What To Do With The Shipyards?

[carpnter]

There is activity on the Shipyards property right now. The last pier that is next to Hogans Creek has equipment and construction material and after talking with my elected legislative representative Don Redman Dist. 4 representative's assistant Scott Wilson they had no idea what was going on. Don is also the Chair of Waterways. JWC meeting is 13 days out. The super duper secret FIND list is to be announced soon too.

This is probably going to be used for staging materials for the Southbank Riverwalk demo and reconstruction.  I was speaking with someone from the contractor about how they were doing the work a few weeks ago.

They are staging material for work on the Southbank on the Northbank?

Yes, they will be using barges and the marine contractor will have to drive the piles from barges, there is no way they can set up on the southbank, there isn't the space for it. 
There is no space available (at a reasonable price) to store the necessary materials on the Southbank

[Scott A Wilson]

The folks on MetroJacksonville are correct. They are using this area as a staging area for the Southbank Construction.

[acme54321]

There is activity on the Shipyards property right now. The last pier that is next to Hogans Creek has equipment and construction material and after talking with my elected legislative representative Don Redman Dist. 4 representative's assistant Scott Wilson they had no idea what was going on. Don is also the Chair of Waterways. JWC meeting is 13 days out. The super duper secret FIND list is to be announced soon too.

This is probably going to be used for staging materials for the Southbank Riverwalk demo and reconstruction.  I was speaking with someone from the contractor about how they were doing the work a few weeks ago.

They are staging material for work on the Southbank on the Northbank?

Yes, they will be using barges and the marine contractor will have to drive the piles from barges, there is no way they can set up on the southbank, there isn't the space for it. 
There is no space available (at a reasonable price) to store the necessary materials on the Southbank

Makes sense now, I forget that they are basically building a linear dock down the seawall.

[Noone]

The folks on MetroJacksonville are correct. They are using this area as a staging area for the Southbank Construction.

Scott, Appreciate the call yesterday and the follow up post on MJ. So it is a staging area for the Southbank Riverwalk Construction project. Makes a lot of sense. Glad to hear it. But it also highlights a lot of the disconnect that is happening with OED and DIA.

As we were talking about this  I hope that Don who you said has been at all the meetings or almost every meeting that he will have the Riverwalk project come before Waterways and tell everyone what is or isn't the Public Access component to the new floating dock that will be part of this positive project. RAM dock is only opened when RAM is opened. Not good.

I'm glad that we also agree that the USS Charles F. Adams is another positive project for our new DIA zone.

[Noone]

8 days out from the next Jacksonville Waterways Commission meeting. Does anyone have a clue as to what is going on behind closed doors especially with FIND? Our property tax money. Don Redman is the Chair of Waterways. Another million dollar trick pony announcement for Downtown? We are not just talking about a retention pond.

Have a message in to my Dist. 4 elected legislative representative who also happens to be the Chair of Waterways. Will there be a kayak launch at MOSH? Fantastic opportunity! HUGE Waterways meeting 1/15/14

Will the Southbank project come before Waterways?

Downtown
Is
Adrift
meeting later in the day.

A new Authority
Embrace It
Or
It will Embrace Us

Planning a RICO paddle after the Backroom announcements.

[edjax]

Would something like a larger version of Tapestry Park with retail on the first floor with residential above work on this property?  Having this along with something like the USS Adams and another type of destination establishment make it work?  Or is the property just too costly for something like this to be viable?

[edjax]

Or perhaps something like that better suited for the jEA property next to the school board building??

[thelakelander]

I'm in the minority but we've got bigger things to fix than the Shipyards or JEA sites.  Yes, they offer opportunity but they aren't exactly centrally located. If looking at DT redevelopment as a long term process, it may make sense fix what we already have (ex. Hemming, Jax Landing, MOSH, empty storefronts, vacant historic buildings, transit system, etc. then those sites. Maybe it's just me, but get the core right and you'll have the private sector fighting for the right to put something up on those sites.

[comncense]

Not to derail the thread but what ever happened to the announcement about the plans for the Trio that was supposed to be announced last year during One Spark? It's hard to get excited about anything dealing with downtown. We'll hear something that sounds like good news and then you never hear about it again.

[edjax]

Well I never said let's make it a priority , was just wondering if something like this woukd make sense for either of these properties. 

[edjax]

Not to derail the thread but what ever happened to the announcement about the plans for the Trio that was supposed to be announced last year during One Spark? It's hard to get excited about anything dealing with downtown. We'll hear something that sounds like good news and then you never hear about it again.

Good question, but probably better in the actual Laura St Trio thread. 

[tufsu1]

It was announced a month or so later...and includes a Marriott hotel

[ProjectMaximus]

Not to derail the thread but what ever happened to the announcement about the plans for the Trio that was supposed to be announced last year during One Spark? It's hard to get excited about anything dealing with downtown. We'll hear something that sounds like good news and then you never hear about it again.

There's plenty of info about that on here and across the web. Just google it It did take awhile for them to followup after saying they'd announce once One Spark was over. Obviously an excuse since they didnt have their details settled.

[thelakelander]

Well I never said let's make it a priority , was just wondering if something like this woukd make sense for either of these properties. 

In that case, yes. We should strive for mixed use infill for all new construction projects.  If it were me, I'd (as a city) carve out whatever public space believed needed, add in street infrastructure (or at least set ROW aside) and parcel the remaining off for private mixed use development.  In other words, the municipality takes ownership of the public infrastructure and overall vision but the private market controls specific uses with site layouts/architectural designs, etc. that fit within the overall community vision.

[comncense]

I think this was brought up a while back, but what about something on a smaller scale of L.A. Live and XFinity Live in Philly? I like how XFinity Live even includes a professional sized playing field (http://www.xfinitylive.com/index.cfm?page=map-parking). Between sports types of bars/restaurants and maybe something to accommodate the minor league soccer team, that would be a nice blend from the 'Entertainment" district into the Sports District. Though if successful, it would probably cannibalize the current business model of the Landing.