JEA Southbank land swap: Who pays for $10M road?

[thelakelander]

Good question.....

By Max Marbut, Staff Writer

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
That's the position the JEA is in with its 30-acre waterfront parcel of land Downtown along the Southbank, the former site of the Southside Generating Station.

The authority is proposing a land swap involving Duval County Public Schools, the Jacksonville Transportation Authority and the city that is approved by all parties would improve access to the site for a future developer.

Nancy Kilgo, JEA director of government affairs, said at Tuesday's JEA meeting that a "right-of-way framework" document has been prepared for introduction to the school board detailing the proposal to extend Prudential Drive through the school district's parking lot to the JEA site, which JEA is marketing to potential buyers.

The proposed road would merge with Broadcast Place and then continue under Interstate 95 to connect with the parking garage along Kings Avenue owned by JTA.

full article: http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=543215

[Tacachale]

How do they figure $10 million for that?

[IrvAdams]

Associated unseen infrastructure? Underground utilities, etc.? Just guessing, does seem high.

[pierre]

How many other school boards have such a good view?

[billy]

Have any alternate locations for school board ever been discussed?
if so, where?

[coredumped]

How many other school boards have such a good view?

That's nothing, you should see the view from the jail!

[hightowerlover]

The one thing I don't understand in all of this, how did JEA access this site when it was open?  Why is it so impossible to access now that it's gone?  Was a road taken out, did they drive through dirt, or did they alway cut through this parking lot?

[thelakelander]

Broadcast Place, which runs from the JEA property and under I-95, eventually into Kings Avenue between the Kings Ave. Garage and Atlantic Blvd. The School Board property used to be a railyard/shipyard, so that portion of Prudential Avenue wasn't there when the generation station opened. In the image below, you can see where Prudential makes a 90 degree turn into Kings Avenue. The section of Prudential they want to tap into wasn't there then. 



To make the property accessible to the rest of the Southbank, they'll have to extend Prudential Drive through the School Board's property, thus the land swap proposal. 

[Josh]

The one thing I don't understand in all of this, how did JEA access this site when it was open?  Why is it so impossible to access now that it's gone?  Was a road taken out, did they drive through dirt, or did they alway cut through this parking lot?

Broadcast Place. The problem is that it's an unmarked single-lane road that is unsuitable for the kind of traffic the new development will generate.

[thelakelander]

Another shot.

[edjax]

Just saw article on JBJ in which Vitti states he is open to moving School Board building from current riverfront location.

[pierre]

Just saw article on JBJ in which Vitti states he is open to moving School Board building from current riverfront location.

Good.

[pierre]

How many other school boards have such a good view?

That's nothing, you should see the view from the jail!

Don't remind me.

[IrvAdams]

Just saw article on JBJ in which Vitti states he is open to moving School Board building from current riverfront location.

Good.

I like what I hear from Vitti. Decisive.

[coredumped]

Just saw article on JBJ in which Vitti states he is open to moving School Board building from current riverfront location.

Good.

I agree it's good and all, but what to do with it? We have the shipyards across the street that's been empty for so long. I wouldnt want them to move out unless something was going to immediately follow. The last thing downtown needs is another empty building.

Can we combine the school board and the empty lot and make a convention center? The skyway is already pretty close.