Downtown's Most Endangered Historic Buildings

[stephendare]

Let me save other people the trouble here, gentry.  your other posts on redevelopment are just as dumb. 

Lake is an architect, developer and land planner.  All of us have our own careers and experience in the field.  Maybe you should read up about the people you are making assumptions around?

I dunno.  But it seems like you would be making fewer absurd posts if you did.

[thelakelander]

What industry have you been in, blogging?

Yes.  However, if it really matters, I pay my bills through the architectural and planning industry.  Over the years, I've done quite a few projects, ranging from historic restorations and manufacturing facilities to community planning, infill development, marinas and amusement park and even quite a few Jax strip malls.  Now I'm taking a stab at integrating land use with transportation planning.

[stephendare]

And since you are apparently either ignorant on the issues, or relying on other people to be ignorant. let me fill you in on the couple of buildings and projects that you mentioned.

The Schneider Family, a german investment group purchased the Laura Trio some years back hoping to flip the properties, which were still quite tenable.  I think they purchased them from the old Corim Company a swiss firm.  The buildings then entered a period of complete neglect.  In 2000. Council President Matt Carlucci formed the historic preservation task force which several of us on this forum participated in.

In response, the Schneider family began a program of outright blackmail, threatening to demolish the three buildings unless the city purchased them immediately.  

The city relented to the blackmail, purchased the Laura Trio, and then gave them to the Fire and Police Pension Fund in lieu of pension payments.  The Pension Fund then flipped the properties over to Cameron Kuhn as part of his Salvation of Downtown development along Laura Street.

Kuhn, a victim as well as a master of the Real Estate Speculation Bubble lost everything in Jax.

None of the problems you are describing about 'failed grand plans' have anything to do with the Laura Trio.  The Laura Trio remains undeveloped to this day because of speculation and greed, not because of the prohibitive cost of renovating the project.

[stephendare]

The Ambassador Hotel has been continuously owned by Sam Easton since you last stayed in the Hotel.

I know because I have had several discussions with Sanderson and Easton since then.

While Sam himself has thought of renovating the building, he decided that it might be more profitable to try and sell it during the Speculation bubble that ruined the economy.  He didnt, and now if im not mistaken, Eddie Farah has the building and is planning on rolling out what amounts to a downtown real estate empire, and renovating the structure.

He is doing it with his nearly inexhaustible personal fortune, and obviously the numbers must make sense to him.

The real underlying problem on most of the real estate downtown, has always been the over evaluation of the property values in an unimproved state.

[jason_contentdg]

Wow, just wow.

[JeffreyS]

If Eddie Farah wants to renovate the Ambassador I would not bet against it being done.

[Dog Walker]

Eddie may be an ambulance chasing, TV lawyer, but he's OUR ambulance chasing, TV lawyer and we love him.  Local boy made good!

[TheProfessor]

Eddie Farah needs to make up for knocking down the Lerner building.

[JeffreyS]

The Ambassador would more than compensate.