Downtown Gamechanger

[Overstreet]

Whatever the past, I see two things working against companies moving to downtown.

A. Rents and costs are cheaper in the burbs.

B. With the internet and the advent of online forms, email, video conferencing, overnight package delivery, etc a business does not have to be near the other businesses they work with.

[UNFurbanist]

A. I agree with. For small start up businesses at least. Larger companies like say publix would move in as soon as they saw market demand.
B. Although that is true, that has not been the case in countless of other cities. Downtowns across the country are booming right now! Orlando and Tampa, which I think should be fair comparisons (I understand there are differences), are having huge amounts of investment and development in their downtowns. They both have massive suburbs that also get tons of investment yet their core grows because it serves a different market and specifically because many businesses want to be near other business to foster creativity.

[ProjectMaximus]

^Yea I agree. While modern technology has certainly made a lot possible, there has been a slow migration away from the sprawling corporate campuses that isolate businesses and telecommuting. Not saying these are trends on fire but there is certainly push back now as companies seek to get their employees interacting more with colleagues and other complementary businesses.

[thelakelander]

Seems like DT Jax has been pretty successful attracting and retaining office workers in recent years. We just have a ton of empty space to fill. This particular situation is different from Orlando which was pretty small 40 years ago.

[Tacachale]

Seems like DT Jax has been pretty successful attracting and retaining office workers in recent years. We just have a ton of empty space to fill. This particular situation is different from Orlando which was pretty small 40 years ago.

Very true. I wonder if it's time to revisit the zoning in places like the Cathedral district. Over there big houses were rezoned and turned into law offices and such, back when demand was high for offices and low for residential. But we currently have to much office space and not enough residential.

[tufsu1]

Seems like DT Jax has been pretty successful attracting and retaining office workers in recent years. We just have a ton of empty space to fill. This particular situation is different from Orlando which was pretty small 40 years ago.

Very true. I wonder if it's time to revisit the zoning in places like the Cathedral district. Over there big houses were rezoned and turned into law offices and such, back when demand was high for offices and low for residential. But we currently have to much office space and not enough residential.

I think in those cases, the allowance to convert houses to office space has saved many of them

[thelakelander]

Yes. In a similar fashion, the conversion of older houses into apartments and rooming houses, decades ago, saved much of Springfield's historic building stock.

[Tacachale]

That's absolutely true - that's why the buildings are still there. but the market's flipping now.

[JaxNole]

As a homeowner in the Historic District and both I and my partner are Computer Science majors, this is a huge opportunity. The imaginary borders of the historic district and the rest of SPR and surrounding neighborhoods has caused more damage than not, so much so that this property's location was mocked upstream of this thread.

UNF CCB and CCEC::SOC will be contacted. I see excellent opportunity for our venture to draw from the underrepresented since, you know, the Northside deserves only 8th generation hand me downs.

[Bill Hoff]

But the location of this building is so far from Springfield's revitalization that it will be an island that folks commute in and out of.

Ideally it would create some synergy . . . but proximity is so important, that I suspect the quote above would be true.

[strider]

But the location of this building is so far from Springfield's revitalization that it will be an island that folks commute in and out of.

Ideally it would create some synergy . . . but proximity is so important, that I suspect the quote above would be true.

This makes it sound like (Historic) Springfield and it's revitalization is the only thing that matters and yet, until and unless the surrounding areas get some help and get lifted up Historic Springfield will continue to struggle and the Springfield Main Street commercial corridor will remain mostly a wasteland. This building at 21st Street is certainly going to have an impact on various businesses in the mile or so radius around it.  While an office building is actually pretty stagnate during business hours, a facility like this will be a lot more in flux and will bring a different vibe to the area. The direct help to the immediate area will be noticeable and the indirect help to the urban core is very much needed for it's future.

[ronchamblin]

Interesting questions arise concerning the abandonment of the core, which, I suppose reached a climax in desolation in the eighties and nineties.  Was there an option to the decline of the core?  Could the vacancies and desolation have been prevented?  Or was it necessary to sacrifice core vibrancy to develop the entire county? -- a development process encouraged naturally by a burgeoning population, a vibrant post-war economy, and facilitated by the flexibility in choosing a residence locale, such as in the suburbs, as offered by the increasingly common automobile.

The fact is that the core desolation and exessive vacancies exist, and the suburbs have developed.  And now everyone is enjoying the challenge of somehow filling and revitalizing the core, filling the many vacant buildings ... giving ... forcing ... life into the core.  Although there have been some small steps made in the direction of core vibrancy and infill, most will probably agree that progress is very slow ... and often felt to be non-existent. 

[Tacachale]

But the location of this building is so far from Springfield's revitalization that it will be an island that folks commute in and out of.

Ideally it would create some synergy . . . but proximity is so important, that I suspect the quote above would be true.

This makes it sound like (Historic) Springfield and it's revitalization is the only thing that matters and yet, until and unless the surrounding areas get some help and get lifted up Historic Springfield will continue to struggle and the Springfield Main Street commercial corridor will remain mostly a wasteland. This building at 21st Street is certainly going to have an impact on various businesses in the mile or so radius around it.  While an office building is actually pretty stagnate during business hours, a facility like this will be a lot more in flux and will bring a different vibe to the area. The direct help to the immediate area will be noticeable and the indirect help to the urban core is very much needed for it's future.

I think Bill's saying that for stuff like that to have maximum impact it needs to be clustered with other things. It's true, and something we miss *way* too much in Jacksonville. That's not a knock on Brentwood. But if this were about finding an ideal location I doubt Springfield would be chosen either. However, in this particular case, it sounds more like this was an interesting opportunity that arose that will be pretty cool wherever it's located.

[ronchamblin]

We might look upon the problem of revitalizing the core as one similar to any dysfunctional system, organization, or vehicle ... one having serious faults preventing optimum operation or progress along the path for which it was designed.  The failure to encourage a system or vehicle, or even a piece of machinery, to operate at optimum levels, or to proceed along a journey at a good pace, is often a result of ignorance as to how the system or machine works, which, if known, requires only the discovery of the dysfunctional or malaligned subsystem or part, and the correction or replacement of same.

The core revitalization problem might best be related to a complex system, having many components, aspects, and pressures ... interwoven, each either facilitating or discouraging progress ... resulting in a summation which will either encourage or inhibit revitalization. 

If we were to believe it possible to revitalize the core with a respectable speed, and if we acknowledge that we have failed to do so, then we must also believe that there exists specific ignorances, errors, or dysfunctions within the minds of those who have been, or who are in, the important positions to control or affect the progress of revitalization. 

[thelakelander]

As a homeowner in the Historic District and both I and my partner are Computer Science majors, this is a huge opportunity. The imaginary borders of the historic district and the rest of SPR and surrounding neighborhoods has caused more damage than not, so much so that this property's location was mocked upstream of this thread.

UNF CCB and CCEC::SOC will be contacted. I see excellent opportunity for our venture to draw from the underrepresented since, you know, the Northside deserves only 8th generation hand me downs.

If it comes to fruition, this should provide a needed economic boost to New Springfield.  There's a lot of cheap, great housing stock within walking distance.