Laura Street Trio in Trouble? Updated status of six key Downtown projects

[thelakelander]

Interesting article. The Laura Street Trio project could be in jeopardy if COJ doesn't commit to providing a certain amount of money within the next month. This is the tough part of downtown revitalization. Having to find a way to put your money where your mouth is.  I wonder if this pending decision could make or break the redevelopment of the Northbank core?


Proposed Laura Street Trio site plan
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2014-sep-barnett-and-laura-street-trio-site-plan-september-2014#.VIiHGjHF_Cs

Steve Atkins, SouthEast Group principal and managing director, for years has proposed residential, office space, restaurants, a sports bar and even a boutique hotel for the sites.

He told the World Affairs Council in September the $70 million project would require at least $8 million from the city to become reality.

"We'll try to get there, but the DIA doesn't have that capital," Wallace said at the time.

That opinion hasn't changed.

"It's really difficult to try to make the numbers work," Wallace said Monday. "It's a question of how much equity and how much debt on the private-sector side can the project generate. ... I don't want (the city) to be more than 20-something percent of the transaction."

Wallace said the city has a deadline for its potential role in the project.

"First quarter of 2015, I'm hoping to get to a 'go' or 'no go' on this project. We've spent 90 days working on that project. I'm going to make a recommendation one way or another," he said.

Another site could be suitable for housing FSCJ students. Someone just needs to talk to FSCJ to get them on board. I believe there was an RFP done for this site a few months back and the winning group had proposed multifamily infill. I wonder if that project died?

In 2003, the city entered into an agreement with an Orlando-based developer to construct a restaurant in LaVilla near the Ritz Theatre and Museum.

The restaurant never was completed and, after putting nearly

$2 million into the project, the city in 2008 released the developer from having to repay a construction loan and took over the property.

It has been vacant since.

Wallace said any future development of the restaurant property will be feasible only if it is part of a larger project. One possibility could be development of student housing in partnership with Florida State College at Jacksonville, but the city has not contacted the college even on a preliminary basis, Wallace said.

Full article: http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=544476

[jcjohnpaint]

Here we find ourselves back here again.  A cheap city will always be a cheap city.  I guess we will have to hold our breath and see, but given the way things work around here...

[jaxjaguar]

I'm gonna take a nap. Wake me up when "downtown is on fire."

[Bativac]

Whoa wait a minute - are you telling me that a project involving historic buildings in downtown Jacksonville could be in jeopardy?! I refuse to believe it!!

Honestly I wish they would stop announcing their intentions with these properties and wait until more of the funds are secured. Otherwise you lead to jaded people (like me) rolling their eyes every time a new project involving downtown property is mentioned in the press.

This city can't even maintain parks and medians. How much money do they have available to dump into these downtown development schemes?

[JaxNative68]

i've said it before on this site, and i'll say it again.  i won't believe anything will happen with the trio until I actually see a finished project happen.  I have heard talk of the trio getting project after project for three decades now and it always ends as just being talk.  I am sure it has been going on for more than the thirty years i know and i'm sure...

[KenFSU]

Man, we really need to find a way to jump on these opportunities when they present themselves. Especially when the economy is on an upward swing. I wonder how big the discrepancy between what Atkins is asking and what DIA can afford is? If it's only a couple of million dollars, I wonder if crowdsourcing could possibly be a viable option to help close the gap. Local corporations donate $______ and get use of the ballroom, restaurant, bar, etc. for a corporate event. Backers donate $ __________ and receive a stay in the boutique hotel once finished or a plaque in the buildings recognizing their contribution. As a city, Jacksonville rallied together to buy $75 million worth of imaginary NFL club tickets in less than ten days, long before the Jaguars even technically existed. Surely there must be a way (that isn't perceived as simply lining Atkins' pockets) for the city to pull together enough loose change to preserve and restore these critical, endangered buildings.

Definitely nervous about Stache too in light of what's happened with KYN and the Edgewood Bakery.

[vicupstate]

If coj can't find $8mm, which is far below the 20% that Wallace alludes to, for such a no-brainer, transformative project like the Trio, then that is VERY telling. The only projects that will happen are the $1-4mm deals like Bostwick, and those might even start to dry up, if it is obvious the bigger projects won't happen.

[Bill Hoff]

I wonder if the new (upcoming) city council would be more responsive to the project . . .

[Charles Hunter]

I wonder if the new (upcoming) city council would be more responsive to the project . . .

Depends - we need to get to know the candidates, and make sure those with an eye to the future - and not stuck in the past - win.

[thelakelander]

I wonder if the new (upcoming) city council would be more responsive to the project . . .

Are we sure a deal with the structures can wait around that long?  After all, time is money and if you're the private sector, there are a lot of other places across the globe to invest instead of sticking to Jax.

[simms3]

In a couple of years (if not sooner), we'll be heading towards another down cycle.  The housing sector won't be to blame, and there won't be problems of foreclosures due to crashes in value, per se, but there will be an employment slump, and Jax will be hit hard.

Unemployment won't help tax rolls and people will be looking for lower taxes.

If this is the amount of economic development that happens in Jax during the best of times (look at November's jobs report), then it will be a tough 2-3 year slump for the city.

This is all very tough to hear.  It's hard (or not too hard) to be this cynical, but most of America is literally BOOMTOWN right now.  Cranes dot the cityscapes of most major cities at this point.  That includes many of Jacksonville's peers.

[KenFSU]

We're rapidly closing in on two years since Atkins revealed plans for the Trio.

Has anyone heard anything new as of late?

[jcjohnpaint]

I was talking to someone today and she had some inside knowledge and said the project is scrapped.  I don't know what it is worth, but it does not look like the city is moving a finger for this.  I am just curious why? 

[Jax native]

I was talking to someone today and she had some inside knowledge and said the project is scrapped.  I don't know what it is worth, but it does not look like the city is moving a finger for this.  I am just curious why?

Sorry if this sounds too harsh, but you came here to write, "I was talking to someone today and she had inside knowledge and said the project is scrapped" ?  Are you adding to the conversation, or talking about someone who knows something about what is going on but has no idea what or who?  Should I invest in this information?  I'm just curious as to what you are saying?  I haven't been
"keeping up" with the project, but feel maybe more inforamtion should be provided, instead of pure speculation which can turn to gossip. 

[jcjohnpaint]

Good to hear..... What do you know?