A Look Inside 220 Riverside

[Metro Jacksonville]

A Look Inside 220 Riverside



MAA takes Metro Jacksonville on a tour of 220 Riverside. Will this be the urban residential project that stimulates the market for more housing in downtown?

Read More: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2015-may-a-look-inside-220-riverside

[Keith-N-Jax]

Looks pretty nice

[CityLife]

Looks great. That is going to be a pretty amazing place for young professionals. Especially single ones.

[thelakelander]

MAA told us that 220 Riverside is drawing just as much interest from families as it is from young professionals. That was pretty good to hear, since it seems that many believe families have no interest in urban living in Jacksonville. The love of urbanism doesn't turn off just because people have kids!

[simms3]

^^^It does depending on how urban your city is.  lol

I would imagine this is a safe area with basically the same school district as Riverside?  I see no change in "urbanity" living here and walking to Fresh Market or living in a condo on the Ortega River and walking to Publix (or a condo on the St Johns right along San jose right near that Publix).  Riverside is still more urban to me, but still super family friendly and affordable and safe.  Just my take.

[thelakelander]

Lol, I just visited friends last month who moved their 11 and 8 year old kids from Jax to Harlem because they felt Jax didn't offer their children enough culture. For the US, that's about as urban as it is going to get, compared to life in Jax. The 11-year-old kid already knows the subway lines better than his mom.

"Urbanity" in Jax is all relative because all of it's still pretty low density. However, there aren't many places in Jax where a certain amount of people can rent a space above 20,000-square-feet of retail/dining and a park, walk to work (assuming you work at Fidelity, BCBS, TU, Haskell, etc.), and be within a block of a full service grocery store, 50,000 additional square feet of retail/dining and the Northbank Riverwalk. As more growth happens, that little node of mixed use activity stand out more in a sprawling city like Jax. Having DT and Riverside/Avondale within short biking/driving distance and direct access to I-10/I-95 are additional positives.

Like the mom who beat her rioting kid in Baltimore, yeah Jax's little slice of urbanity isn't as good as most peer communities, but it's still our little developing node. Might as well enjoy it.

[JaxNative68]

Looks nice. If only I were young, single, without children and not in a morgage already, it would be a great place to live....

[acme54321]

If you worked at one of those businesses there it would be an awesome place to live. 

[simms3]

Lol, I just visited friends last month who moved their 11 and 8 year old kids from Jax to Harlem because they felt Jax didn't offer their children enough culture. For the US, that's about as urban as it is going to get, compared to life in Jax. The 11-year-old kid already knows the subway lines better than his mom.

"Urbanity" in Jax is all relative because all of it's still pretty low density. However, there aren't many places in Jax where a certain amount of people can rent a space above 20,000-square-feet of retail/dining and a park, walk to work (assuming you work at Fidelity, BCBS, TU, Haskell, etc.), and be within a block of a full service grocery store, 50,000 additional square feet of retail/dining and the Northbank Riverwalk. As more growth happens, that little node of mixed use activity stand out more in a sprawling city like Jax. Having DT and Riverside/Avondale within short biking/driving distance and direct access to I-10/I-95 are additional positives.

Like the mom who beat her rioting kid in Baltimore, yeah Jax's little slice of urbanity isn't as good as most peer communities, but it's still our little developing node. Might as well enjoy it.

But I mean that's just exposure.  My point is there isn't necessarily more exposure at this Brooklyn site despite it being closer to downtown.  I would guess kids are most exposed in Riverside around 5 Points, or Springfield, still (relatively speaking).

But I can personally really understand why *most* families don't prefer super urban living, aside from an extreme cost standpoint.  It's nice having kids that are just kids for as long as possible, and from my experience knowing kids who grew up in Manhattan or in the city of SF or other extreme urban environments, they were pretty much grown by 8-10.  I cherish my time as an innocent person not knowing how fucked up the world is.  I would have had a short bout of innocence growing up in Harlem, but I guaranty you that kids who "grow up" in a place like 220 Riverside will be just like kids who grow up in Avondale or San Marco or basically anywhere in Jax.  And that is a huge part of the appeal of a place like Jacksonville, or much of the Sunbelt/suburbia.

[simms3]

If you worked at one of those businesses there it would be an awesome place to live. 

Ugh, working where you sleep.  Not for me.  A little bit of a commute, even if it's a 30 minute walk, is what I need.  But that's just me...

[JaxJersey-licious]

Great to see this place doing well and those pictures look amazing. Now that we know there is demand to live in that area along with some viable retail options and new green space, I was wondering what is the possibility of a developer buying out the Florida Times-Union property and opening that riverfront land for development? Plenty of precedent for doing that with newspapers like the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Boston Herald, Tampa Tribune and others selling off their old places and downsizing. We keep stressing the importance of urban development having connectivity and that piece of land could be that connective link that finally unites Riverside to Brooklyn to the urban core.

[thelakelander]

Lol, I'm black and grew up in the hood and attended public schools my entire life. There was no period of innocence! Train early to give your kids a chance to advance in life in the event they aren't starting off with a silver spoon in their mouth. I've even pondered myself at times if the schools my boys attend are diverse and reflective of real life to my liking.

[thelakelander]

Great to see this place doing well and those pictures look amazing. Now that we know there is demand to live in that area along with some viable retail options and new green space, I was wondering what is the possibility of a developer buying out the Florida Times-Union property and opening that riverfront land for development? Plenty of precedent for doing that with newspapers like the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Boston Herald, Tampa Tribune and others selling off their old places and downsizing. We keep stressing the importance of urban development having connectivity and that piece of land could be that connective link that finally unites Riverside to Brooklyn to the urban core.

Probably zero. There's still a lot of empty space in Brooklyn and DT. That TU building will be there awhile.

[fieldafm]

Great to see this place doing well and those pictures look amazing. Now that we know there is demand to live in that area along with some viable retail options and new green space, I was wondering what is the possibility of a developer buying out the Florida Times-Union property and opening that riverfront land for development? Plenty of precedent for doing that with newspapers like the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Boston Herald, Tampa Tribune and others selling off their old places and downsizing. We keep stressing the importance of urban development having connectivity and that piece of land could be that connective link that finally unites Riverside to Brooklyn to the urban core.

Considering there are three other riverfront sites that are empty, all of which dont have to worry about knocking down an industrial building (remember the TU has a print shop on site)... I'd say none.

[thelakelander]

If you worked at one of those businesses there it would be an awesome place to live. 

Ugh, working where you sleep.  Not for me.  A little bit of a commute, even if it's a 30 minute walk, is what I need.  But that's just me...

My most productive work days are when I work from my home office. You can't beat rolling out of your bed and going into the next room. No commute immediately saves an hour each day, money spent out of lunch and I get more work done without my coworkers around.