Barnett/Laura Trio Redevelopment to be announced

[thelakelander]

Courtyard Inn by Marriott isn't exactly the Ritz Carlton, but I'm not complaining of it being too low for Jacksonville. Gotta crawl before you can walk and crawling means tossing in millions in incentives to bring these historic buildings back online.

[Downtown Osprey]

Can't tell you how excited I am for this! When the plans first came to life (during One Spark) it got me to move to downtown and live there with anticipation of this being a total game changer. Unfortunately the plans fizzled out, but kudos to everyone involved to not give up on this project. Talk about dedication to our city.

When you take step back from all the mess going on at the Landing, there really is a lot of GREAT things happening as we speak downtown and I for one can't wait to see more come to life. In particular the Duro District which I think has a ton of potential. Is there any updates on that project?

[Wacca Pilatka]

Courtyard Inn by Marriott isn't exactly the Ritz Carlton, but I'm not complaining of it being too low for Jacksonville. Gotta crawl before you can walk and crawling means tossing in millions in incentives to bring these historic buildings back online.

As I think we'd discussed before, there's a very nice Courtyard in a restored/repurposed historic building near City Hall in downtown Philadelphia.

It's not the Ritz, but it's not Days Inn either.

[jlmann]

I was joking/poking fun at peoples thoughts on the landing

How can we be subsidizing this?!?  How is this a good idea!  There's no current market!!!

[thelakelander]

^Wacca, the point is the development group associated with this project selected a brand they'd believe the market could support.  It wasn't the COJ, downtown advocates or forum members telling them what they'd personally want to see.

[pears045]

The Courtyard by Marriott Charlotte City Center, in downtown Charlotte is one of my favorite hotels anywhere.  If they do this right, it should be a beautiful hotel and great addition to DT Jax. 

https://images.trvl-media.com/hotels/1000000/790000/789200/789141/a43e8f08_y.jpg

[Wacca Pilatka]

^Wacca, the point is the development group associated with this project selected a brand they'd believe the market could support.  It wasn't the COJ, downtown advocates or forum members telling them what they'd personally want to see.

I was agreeing with you but expressed it poorly.

[thelakelander]

It made sense, in line with the conversation that preceded it.  Taken out of context though, I can see how you'd come to that conclusion.

[thelakelander]

The Courtyard by Marriott Charlotte City Center, in downtown Charlotte is one of my favorite hotels anywhere.  If they do this right, it should be a beautiful hotel and great addition to DT Jax. 

https://images.trvl-media.com/hotels/1000000/790000/789200/789141/a43e8f08_y.jpg

I like the Courtyard by Marriott in San Diego myself.  Excellent renovation of a historic office building:

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/sancd-courtyard-san-diego-downtown/

Although smaller, downtown St. Pete's is nice as well:

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/tpasd-courtyard-st-petersburg-downtown/

As it relates back to the Landing discussion on what the market can support, this chain is proof that places you normally associate with suburbs can be a part of nice things in urban settings.

[Wacca Pilatka]

I just can't wait for the restoration of the cornice on the Florida Life Building.

[JaxJersey-licious]

The Courtyard by Marriott Charlotte City Center, in downtown Charlotte is one of my favorite hotels anywhere.  If they do this right, it should be a beautiful hotel and great addition to DT Jax. 

https://images.trvl-media.com/hotels/1000000/790000/789200/789141/a43e8f08_y.jpg

I like the Courtyard by Marriott in San Diego myself.  Excellent renovation of a historic office building:

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/sancd-courtyard-san-diego-downtown/

Although smaller, downtown St. Pete's is nice as well:

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/tpasd-courtyard-st-petersburg-downtown/

As it relates back to the Landing discussion on what the market can support, this chain is proof that places you normally associate with suburbs can be a part of nice things in urban settings.

OMG, the San Diego Courtyard by Marriot building looks exactly like the Barnett. Maybe they should have turned that one into a hotel.

[Steve]

I don't know guys.  wouldn't a days inn and a longhorn steakhouse instead be a better fit for Jax?  they could probably put a self storage place in the Barnett with a drugstore in the lobby.  this is all just a little too ambitious.  gotta crawl before you walk ya know

I'm assuming you're trolling, or know nothing about business travel. Courtyard Marriott is VERY popular with business travelers, especially in city centers where the full line hotel will likely be $200/night+ in many cities (the tier 1 cities not withstanding where the rooms are usually over $200/night anyway).

That looks REALLY ugly on expense reports over time, and when companies see too many of those $200/night+ hotels in mid-sized markets, that's when they start to really scrutinize the travel budget. Most travelers try to stay in hotels like Courtyards because they're reliable, have a bar if not a full restaurant, and are usually not too expensive.

Plus, finally having one of the top three hotel brands downtown on the northbank (Marriott/SPG, Hilton, IHG) will be very popular. The Omni is nice but does nothing in terms of frequent business travelers and points.

Plus, the courtyard sub-brand has started to develop a reputation for cool, city center properties. A few have been mentioned here but most cities have a cool urban courtyard Marriott.

[thelakelander]

^He was just using a little Landing sarcasm that spilled over into this thread.

[JaxAvondale]

This isn't a Marriott but the re-purposed Hampton Inn in New Orleans is one of my favorite hotels to visit.