1,000-acre development planned near the Town Center

[river4340]

Last of the large Skinner family pieces.

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/1-000-acres-near-st-johns-town-center-proposed-for-development

[TimmyB]

Where's the soccer stadium???      

Seriously, though, it was going to happen sooner rather than later.  I just hope they a better job planning for traffic movement and pedestrian/cycling activity than the people who thought up the SJTC area.

[thelakelander]

The road connection between Kernan, Gate and East Baymeadows will actually help divert some traffic off I-295 and JTB.

[jaxnyc79]

"something a little more urban in a suburban area..."  I wonder what that means.  Could he mean functionally walkable and not as auto-centric?  new urbanism design standards?  Twenty years ago, I seem to recall the same thing being said about St. Johns Town Center. 

[JaGoaT]

"something a little more urban in a suburban area..."  I wonder what that means.  Could he mean functionally walkable and not as auto-centric?  new urbanism design standards?  Twenty years ago, I seem to recall the same thing being said about St. Johns Town Center.

Im thinking they realized their mistake with the town center and are actually going to build something more urban

[Kerry]

1000 acres and this is what they come up with?  I don't think they know what "urban" means.  Labeling something Mixed-Use doesn't make it so.  Looking at the site plan all I see are curvilinear suburban stroads and freeway fronting retail.  Thank goodness I moved out of this part of the City.

Wish they would do something like this?

http://glenwoodpark.com

[Captain Zissou]

1000 acres and this is what they come up with?  I don't think they know what "urban" means.  Labeling something Mixed-Use doesn't make it so.  Looking at the site plan all I see are curvilinear suburban stroads and freeway fronting retail.  Thank goodness I moved out of this part of the City.

Yeah the road "connecting" Kernan to Gate is going be a real hassle. It looks like the road through residential is faster.  Why not a more gridded street plan to give multiple options and not overload the two main roads?

[Kerry]

Don't worry - they will probably put speed bumps on the residential road and post plenty of "Drive like your kids live here" signs because they will design it for 65 mph and then scratch their @$$ trying to figure out why people are speeding.

[CityLife]

One of the residential concepts being considered is somewhat of a new urbanist style that is fairly dense by suburban standards in Jax.

[Kerry]

One of the residential concepts being considered is somewhat of a new urbanist style that is fairly dense by suburban standards in Jax.

They better change their site plan then, otherwise they just have a lot of people living really close to each other with none of the benefits.

[RatTownRyan]

Is there a height limit for buildings around the town center area?? Is it possible that an office or residential building could be built to more than 10 stories?

[Kerry]

The netting at the Golf place is probably the height of 10 stories.

[jaxnyc79]

Is there a height limit for buildings around the town center area?? Is it possible that an office or residential building could be built to more than 10 stories?

High-rises are not what this part of town needs.  You can have density and walkability without skyscrapers.  Something like this would suit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_examples_of_New_Urbanism#/media/File:Downtown_baldwin_park.JPG

But yes, curvilinear streets are not a foundation for real urbanity and "soft modes of mobility."  Gathering places, pedestrian access, village-style clustering, those would all be nice changes if we must tear up green space.

[thelakelander]

Don't worry about highrises. The burbs can't support that type of high cost construction either. My guess is the urban the developer mentions isn't the same type of urban most people think of. You'll likely get the same style of development around Gate, Town Center Parkway and Deerwood Park Blvd with a slightly better street grid and scale at the pedestrian level. However, don't expect historic downtown type density.

[avonjax]

I'm a cynic these days. They will blow it.