Old Haskell Building

[acme54321]

Does anyone have the scoop on what's going on with the old Haskell building now that they have moved?  A they recently had a drill rig out in front of the building doing what I can only assume was geotech work, there are a bunch of survey stakes out there, and today there were a group of people meeting out there looking at things.  Seems like something may be afoot with that property!

[jaxlongtimer]

Hope (however vainly) whatever happens there, it is better than another One Riverside with heights right up to the rivers edge.  The Haskell Building is both distinctively curved back from the river over its frontage and tapered down to the waterfront showing a little respect to the river. 

I am guessing it's not long for this world knowing Jax tears down everything older than 25 years, sometimes less.  I also expect its replacement to be ugly and unimaginative like One Riverside.  And, the property has a mature tree canopy that is sure to be leveled.

To add insult to injury, the City will give the developer tens of millions in incentives... for prized premium riverfront, no less.

[JaGoaT]

I used to work in there and always felt the building had a museum vibe, I also think it would be good as food hall.
I'd like to hope it doesn't get demolished and if someone wants to build more condos there's an open lot right next door.

[acme54321]

I used to work in there and always felt the building had a museum vibe, I also think it would be good as food hall.
I'd like to hope it doesn't get demolished and if someone wants to build more condos there's an open lot right next door.

I believe the drill rig was working on that lot too.

[Jankelope]

I feel like there's no way the building isn't eventually turned into more housing of some kind. It would be cool to see if become a museum of some kind...

Wait a minute...don't we need a new building for our Science Museum? 

[Jankelope]

Weirdly, I was kidding, but the Haskell old HQ is 120,000 square feet (basically perfect for MOSH, and more square feet than the current new building proposal). And has parking garage etc.

I mean it's probably not perfect, but what could you build if you put the current $90 million raised purely into exhibits and adapting the building? hmm

[thelakelander]

^I wonder if a good chunk of the money raised is tied to the new museum and site itself? Like, if they attempted to do a cheaper project at the existing museum or a different site, some donors would want their money back.

[Jax_Developer]

I don't see how this property doesn't meet the wrecking ball unfortunently. ~7 acres. The retail around here is prime. I'd also argue that this piece being developed into Mixed-Use has a lot more potential synergy with the area than anything else. One of the few sites that would strongly support it.

[jaxlongtimer]

The Haskell building is sure to be doomed if the American Transtech building goes down.  This was a world class A+ building that many considered as either the first, or close to the first, modern call center in the entire world. It was here that AT&T built, in an amazing single year, a facility that handled the entire breakup of the century-plus old AT&T/Bell System monopoly into multiple companies, the biggest corporate breakup in U.S. history. 

The call center infrastructure eventually became Convergys which provided call center services to its clients.  AT&T leveraged this operation to serve as a demonstration of its emerging call center technologies to sell to the world.

So, aside from its architecture, it should be deemed an historic building in the annals of American business and Jacksonville.  Shame to see it disappear.  It will be looked back upon as a modern day tech version of Henry Ford's Model T factory we recently demolished.

Original AT&T American Transtech campus headed for warehouse redevelopment
The city is reviewing permits for two speculative industrial centers at almost $17 million to replace the 43-year-old Baymeadows property.

A futuristic Baymeadows building developed in 1983 for AT&T American Transtech is in permitting review for redevelopment that includes demolition and new construction.

AT&T American Transtech developed the campus to handle shareholder services for the court-ordered breakup of AT&T, a monopoly that operated the entire U.S. phone system.

Transtech built a three-story, 102,145-square-foot office building and a two-story, 106,275-square-foot computer/telecom data center on 28.29 acres at 8000 Baymeadows Way. It hired 1,300 employees to handle the task of divvying up shares of the seven new companies to AT&T stockholders.

After several ownership transformations through sales, the 43-year-old structure is now in line for demolition to be developed into a warehouse park....

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2026/feb/06/original-att-american-transtech-campus-headed-for-warehouse-redevelopment/

[thelakelander]

^I was surprised to this one being proposed for demolition and warehouses being the replacement. I wasn't aware that it was vacant but I haven't been back there in a while.

[jaxlongtimer]

Here you go... this is a better project than the one they proposed for the School Board property.  And, it shows there were countless other properties available on the river reducing the value of the SB property.

Fleet Landing bets on urban senior housing with downtown Jacksonville high-rise targeting affluent retirees

Fleet Landing is betting that aging Jacksonville residents want skyline views and waterfront access — rather than relocating out of the urban core for aged living care.

The Jacksonville-based continuing care firm has secured the former headquarters of The Haskell Company at 111 Riverside Ave. for a proposed 32-story senior living tower that would cost an estimated $375.9 million to build.

Designed to accommodate about 425 residents and incorporate public-facing amenities along the riverwalk, the project aims to anchor affluent retirees in Riverside, Avondale, Murray Hill and San Marco while drawing new households to the urban core....

...In addition to residential units, the development is designed to activate the riverfront.

A restaurant open to the public will front a landscaped plaza connecting Riverside Avenue to the riverwalk. A 400-seat auditorium will be open to the public for events and available for private rentals. A five-story screened parking garage along Riverside Avenue will include ground-floor retail space....

...The riverfront acquisition comes mere months after Fleet Landing's offer to purchase the Duval County Public Schools' former headquarters along the Southbank fell through — and just days after Chase Properties terminated its agreement with DCPS to buy that property.

In the aftermath of that fallout, Ashby said he received myriad calls from property owners in the urban core offering opportunities to help realize the vision of an urbanized Fleet Landing location.

https://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2026/02/20/fleet-landing-finds-a-home-in-riverside.html?utm_source=st&utm_medium=en&utm_campaign=BN&utm_content=JA&ana=e_JA_BN&j=44249304&senddate=2026-02-20

[Steve]

Interesting project - I like the idea; will be curious the site plan.

[Charles Hunter]

The linked article includes this

Fleet Landing submitted its proposed design for the property to the city's Downtown Development Review Board on Feb. 20. If the plan receives approval, the nonprofit anticipates roughly a year of additional design work before launching a presales campaign intended to "give confidence that the product is accepted in the marketplace."

Looking forward to when the plans are posted as part of a DDRB agenda - March 12 meeting? (not posted as of this morning)

[Ned Plimpton]

The Haskell building sits on 5.3 acres and, when combined with the adjacent vacant lot, there's a total of 8 contiguous acres on the waterfront in Jacksonville's most popular downtown area.  While I like the old Haskell building, it failed to maximize the use of that property.  If all that goes onto this land is a 5 acre tower, it will be a big miss in my opinion.  I too am looking forward to seeing the site plan.

[Joey Mackey]

Interesting, and happy to see the market at work. As a side note, the City should officially remove Brooklyn from the jurisdiction of the DDRB and DIA. Brooklyn can stand on its own two feet now and it doesn't need the oversight or investment packages to succeed.