymore."

Fletcher said he's pulled the plug on it completely, but he still keeps in touch with the property owners, just in case.

Berkman Plaza 2

Berkman Plaza 2 was going to be the next major addition to downtown living in Jacksonville. Construction began in 2006 and was well under way on 23 stories with 222 condominiums, two pools and a marina. But all that came to a violent end.

The six-story parking garage collapsed in December 2007, killing one construction worker and injuring 23 others. As the legal issues of inspections, reports, lawsuits and fines followed, work ended on the project.

It still stands empty and unfinished, Bay Street on one side, the St. Johns River on the other.

Phone calls to the developers were not returned.

Brooklyn Park

The sign still stands in the empty lot along Riverside Avenue: Brooklyn Park, Urbanize Your Life.

But right next to it is another, more-telling sign: For sale.

Although several blocks were cleared of old homes and a century-old church and an ambitious plan of 800 apartments, retail and a hotel was announced, it still sits empty. Most of the 12.5 acres is up for sale.

Ron Baron, executive director of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission, said the city had agreed to put in water, sewer, streets and sidewalks if the project proceeded. But the city has terminated that agreement.

CB Richard Ellis is the agent for 6.7 acres of it.

"It has great potential for a mixture of uses," said Oliver Barakat, first vice president at CBRE, "including retail and office space on Riverside. Residential is probably more conducive on the interior property.

There's potential for medical use. A hotel is possible but that market is so poor right now that I don't know if it's viable."

There's no set asking price for the entire parcel, he said, but prices range from $30 to $35 a square foot, which would put the 6.7 acres at about $9 million.

"There's interest," Barakat said, "but not at that price."

Cove at St. Johns

The big condo project stands like a historic, abandoned castle in the European countryside. Or maybe the remains in some post-apocalyptic world.

Construction on the Cove at St. Johns started in 2005 on the banks of Goodbys Creek where it flows under San Jose Boulevard. Completion was originally planned for 2007, but the original contractor, Auchter Co., went out of business in 2006. If that wasn't enough, the primary bank involved, Silverton Bank, failed in May. And that put the project in the hands of the FDIC.

And so the four buildings sit, their concrete block walls lording over the creek. Two have roofs, two do not.

But there is a "for sale" sign hanging on one of them. That went up just a couple of weeks ago, hung by CB Richard Ellis, the firm hired by the FDIC to find a buyer.

Dhaval Patel, a financial analyst with the firm, said there's no asking price set on the project, which originally had a price tag of $70 million. But it's drawn a lot of interest, and he expects to deliver offers to the FDIC in February.

"We know it sticks out like a sore thumb," he said. "Everyone would like to see it finished."

Office Depots

The "now open" sign went up in front of a planned Office Depot on Roosevelt Boulevard back in 2008 when it was still just a concrete block shell of a building. Eventually, that sign came down and was replaced with "Coming soon."

But it's not. At least not anytime soon. The space sits at the end of the shopping center, past the Goodwill store and La Nopalera restaurant. It's tastefully yellow and brick ... and empty.

So is the lot on Fleming Island that Office Depot cleared for a store there.

The company's headquarters would say only: "At this time both of those locations have been called off. As a result of a review of Office Depot's real estate portfolio over the past year, we have decided to not go forward with the opening of some locations."

There is hope for the 20,200-square-foot space in Roosevelt Plaza, however. Ron Ward, leasing agent with Peter Sleiman Development Group, said he's talking with two national tenants who are interested in setting up shop there.

Shands

The area east of I-95 near the airport is growing fast, and it's going to keep going. Although it's running behind earlier predictions, Shands Jacksonville still plans to build its medical campus on 75 acres it owns on Duval Road, just off the interstate.

Steve Blumberg, vice president of business development and planning at Shands Jacksonville, said construction on outpatient services and doctors' offices should begin in 12 to 18 months.

They should start opening about a year after that, he said.

After that would come a full hospital that would start small but eventually include 300 rooms. But that, Blumberg said, is still years away.

http://jacksonville.com/business/2010-01-10/story/works_in_progress_an_update_on_development_construction_around_jacksonvill

[kris]

Could someone refresh my memory- I know the Shipyards Condo project is gone for good- what was the other beautiful condo project that was going in I believe right by the hospital dowtown?  The Vue or Blu?
Thanks

[Jason]

That was the St. John.  The Vue was proposed to be a third tower on the Strand/Peninsula site.

[Jason]

Look here for more info on dead projects....

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2008-oct-results-of-the-boom-dead-projects