New life for Berkman II? Owners seeking Commercial CBD Rezone

[KenFSU]

A few more details from the JBJ:

https://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2018/07/18/new-details-emerge-for-berkman-plaza-ii.html

Following the city's announcement that the half-finished condo tower on the bank of the St. Johns River has been sold to an unnamed developer, fresh details on the site plans have come to light.

The Berkman Plaza II, located at 500 E. Bay St., will be redeveloped into a mixed-use project consisting of a 312-room hotel, a parking garage with around 500 spaces and a riverfront entertainment area with retail and restaurant space.

Robert Ohde, the owner of Wisconsin-based Ohde Construction, which is the the general contractor on the project, said it is expected to cost around $150 million. Once completed, it could bring 900 jobs downtown.

The redevelopment is still in the planning stages, but crews are going to start cleaning up the site in the first part of next week, Ohde said.

Ohde declined to identify the developer behind the project.

[MikeG1479]

Hey All, been visiting this site, (well, Meterojax for a long time) and wanted to chime in on a thread. 

But does anybody have an idea if they're going to build out the remaining floors, or am I stating the obvious?  If they're doing 300 plus units, they would have to complete the remaining 5-6 stories.  Berkman 1 has just over 200 units, if memory serves me correctly.

[Charles Hunter]

Just a guess, but I would suppose that hotel rooms are smaller than residential units, so they could fit more per floor.  Of course, that would require reconfiguration of the plumbing and electrical, assuming they got that far before work stopped.

[DrQue]

Very interesting. Could Khan be involved? It is in Iguana's long term interest to have more continuous development between downtown and their future entertainment district both from connectivity and control standpoints. This might be more or less a stepping stone project.

Also, the Mayor's behind the scenes involvement is intriguing. On one hand Curry is advocating for a new riverfront entertainment hub at this location, while simultaneously trying to destroy the Landing.

[MikeG1479]

I was thinking along the same lines, that they're standard hotel room is a little smaller.  but I know the one bedroom condos aren't that vast either.

[KenFSU]

^It's not Khan/Jags.

[Steve]

I will say....to me if they're doing 300 rooms then they should drop that from the Convention Center RFP. This is your 300 room hotel right there.

[jaxnyc79]

Some points - unless developments include street-level activation in their design, the perception of vibrancy in the core that all seem to want will remain out of reach.  Number two - the jailhouse is just across the street and is awful - but I believe it could be less awful with some form of street level activation - does anyone have ideas as to how that could be accomplished and what sort of street-level use could be featured?  Number 3 - are any backup plans under consideration for old courthouse and annex buildings, why not RFP for non-convention uses as well...I suppose you'd get two different audience pools for responses.

[KenFSU]

^On 3, Curry's got his sights locked on convention center for that space. I don't think he wants a backup plan. Zero percent chance, literally, that the city receives no credible responses to the RFP.

[heights unknown]

Brimming with optimism, all I've got to say is: "GO JAX GO!!!"

[itsfantastic1]

^On 3, Curry's got his sights locked on convention center for that space. I don't think he wants a backup plan. Zero percent chance, literally, that the city receives no credible responses to the RFP.

I really hope that is what ends up there (short of that crazy 700 space garage as part of the RFP). My fear is what they demur on a convention center at that site, go with teardown only option and decide the Shad Shipyards convention center is what they want.

[FlaBoy]

Some points - unless developments include street-level activation in their design, the perception of vibrancy in the core that all seem to want will remain out of reach.  Number two - the jailhouse is just across the street and is awful - but I believe it could be less awful with some form of street level activation - does anyone have ideas as to how that could be accomplished and what sort of street-level use could be featured?  Number 3 - are any backup plans under consideration for old courthouse and annex buildings, why not RFP for non-convention uses as well...I suppose you'd get two different audience pools for responses.

Just a thought, but what about putting the parking garage for this building where the Police/Jail parking lot is now with a little retail at the bottom? The officers have plenty of area to park in the Shipyards while it is built. It is unlikely that any sort of development would go in there while the prison is there, but this would potentially save waterfront from an ugly garage, create some street interaction, and create an additional buffer from the prison.

[Steve]

Some points - unless developments include street-level activation in their design, the perception of vibrancy in the core that all seem to want will remain out of reach.  Number two - the jailhouse is just across the street and is awful - but I believe it could be less awful with some form of street level activation - does anyone have ideas as to how that could be accomplished and what sort of street-level use could be featured?  Number 3 - are any backup plans under consideration for old courthouse and annex buildings, why not RFP for non-convention uses as well...I suppose you'd get two different audience pools for responses.

Just a thought, but what about putting the parking garage for this building where the Police/Jail parking lot is now with a little retail at the bottom? The officers have plenty of area to park in the Shipyards while it is built. It is unlikely that any sort of development would go in there while the prison is there, but this would potentially save waterfront from an ugly garage, create some street interaction, and create an additional buffer from the prison.

I think this makes a lot of sense, and can help set the tone for what we want Bay Street to become.

[KenFSU]

Per the Business Journal:

"It will have a family entertainment center with a water park and amusement rides," said Odhe, whose company has been brought on as the general contractor.

"The amusement park will be like a Dave & Buster's on steroids," he said.

He declined to identify the developer.

In addition to the play areas, Odhe said the now vacant condo tower in Downtown Jacksonville-Riverfront will be renovated into the hotel.

He added that plans also call for several restaurants and a couple of bars, all of which he estimates will require 900 employees to run the resort year-round.

The project should cost about $150 million and take about 18 months to complete, he said, and that the initial phases of cleaning and preparing the property for construction could start as early as next week.

"This is definitely going to be a go-to destination," Odhe said when asked if this resort could compete with the massive competition in Orlando.

Odhe said he and others will be able to disclose more in the coming weeks once the final commitment paperwork has been filed.

[Steve]

Per the Business Journal:

"It will have a family entertainment center with a water park and amusement rides"

Whoa. You're right about 2006. I want to ask so many stupid questions about the water park and rides.

I missed that in the article. I heard entertainment aspect and thought about a couple bars.

To be clear - if someone wants to build a mini Adventure Landing I don't have an issue. The project just sounds really unrealistic at this point unless the developer is someone with a proven track record of this (e.g not the two guys who bought the Ambassador).