Midtown Centre: The Nation's First Office Park

[Metro Jacksonville]

Midtown Centre: The Nation's First Office Park



Several innovative ideas envisioned and produced in Jacksonville have significantly altered the urban development of our country. Today, thousands of office parks line major highways in cities all across America.  Unknown to most Jaxons, the nation's first suburban office park was developed in Jacksonville in 1957 and still exists today.


Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2013-mar-midtown-centre-the-nations-first-office-park

[vicupstate]

Koger also donated $15 million to the University of South Carolina for it's Performing Arts Center which is named for him.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koger_Center

[Mathew1056]

The implication of this idea has had a significant effect on the world in general, but by knowing this fact it is also easy to see why Jacksonville is the way it is. A strong and early leaning toward suburban growth means that community leaders had a chance to think on this issue first. Unfortunately, being first means you don't get to use the valuable asset of hindsight.

JTA should be user-friendly, it's not. The LGBT community should have rights, they don't. Religious leaders shouldn't be running this city, they do. Suburbs have broken down the traditional idea of a city and turned it into a FOX News oasis. Cities are supposed to be places where people come to exchange ideas. Instead they have turned into prisons, housing consumers in isolation, feeding the corporatocracy. We were bamboozled. We were sold snake oil and we still love it. I could deal with its existence if only I didn't believe that within it lies the seeds of our own destruction.

[Jason]

^ Had a rough morning Mathew? 

[Mathew1056]

Is it that apparent?

[Jason]

  Heh, just looks like the second paragraph included some venting, but trust me, I feel the same pain! 

The article is very intesting and explains a lot about why Jax is the way she is.  IMO, it gives us the opportunity to be on the forefront of correcting our subruban wrongs through the continuation of the Mobility Fee.  We could once again be the model for the rest of the world.

[Wacca Pilatka]

What is now located in the office park space that used to be the art museum?

[thelakelander]

I think it's empty.

[Mathew1056]

@Jason
I completely agree with you. Jacksonville would be better served by a strong transit system. It could be the model for the rest of the world. The current political climate does not allow for that. I'm actually ashamed of my own race. More than any group they are the cause. I'm not sure how to sway them, but a second wave of white flight might get enough of them out to allow other people to get into leadership position to create change. Of course, I'm not advocating that position, but there is a clear disconnect between white and blacks as far as public transit is concerned.

[Overstreet]

Mathew whites aren't the only ones moving to the suburbs.

[Mathew1056]

I understand, but there is a clear correlation to inner city demographics and suburban masses.

[Cheshire Cat]

I had no idea about this first in Jacksonville.  Thanks for sharing!

[ProjectMaximus]

Matthew, if it makes you feel any better I really don't think it's your "race" but just your particular small sample size. There are plenty of mass transit advocates around the country and world who are white.

Washington DC, among many others, is also a good example of the reversal of white flight...higher incomes (including a large percentage of whites) moving back into a predominantly black city...with good mass transit.

[Mathew1056]

Again, I understand that both races participants in advocating for public transit. I was more venting about the overall political climate in Jacksonville. In a way, I think public transit has been used in this city to segregate segments of the population. Those with power and money have utilized JTA to create a modern Jim Crow scenario. It's as bad as red lining.

[spuwho]

Midtown Centre was purchased from Lennar Commercial by Kellogg Development. Kellogg Development then went on to purchase other former Koger properties, Charlotte East in North Carolina and Piedmont Center in Greenville, SC.

Kellogg Development after that sold a majority interest in Midtown Centre to D Group Equities which is run by the Dubon Family of Puerto Rico.

Roger Kellogg of Kellogg Development should get most of the credit of reviving Midtown Center. He spent a lot of time with Suzanne Jenkins and the St Nicholas Community working on ways to better improve the place with local input. They spent alot of time developing a charrette for the area. Unfortunately he was unable to get the rest of his plans afoot before he sold it to D Group.

JTA optimized their routes through the park to accommodate tenants.

Once considered "suburban" it now has become a part of the urban infill ring around downtown Jacksonville.