Urban Parks: Northbank Riverwalk

[Captain Zissou]

When (If) the district gets built, it will have a similar public space anchoring the east end of the southbank riverwalk.  Some day we might have parks on all 4 corners of the riverwalk, which would make it unique on a national scale.

[FlaBoy]

^Although it would be nice to create a nice grassy green where the parking lot is between the Mosh and the Brewery by Friendship Fountain. That area barely qualifies as a park right now.

[FlaBoy]

http://jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=549803

TriBridge Residential LLC plans to build a pair of midrise apartment buildings on vacant riverfront property between 500 and 550 Bishop Gate Lane.

The infill project would add 125 residences to the Riverside neighborhood along with an expansion of the public Riverwalk along the Northbank.

The expansion would run 350 feet from the Riverside Arts Market south to Memorial Park, providing public access and space for the water taxi to dock.

This week, two City Council committees voted to support Ordinance 2017-284, the development and easement agreements for the project. The ordinance has been in review since April.

The Neighborhoods, Community Investments and Services Committee and the Land Use and Zoning Committee voted Monday and Tuesday. The Finance Committee meets today and could send the ordinance to City Council for approval.

As part of the agreement, TriBridge would build and maintain the riverfront section of the public Riverwalk at its property in return for an $810,610 property tax rebate, also known as a Recaptured Enhanced Value Grant, from the city.

Council President Lori Boyer told the neighborhood committee Monday that the developers wouldn't be able to build the Riverwalk expansion without the rebate.

She hopes the deal signals a change in how the city supports Downtown development.

Boyer, whose district includes the Southbank and San Marco, said allowing developers like TriBridge to manage parts of the Riverwalk presents a much better deal for the city.

"We get someone to build it for us to our standards, to maintain it to our standards, to give us public easement and access," she said, "and we get to pay for it over time, from the proceeds that property generates."

So are they expanding all the way to Memorial Park now or just building the portion on the property TriBridge is developing?

[jaxjaguar]

I thought they couldn't go to memorial Park because of the Cummer? Maybe if it's built out in the water like the South Bank it won't matter?

[thelakelander]

Cummer wasn't the issue.  Back during the Peyton days, Cummer was in favor of a riverwalk extension.  It was the residents in the condo towers along the riverfront that were opposed to a riverwalk extension into Riverside.

[FlaBoy]

Cummer wasn't the issue.  Back during the Peyton days, Cummer was in favor of a riverwalk extension.  It was the residents in the condo towers along the riverfront that were opposed to a riverwalk extension into Riverside.

They will complain about anything. Get it done! Would be an amazing addition to connectivity between DT and Riverside.

[jaxjaguar]

There is no question that this would benefit both Riverside and downtown. After Khan's development you'd have a straight shot from Memorial Park all the way to the Doro district. The ability to ride your bike/walk safely that far without encountering any cars would be amazing. You could do some serious bar hopping too if you wanted to burn extra calories haha

[Keith-N-Jax]

They could possibly add river taxi to Cummer/memorial park, imagine that.

[Captain Zissou]

That one condo building has a legitimate gripe about the riverwalk, but they could just throw up a fence and get over it. 

I say that the riverwalk doesn't need to go all the way to the park.  Lancaster Lane is barely used, so just spruce that up for pedestrians and save the money.

[thelakelander]

Make Lancaster a one way street and you'd have a lot more room to play with.

[Tacachale]

^I think if they just moved the riverfront parking and replaced it with parallel parking on the other side of the street for the whole run of Lancaster, it could be as wide as the Riverwalk all the way to the park without having to add anything else.

[acme54321]

So what's the deal, it's a lot farther than 350' from RAM to Memorial Park.  Sounds like this piece will be just behind the development.

[Jim]

I remember when this parcel was called the Bishopgate and was part of the proposed towers back in the crazy 2005 - 2007 boom days.

The original plan.




The 2013 do over.




Hope this thing finally happens.  Oh and, based on my measurement, 350' only covers the length of the property.  You'd need more than 1000' in either direction to reach the locations mentioned. 

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2013-oct-beacon-riverside-renderings-released

[thelakelander]

Here's the latest rendering:



http://www.moderncities.com/article/2016-oct-updated-urban-jax-major-projects-development-list/page/4

So what's the deal, it's a lot farther than 350' from RAM to Memorial Park.  Sounds like this piece will be just behind the development.

Yes, you are correct.  Basically, it's something the city should have done years ago.  It's an incremental approach to getting a riverwalk eventually built.  At some point, the city will have to construct the missing segments.  However, that's a lot cheaper than paying to build all of it, after private development has already happened.

The same approach is being taken in San Marco.  FDOT is building the shared use path between Riverside and San Marco. It will be connected with a shared use path paralleling Nira Street between the river and Hendricks. That path is being built as a part of the Baptist MD Anderson and Hendricks mixed-use projects.  Eventually, it will connect to the Southbank riverwalk as a part of the District project.  So through the coordination of private development, we're getting a pretty cool bike/ped link constructed with minimal public dollars.

[thelakelander]

Pretty cool approach to getting the riverwalk expanded incrementally without the city having to put up money:

As plans for the apartment project came together, Boyer helped to make sure that river access for the public was included.

As a result, the developers will build 350 feet of riverwalk along the width of its property that could eventually connect to the rest of the riverwalk.

Twelve feet wide with three feet of landscaping along the path, this section of the riverwalk will be built to the city's specifications, and the developer will maintain it as well as the bulkhead, which is where much of the expense comes in.

To make the deal work, the developer will receive $810,610 through reduced property taxes that will go toward the cost of the construction.

Boyer told the Finance Committee last week the same template will be applied to other riverfront development on both the Northbank and the Southbank.

City Councilman Greg Anderson lauded Boyer's concept during the Finance Committee meeting.

"It really is spectacular," he said.

City Councilman Aaron Bowman added: "Bravo. Good job."

As Bowman said, the key is going to be to fill in the gaps sooner rather than later.

Full article: http://jacksonville.com/opinion/ron-littlepage/2017-05-05/ron-littlepage-extended-northbank-riverwalk-no-longer-just-dream