Jacksonville seems likely to lag national high rise apartment trend

[thelakelander]

High rise apartment buildings are springing from the ground in the urban cores of mid-tier cities throughout the U.S., according to the Wall Street Journal.

"Overall, the growth has been largest in denser and pricier markets like San Francisco, New York and Chicago. But in percentage terms, the increase has been most dramatic in smaller cities like Minneapolis, which is building apartments, including high-rise apartment buildings, at the fastest pace in decades," the WSJ reported Friday.

Jacksonville's urban core is home to one tower-to-be, Berkman 2. Berkman 2 has sat dormant for more than six years. It'll be up for public auction today, after its general contractor was awarded a $10 million foreclosure judgment on the property under a construction lien.

It's unlikely anyone would pursue the deal if they had to buy the property at $10 million, said Mike Balanky, president of Chase Properties Inc. But if someone — someone very experienced — were to buy it at the right basis to make the numbers work, it could potentially be completed.

full article: http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/blog/morning-edition/2014/04/jacksonville-seems-likely-to-lag-national-high.html

[AuditoreEnterprise]

From my understanding if the Berkman 2 doesnt sell... then the contractor who filed the suit gets the building. Almost seems not worth his time I doubt he is going to have the funding to finish it. Shame :/

[Cheshire Cat]

From my understanding if the Berkman 2 doesnt sell... then the contractor who filed the suit gets the building. Almost seems not worth his time I doubt he is going to have the funding to finish it. Shame :/

Oh, I hope he is funded.  Just having it sit as is would be terrible.

[I-10east]

I'm fine with a slowed high rise rate here, as long as we have attention on redeveloping old infrastructure (Laura Trio, Barnett and others).

[BoldBoyOfTheSouth]

Jacksonville continues to make huge mistakes when we do build high rises.

1. Instead of mixed income, they are over priced. Sure, have the penthouses and the upper floors very expensive but also have middle income (not poor or section 8 types) but affordable places for recent college graduates or transplants to live.

2. The high rise condos on the Southbank have no street level retail; there is suburaban style grass lawns in front, drive past or walk up to the buildings and you see dehumanizing reflective glass, garages facing the street and just dullsville.  Peole who want to move into a highrise urban condo want an urban feel and street level activity, not just a highrise version of some drab Southside Blvd apartment complex.

3.  They market their buildings in a way that seems very ordinary.  I don't see their marketing materials and envision myself living in a glamorous highrise with sexy 20 & 30 somethings.  There marketing material does not indicate that perhaps you'll meet your neighbors who have cocktail parties or whateves.

You are destined to fail if you mostly market your buildings to totally boring back office worker drones (who usually don't make enough income to support the over priced rents) and probably won't give up their Baymeadows or Bartrum townhouse anyway.

[BoldBoyOfTheSouth]

I, for one, am very open to one day moving into a high rise condo in a fabulous neighborhood where I can feel that I'm surrounded by sexy people and connected to a truely vibrant urban and walkable neighborhood that's filled with street level activity.   I'm just not interested in our currant crop of drab highrise verticle suburban style buildings.