Riverfront Jacksonville: $1.1 billion Master Plan

[fieldafm]

I had no idea. Thanks for the history.

In Morgan's notes he writes about the importance of integrating the parking garage within the Daniel building:

"In this building, cars are always on the lower floor and hidden from view- always.  It's a matter of respect for the human being, and that's my first priority- not automobiles; human beings. So I get the cars out of view.  We can't afford parking structures and I don't think they (cars) deserve special structures of their own, but we can afford to integrate them into our buildings so we have an entire ground floor directly accessible to the surrounding streets."

He later lamented that to the immediate East and West, the Daniel building was surrounded by surface parking lots on the riverfront.

[heights unknown]

I like visionary/fantasy renderings...but, I won't hold my breath (we all know how Jax tends to operate and in the end bursting our bubble). Not enough HEIGHT on some buildings...NEED MORE HEIGHT AND TALLNESS. Hope it all pans out and the City along with the developer(s) that they choose or go with, get this thing going. Would love to see most of this done before I meet the Almighty.

[thelakelander]

More renderings:

Plans for Riverfront Jacksonville announced

$1.1B Master Plan Proposed For Jacksonville's Northbank Riverfront.

Read More:https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/plans-for-riverfront-jacksonville-announced/

[jaxjaguar]

Can't wait to see this get scaled back to a generic block base, stick top, 5 story building with some colored rectangles painted around the outside. It looks pretty as most renderings do, but time and time again we've seen things like this come along and either never come to be or get scaled back and budgetized so much they're not recognizable.
 
If this did manage to be built they should really focus on the residential more. 750 units is no where near what a project this size should be. We need a few thousand units. This would naturally incentivize some quality of life businesses to fill in, increase demand for the area and then simultaneously drive the need for more office, residential and hotel space. Gotta build that permanent resident base up as dense and quick as possible to catch those last few fleeing the north and west.

[thelakelander]

^I can't wait to see how the Jag's plan on Thursday will or will not complement this one. Also wondering how AIA's vision for the riverfront fits into this?

AIA Renderings Here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=AIAJacksonville&set=a.4200075806679194

[BridgeTroll]

What??  No aquarium-zipline-amusement park-casino-fuddruckers?

[Wacca Pilatka]

What??  No aquarium-zipline-amusement park-casino-fuddruckers?

Sponsored by Mooneyham

[thelakelander]

Cautious response from the city.....


Steve Atkins expects 'naysayers,' challenges in $1.1 billion riverfront proposal

Atkins said June 1 that the list of city officials he has briefed on his proposal includes Mayor Lenny Curry's Chief Administrative Officer Brian Hughes and Chief of Staff Jordan Elsbury.

Elsbury said that SouthEast's plan needs to go through the DIA process.

DIA board Chair Ron Moody said June 1 that the city agency does not want to discourage ideas about Downtown planning, but the authority has development decisions pending on some of the sites in Atkins' master plan.

"I think an overall plan is important for our city, but at the DIA we've been following a plan to move our city forward," Moody said.

"We have procedures we have to follow and do things the right way so it doesn't become haphazard and it is effective for our Downtown."

Full article: https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/steve-atkins-expects-naysayers--challenges-in-dollar1-1-billion-riverfront-proposal

[Ken_FSU]

Boyer said a DIA-commissioned study show the Duval County jail property as the most optimal for a convention center, but she said the agency welcomes all private development interest in Downtown.

[jaxoNOLE]

Boyer said a DIA-commissioned study show the Duval County jail property as the most optimal for a convention center, but she said the agency welcomes all private development interest in Downtown.

Riiight... you can spend $500 million and get a whole new Northbank, but our DIA's initial response is to show a preference for spending at least that much just to move the jail...plus how much more for the convention center to replace it?

[thelakelander]

^Yes. We have to introduce the realm of reality into downtown master planning. Last time I checked, Fort Lauderdale still has a jail on their river in the heart of downtown. Yet, it is one of the fastest growing central business districts in the state and light years ahead of downtown Jax from a vibrancy perspective. We need to maximize the limited funds we have. Burning a 1/2 billion on the jail before addressing a series of needs that could dramatically enhance the Northbank in the short term is shortsighted at best. Those are the types of moves that only provide credibility to the position of those who believe we spend too much money in downtown. With that said, the reaction was quite different when Kahn proposed his convention center at Metropolitan Park. We blew up a RFP over that one.

[landfall]

Due to the Lot J rip and recent hikes like the gas tax you're going to have in built stubbornness and opposition to these plans with public money requested.  I'd hope any rejig from the Jags on Lot J/Shipyards is something that can be done in conjunction on this, and more willing to demonstrate compromise or cooperation with the tax payer this turn as opposed to a competing proposal for the sake of throwing ones weight around with no real intentions.

I've next to no patience with Spandrel. Other cities round the country fire cookie cutter developments like theirs up in no time. They've screwed around for 15 months doing nothing and refuse to comment.  Sure they won't come up with a half baked plan to stay in the game.

And yeah, let's create another problem and shift the jail. Its not like we have acres of empty land on the riverfront. I'm no lover of the jail location but we have far more prominent issues.

[Ken_FSU]

We need to maximize the limited funds we have. Burning a 1/2 billion on the jail before addressing a series of needs that could dramatically enhance the Northbank in the short term is shortsighted at best.

And yeah, let's create another problem and shift the jail. Its not like we have acres of empty land on the riverfront. I'm no lover of the jail location but we have far more prominent issues.

100% agree. Again, it's the equivalent of a 1-15 Jags team drafting a punter in the 3rd round. We've spent enough money already removing things, and it would be insane to spend $1.5 billion to move the jail and build a new convention center on the site when we could build a new convention center elsewhere for a third of the cost and put that other billion dollars to work elsewhere.

With that said, the reaction was quite different when Kahn proposed his convention center at Metropolitan Park. We blew up a RFP over that one.

Has anyone seen this DIA study Lori Boyer references claiming that - with 70 acres of available riverfront land - the jail is the most optimal space for a convention center?

It's quotes like this that make me think that some kind of secretive fix is still in.

Lori Boyer has been so shifty on this convention center thing.

She personally rejected KGB's most recent proposal for a convention center next to the Hyatt.

Last year, she was floating this location:

Boyer thinks there may be another way to make the Hyatt happy, a way that better serves the city's interests: Instead of building from the Hyatt towards the stadium, build from the Hyatt towards the former site of the Jacksonville Landing, which will soon be bid out for development.

Boyer imagined a convention center engulfing the Hyatt, the Hyatt's parking garage and the Landing's parking lot, heading west along the river instead of north into downtown. If the Main Street bridge ramp running over the parking lot were removed, that would dedicate almost 7 acres to a convention center.

And then, somewhere around the time that all the Lot J stuff was coming to a head, the rumors started that the jail was now the target for a convention center.

Due to the Lot J rip and recent hikes like the gas tax you're going to have in built stubbornness and opposition to these plans with public money requested.

Yep. This is why - in a historically tax averse city that has a ton of infrastructure and quality of life needs - it's a shame that Curry and Zhan poisoned the well on JEA privatization. The windfall from a sale could have rebuilt downtown, paid for stadium upgrades and secured the Jags here for another 30 years, jump-started transportation initiatives, paid for the Emerald Trail, knocked a good chunk out of the septic tank phaseout program, etc. All while preserving the general fund and saving taxpayers hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars in interest by not having to debt-finance this stuff. Still don't know if it would have been a good idea, but would have at least been worth discussing as an option, in the open, as a city.

[Steve]

She personally rejected KGB's most recent proposal for a convention center next to the Hyatt.

I think you meant KBJ. No comment otherwise:)

[Ken_FSU]

She personally rejected KGB's most recent proposal for a convention center next to the Hyatt.

I think you meant KBJ. No comment otherwise:)