The pending rebirth of Jax's Barnett Bank Building

[Tacachale]

Loan approved, UNF plans to have classrooms open in the Barnett by January.

https://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2018/02/22/unf-plans-january-opening-of-downtown-classrooms.html

Heard that. Awesome news.

[marcuscnelson]

Loan approved, UNF plans to have classrooms open in the Barnett by January.

https://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2018/02/22/unf-plans-january-opening-of-downtown-classrooms.html

Heard that. Awesome news.

It's a great start. Let's hope they keep up the momentum and get more things downtown. Having more students there means there'll need to be places for them to sleep, work, play, etc.

[jaxjaguar]

Yeah, 125-150 students is a drop in the bucket. You can expect maybe 10 people tops, per school day, to contribute to the restaurants/bars downtown. We need fscj, JU, and UNF to bring at least a few thousand more students downtown to create noticable changes in commerce.

[thelakelander]

FSCJ has a few thousand there already. With them, they need to continue to add student housing south of their campus and the DIA/city officials need to work with them to make their core campus and the area around it, more integrated with the Northbank and Springfield. That campus, along with State and Union Streets are pure economic opportunity that remains untapped.

[jaxnyc79]

FSCJ has a few thousand there already. With them, they need to continue to add student housing south of their campus and the DIA/city officials need to work with them to make their core campus and the area around it, more integrated with the Northbank and Springfield. That campus, along with State and Union Streets are pure economic opportunity that remains untapped.

Is that in process?  Is there a master plan to make the existing FSCJ "downtown" campus more walkable and integrated with surrounding neighborhoods?  From the looks of the campus now, it's totally disjointed and isn't designed to feed life into the core. 

[thelakelander]

I'm not aware of a plan involving the DIA. Downtown's arbitrary borders end across the street from the campus.

[KenFSU]

Construction moving fast.

Barnett is already two months ahead of schedule, per Adkins.

[marcuscnelson]

Construction moving fast.

Barnett is already two months ahead of schedule, per Adkins.

Terrific!

[KenFSU]

Project remains significantly ahead of schedule.

Groundbreaking on the garage is imminent, and work at the Trio should start ramping up by end of next month.

Demand for units at the Barnett has been so insane that Atkins is actively looking at other spots downtown for additional residential.

[Kiva]

Demand for units at the Barnett has been so insane that Atkins is actively looking at other spots downtown for additional residential.

Excellent news!

[Steve]

Demand for units at the Barnett has been so insane that Atkins is actively looking at other spots downtown for additional residential.

Excellent news!

Exactly why I felt this project would have more impact than most Downtown.

[Kerry]

Yeah, 125-150 students is a drop in the bucket. You can expect maybe 10 people tops, per school day, to contribute to the restaurants/bars downtown. We need fscj, JU, and UNF to bring at least a few thousand more students downtown to create noticable changes in commerce.

Reality is these people are already downtown and won't be new adds.  This isn't like a university is moving their campus downtown where students from all over the country will be spending their lives 24/7 during the school year.  I wish we did have a downtown university but I don't even know if it is possible in Jax.  The only viable option seems to be FSCJ but they would have to close all their satellite campuses and go on a tremendous building spree downtown to even make a dent, which I don't see them doing.

The only other path would be for the City to start a university but I don't see Jax doing that either.  Oklahoma City tried to add a municipal university to their MAPS package a few years ago but it didn't make the list of projects because the cost to do it was far more than the tax was going to collect. 

It isn't a total loss though as vacant space is being taken up and access to adult/continuing education is a plus for employers who might be enticed to move downtown if their employees are wanting to further their educations.  However, this isn't like a university is moving their campus downtown where students from all over the country will be spending their lives 24/7 during the school year.

[thelakelander]

FSCJ has a few thousand there already. With them, they need to continue to add student housing south of their campus and the DIA/city officials need to work with them to make their core campus and the area around it, more integrated with the Northbank and Springfield. That campus, along with State and Union Streets are pure economic opportunity that remains untapped.

Is that in process?  Is there a master plan to make the existing FSCJ "downtown" campus more walkable and integrated with surrounding neighborhoods?  From the looks of the campus now, it's totally disjointed and isn't designed to feed life into the core. 

There was a plan a few years back. Later on, I'll see if I can dig it up a little later. Them adding dorms in the Northbank fits with the concept.

[thelakelander]

Yeah, 125-150 students is a drop in the bucket. You can expect maybe 10 people tops, per school day, to contribute to the restaurants/bars downtown. We need fscj, JU, and UNF to bring at least a few thousand more students downtown to create noticable changes in commerce.

Reality is these people are already downtown and won't be new adds.  This isn't like a university is moving their campus downtown where students from all over the country will be spending their lives 24/7 during the school year.  I wish we did have a downtown university but I don't even know if it is possible in Jax.  The only viable option seems to be FSCJ but they would have to close all their satellite campuses and go on a tremendous building spree downtown to even make a dent, which I don't see them doing.

The only other path would be for the City to start a university but I don't see Jax doing that either.  Oklahoma City tried to add a municipal university to their MAPS package a few years ago but it didn't make the list of projects because the cost to do it was far more than the tax was going to collect. 

It isn't a total loss though as vacant space is being taken up and access to adult/continuing education is a plus for employers who might be enticed to move downtown if their employees are wanting to further their educations.  However, this isn't like a university is moving their campus downtown where students from all over the country will be spending their lives 24/7 during the school year.

I think it's a local pipe dream to imagine a major university being in DT Jax or even UNF doing something to the significant level many here keep mentioning. FSCJ is DT's best chance at engaging students because it's already here. It's just disconnected by State and Union, so the economic benefit is limited. In a way, it's here but it's not. Better connecting FSCJ's main campus and assisting in helping them add more dorms in the Northbank, etc. is a much more realistic outcome than hoping for a relocation of thousands of students to downtown, imo.

[Kerry]

From what I have seen, most of FSCJ investment is in the land they occupy.  They don't have much in the way of facilities.  Maybe they could move to a more desirable location around downtown.