Retail Development Proposed for Brooklyn

[Metro Jacksonville]

Retail Development Proposed for Brooklyn



The long anticipated Brooklyn infill retail project proposed by Fuqua Development of Atlanta appears to be moving forward. Plans, which include a grocery store, pharmacy and restaurant outparcels have been submitted to the Downtown Development Review Board for conceptual review.


Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2013-apr-retail-development-proposed-for-brooklyn

[JeffreyS]

Glad to see these things come to Brooklyn but a bit suburban in design.

[JayBird]

Very suburban feel to it IMO.  Hopefully DDRB will keep in mind the connectivity to downtown and Riverside mass transit connections when approving these projects.  That being said, this is great news.  Those blocks between Park and Riverside have been empty for too long. 

[simms3]

This is an exciting project!  I think it builds on the success of similar retail in Riverside (developed by Sembler, where Fuqua came from).  Fuqua has relationships in this city through the Riverside development, which is why I think he is pursuing this development.

I still caution everyone to be on the lookout.  Fuqua came from Sembler.  He is a generic retail guy, out to make a certain kind of return for he and his investors over trying to "create a sense of place" for purely personal return and satisfaction.  He has relationships with Walmart (think Neighborhood Market if Fresh Market doesn't pan out).  He is not loved by the citizens of Atlanta or Denver (in both cities he has literally spurred full on riots and caused such an uproar among people that city councils had no choice but to block all of his development attempts).

[thelakelander]

I'm not sure something like a Neighborhood Market would be bad for the area if the Fresh Market rumors don't plan out. That combined with a CVS/Walgreens as anchors would resolve a huge need in this particular area of downtown.  While I'm not crazy about the site plan, I can see there are some major challenges, such as easement locations that increase some setbacks from Riverside Avenue. However, there may be some concepts utilizing fencing/gates, landscaping and outdoor seating that could make the site plan more pedestrian scale and attractive from Riverside Avenue.  I'd also be interested to find out what it will actually take to get the skyway connected to this development. Otherwise, downtown residents from the Northbank and Southbank will still have to drive to access this development, which goes against the concept of urban living.

 

[mbwright]

It looks like the distance from transportation to the stores will be a bit far.  I would think closer would be better.  Many developers go the path of least resistance, and most profit.  I am sure there were reasons for no love in Denver and Atlanta.  Hard to get too excited about more generic development, but it is better than empty lots.

[PeeJayEss]

It would be awesome to have a Fresh Market though...

Did Fuqua put that "Future Skyway" stuff in there to prod the city a bit?: "We'll build this if you finish this..."

[thelakelander]

I'm going to go to the meeting today since it should be interesting to learn more about these developments but my guess is they included the future skyway stuff to assist in an argument for why some buildings have to be setback from the street.  One perspective rendering missing from the presentation is what the project will look like from Riverside Avenue.  I think that's more important than what the interior parking lot looks like.

[tufsu1]

color me less than impressed with the site design...I'm sure the view from Riverside is missing because it wouldn't be pretty....sure hope DDRB makes them urbanize that a bit

[duvaldude08]

Yeah. I was not very happy about the site design for the retail. It would suck to have this crap slapped right next to two developments like 220 Riverside and Riverside Park

[Tacachale]

The layout's not impressive, but it will be nice to have that stuff in that area. I think some of it could be fixed with some minor changes, perhaps having the buildings on Riverside in the left parcel face the street rather than the parking lot. The setbacks for the skyway shouldn't be as much of an issue; looks like it will just be a wider sidewalk.

[fieldafm]

I'm going to go to the meeting today since it should be interesting to learn more about these developments but my guess is they included the future skyway stuff to assist in an argument for why some buildings have to setback from the street.  One perspective rendering missing from the presentation is what the project will look like from Riverside Avenue.  I think that's more important than what the interior parking lot looks like.

Highly interested (and nervous from the look of those site plans) as well.  Text me a pic when your there!

[simms3]

Well given that Riverside Ave has become a sort of arterial road for commuters rushing home from DT to R-A-Ortega, it does make a bit of sense that Fuqua treat the road similarly to how he would treat San Jose Blvd or Southside.  Had the city been smart about how it redesigned Riverside Blvd to accomodate the more urban developments now proposed or UC nearby, then perhaps we would be hearing proposals for more urban appropriate retail (read: mixed-use) developments along the busy road.

Of course Fuqua is incorporating Skyway into his design.  He incorporated the Beltline into one of his strip designs in Atlanta and the people saw right through that and got the City to not approve a development of his based on the conflict of walkability and parameters set for new developments along the Beltline (I don't believe there are design parameters set to coincide with the Skyway...i.e. TOD parameters, etc).

[thelakelander]

From what I can tell, the only incorporation of the Skyway is not building within the reserved easement. In a similar fashion, the pharmacy is set back because of the May Street easement. Nevertheless, that easement could be a pedestrian friendly linear green space featuring courtyards from the outparcel restaurants lining it.  In the event JTA ever did extend the skyway, the station would probably block the surface lot and visibility of the grocery store from Riverside Avenue.

[Riverrat]

Straight up suburban design. I hope there is more thought put in to it at some point in the process. Exciting to have this move forward, but lets not jump the gun just to fill a (prime) piece of real estate. There is huge potential here.