Mayor, local leaders to discuss improvements in Downtown Jacksonville

[landfall]

All thats missing is Lamping and some renderings.

Although I made this comment in jest, of course Lamping actually there in the end blowing a load of hot air. These Downtown meetings are almost beyond parody. The same crowd and the same predictable shit time and time again.

[thelakelander]

^Lol are you saying you weren't impressed by the prospects of a 180 room Four Seasons Hotel on the grave of Kids Kampus?!

[landfall]

The Four Seasons WITH Lot J was bold, without it is utter lunacy IMO. If they still want to do something on that shipyards/met park property without Lot J they need a total rethink. Whats the odds on a shovel ever going in the ground for this anyway? Slim I'd say.

[jaxlongtimer]

Nate Monroe hammers home that Downtown planning is adrift as is often stated on the threads herein.

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/columns/nate-monroe/2021/02/24/nate-monroe-downtown-jacksonville-rhetoric-reality-clash-revitalization/4539103001/

....It's not clear, in other words, who actually is in charge of downtown development — Mayor Lenny Curry? Jaguars owner Shad Khan? The City Council? But it's perfectly clear who isn't. That problem, among a few others, is why discussions about downtown revitalization in recent years have taken on a performative and almost alternate-reality quality....

[thelakelander]

^I agree with much of what Nate has posted in this editorial. That meeting really illustrated why we need a real master plan. It came off as the city not really having an idea of what it really wants on its properties and where. No idea if the Kids Kampus space will remain or shift elsewhere. No idea of where the Fire Museum will end up. No idea of when or where a convention center location will end up. No idea of what will happen to the Jacksonville Terminal when that move happens. The claims of a 2015 CRA plan being a master plan fall short as well when we haven't even followed much of the stuff in it either. For example, that CRA plan didn't push for the demolition of the Landing, City Hall Annex and Courthouse sites. If we followed that thing, there are several projects that should be underway be know, that are not. At best, what we have is very ambiguous, which is the opposite of what a good master plan should be.

[vicupstate]

Other than the snippet in jaxlongtimer's post, I have not read any of this column, because I am not a paid subscriber. But I can 'predict' this much. Pretty much everything in it would have been just as true if it had been written in 2018, 2016, 2014, 2009, 2005 or any other year in this century.  Am I right? 

[bl8jaxnative]

The mayor is in charge of the city.  That includes downtown.

The city council is in charge of budget + ordinances.

The DIA is the downtown champion + holders of the vision.

[marcuscnelson]

^This has already been awarded. It was given to GAI.

Just an aside, I had no idea how much work GAI had already done around here. Between a lot of local construction projects and being behind the LaVilla Master Plan, they're really looped in to the area.

And did you all know we have a Master Plan for the design of all the riverfront wayfinding assets? It actually looks pretty nice, if you ask me. Which leads me to wonder why we don't seem to have ever implemented it…

[thelakelander]

Just an aside, I had no idea how much work GAI had already done around here. Between a lot of local construction projects and being behind the LaVilla Master Plan, they're really looped in to the area.

Yes! Let's just say that they've done a great job of positioning themselves well from a political perspective in Jax.

[fieldafm]

And did you all know we have a Master Plan for the design of all the riverfront wayfinding assets? It actually looks pretty nice, if you ask me. Which leads me to wonder why we don't seem to have ever implemented it…

Wayfaring signs for the Riverwalk have been installed over the last two years.

The lighting has been mostly fixed on the Southbank Riverwalk.

Creating a more uniform look on the Northbank (furnishings, lightings, pavers, etc) will take much longer as there isn't much funding for a sweeping, all-at-once makeover.  The plan has been to upgrade these features incrementally whenever new construction (IE the apartments being built next to Baptist Hospital, and the apartments just finished off Bishops Gate Lane in Riverside) or bulkhead repair work takes place.

COJ has actually added quite a bit of amenities over the last several years such as Corkscrew Park and the addition of both kayak launches and floating docks to accommodate either the river taxi or recreational boats).

The plans for Friendship Fountain and the TUPAC park are moving like a glacier.  What's even more mind-numbing about TUPAC area, is that the space could have been activated by a private operator that actually paid rent to COJ about 4 years ago... but were rebuffed as 'construction is expected to start this year'.  That clock is apparently ticking very, very slowly.  Politics...

[marcuscnelson]

I'm aware that signs do exist, my point is that they don't look anything like what's in that master plan. These don't look as elegant as these. Obviously having signs at all is great, and the ones we got aren't terrible or anything, but just personally I find what was proposed a lot more elegant.

[marcuscnelson]

The working group made some recommendations.

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/curry-group-says-millions-needed-for-riverfront-parks-homeless-downtown

Recommended one-time spending:

• $70 million for Riverfront park, Downtown Riverwalk and marina projects over four to five years.

• $20 million to relocate Sulzbacher and for gap funding toward permanent supportive housing for the homeless.

• $12 million for Downtown events; public art; Jacksonville Jazz Festival; and Cultural Council juried art festival.

• $2.2 million for Downtown lighting survey and installation.

Recommended recurring spending:

• $3 million for supportive housing, services and housing vouchers for the homeless.

• $2 million annual for street-level beautification and maintenance.

• $2 million for Downtown activation fund for cultural events.

• $500,000 to streamline efficiency in capital projects.

•  $200,000 for support and expanding college and university-level education in the Urban Core.

[thelakelander]

Curry Chief of Staff Jordan Elsbury said administration officials expect property tax revenue to grow for the fiscal year 2021-22 budget, but it is unclear how much money can be put toward the group’s recommendations.

“As we look at these recommendations, they are going to be a priority of the mayor but the subject to the eligibility of funds is going to be real for us,” he said.

Hopefully, they'll find the necessary funds. Considering we can find solutions to put $378 million into the Skyway and $250 million into Lot J, it should not be impossible.

[Steve]

So let me get this straight - the group has stated

 - Parks and the riverfront is a worthy investment and something we should do, and the cost will be material
 - The Sulzbacher Center is a worthy institution but perhaps not in the best place
 - Events bring people downtown
 - Lighting can always be better downtown

No offense to anyone on this panel, but in reality these are all executives who have demanding jobs. NONE OF THESE CONCEPTS ARE NEW.

We really couldn't articulate these needs without pulling corporate CEOs out of their offices in order to say this?

[thelakelander]

Pretty much. Nothing no one has already known for +20 years.