Exclusive: Renderings of Barnett Living Spaces

[pears045]

This is awesome.  I am so excited to see them doing this.  Young people is exactly what downtown needs, hopefully they continue to develop. The young people then turn into young professionals and hopefully have a desire to stay downtown and upgrade to a nicer studio or condo downtown....see how that works?  This is good stuff.   

[joshuataylor]

Spoke to Lisa Goodrich yesterday on site, and the student housing angle is incorrect. The units are being marketed to young professionals, and are not intended to be student housing (as the building will only be hosting a few business incubator classes from UNF, not a full satellite school). I let her know we would update our factual errors on the article ASAP.

Also reached out to Steve Atkins about the possibility of renovating the digital clock on the roof. It should be grandfathered into the sign ordinance, and I would assume the technology isn't too terribly complex. It has such a permanent place in the memories of so many Jacksonville residents that it would be a crime not to make an effort to restore it. I encourage everyone on the forums to reach out to Steve and express your interest, then hope for the best.

[Gamblor]

Also reached out to Steve Atkins about the possibility of renovating the digital clock on the roof. It should be grandfathered into the sign ordinance, and I would assume the technology isn't too terribly complex. It has such a permanent place in the memories of so many Jacksonville residents that it would be a crime not to make an effort to restore it. I encourage everyone on the forums to reach out to Steve and express your interest, then hope for the best.

Would love to reach out to Steve about the clock, do you have a best way to contact him/Southeast Holdings?

[thelakelander]

Proposed floor plans:



Click here to enlarge image: http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/Events/One-Spark-2014/38402032_hZ2RR2#!i=3173809367&k=8DnmS5g&lb=1&s=XL

[thelakelander]

The first floor retail tenant is expected to be announced within the next 30 days....

Summer 2015 completion date expect for Barnett Bank Building renovation

It's not going to be a restaurant or a nightclub.

It's not going to be any retail that already is in place Downtown.

It's not going to be IKEA.

That's all Steve Atkins, principal and managing director of Southeast Holdings LLC, would say about the retail element of the project to convert the former Barnett Bank Building along West Adams Street into office, classroom, residential and retail space.

Southeast used $3 million in funding from Stache Investments Corp., owned by Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan, to purchase the building a year ago. He's using the One Spark festival this week as a way to introduce the project to the public.

full article: http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=542687

[fsujax]

There is a story either on firstcoastnews or news4jax, where Steve is interviewed about the project and he talks specifically about the clock and the memories he has of it as a child. He didn't mention anything about having it restored.

[KenFSU]

Would love to reach out to Steve about the clock, do you have a best way to contact him/Southeast Holdings?

[thelakelander]

He follows the site.  I'll ask him via email.

[Gamblor]

Great photo! Love it!

He follows the site.  I'll ask him via email.

Dang I was just hanging out with Steve, his dad, and his young son Joe over at the building.  He's been sitting without much fanfare in the seating area they have for the public, just people watching for a few hours.

Any info on how we could help with restoring it would be tremendous Lake. I always loved seeing it in my youth much like Steve. I am going back to the festival tomorrow and will look for him. I assume you mean he was sitting in the Barnett Building Stephen. I wonder if they would be open to doing something a little more modern or upscale. I work with microelectronics and would love to offer some services to update the clock to more modern standards and conveniences. Or if they wanted to start a collection fund to restore it over time, I am sure like many of us, I could find a few coins in my pocket to spare.

[I-10east]

I would be pretty surprised to see Barnett's clock restored, given that the building is gonna be used for housing. Unfortunately it being obsolete in this digital age, additional cost, it being non-aesthetic (like say the Jacobs Clock) and the rise of the taller towers around it blocking views further add to unlikeliness of it being restored IMO. We're talking about an building that was built in 1926 as it towered all over Jacksonville.

That doesn't mean that I didn't love it when it was here. Many-a-time, I knew the time in the 90's because of that clock. I'll be cool if someone please put up some LED lights on top of what was called the Barnett Center (BOA Tower). The skyline was noticeably more aesthetic with the tallest building in town lit up atop.

[Charles Hunter]

Went into the Barnett lobby (didn't go upstairs), and that is a fantastic space.  The "chimney" they created through all the floors was interesting.  Any idea what the purpose is?  From the floor plans posted, it isn't a permanent feature.

[thelakelander]

That hole was put there by Cameron Kuhn to dispose of debri from the interior demolition of the upper floors.

[Josh]

Went into the Barnett lobby (didn't go upstairs), and that is a fantastic space.  The "chimney" they created through all the floors was interesting.  Any idea what the purpose is?  From the floor plans posted, it isn't a permanent feature.

It was created during one of the previous renovation attempts; so trash materials could be tossed down to the lobby at the ground floor. I'm assuming that since so much of the material contained asbestos, having one of those disposal shoots running to the outside courtyard like in a standard renovation would have created an environmental concern.

Hopefully that hole didn't have too much collateral impact on the rest of the building, because whenever it was raining water would pour from the roof to the lobby via that hole.