Author Topic: Two solid new initiatives from the DIA  (Read 3059 times)

Ken_FSU

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1731
Two solid new initiatives from the DIA
« on: October 12, 2024, 11:00:59 AM »
JWB/Alex Sifakis advocating for street-front activation along Laura Street (something that's been noted here many times over the years as an urgent need) and pulling in the DIA to help formalize an incentive package for doing so. Really great stuff, particularly as we start investing more heavily in park space at JWJ and Riverfront Plaza.

Quote
Efforts to activate downtown focus on Laura, Hogan streets

full story: https://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2024/10/09/laura-street-activation.html

Sifakis is advocating for street-front activation along Laura Street by talking to office tower owners and bringing a restaurant to his own project at the Greenleaf Building.

Two of the prominent towers among Jacksonville’s skyline are 1 Independent Square, previously known as the Wells Fargo tower, and the Bank of America tower, both of which are on Laura Street. Both buildings have retail on their ground floors, but those retail spaces are internal — it’s not turned to the street.

“All of the towers that KBJ built, almost all the high rises, they all have ground floor retail,” Sifakis said, “but they did not turn the retail to the street; they turned it interior to the building, which is insane.”

But that could be an easy fix.

Sifakis proposes placing a couple exterior doors as an inexpensive way to activate Laura Street with ground-floor retail.

And the DIA agrees.

It has drafted a targeted Laura-Hogan focus area initiative to direct its staff to assign priority to public and private projects along Laura and Hogan streets to create a food and beverage district. This initiative will be discussed at the Strategic Implementation Committee Tuesday afternoon.

The focus area along Laura and Hogan streets stretches from Riverfront Plaza to City Hall. It includes 12 blocks with frontages on about 51 parcels. By prioritizing projects in this corridor, it can create a concentrated sense of activation, safety and vibrancy, according to the DIA staff report.

DIA staff listed a number of buildings that fall within the defined area and outlined potential improvement opportunities for each, prioritizing existing buildings first.

It also mentions a potential program to incentivize property owners to turn their buildings “inside out,” which could be used for those office towers to take their inward facing retail outside on Laura Street.

Also, the DIA has proposed a smaller scale incentive program to help rapidly build up additional residential within the CBD, with a focus on retail frontage, particularly along the Emerald Trail.

Quote
New residential-focused incentive program considered for downtown

full story: https://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2024/10/11/dia-proposes-new-residential-core-incentive.html

The Downtown Investment Authority will consider implementing a new incentive program five months after the Special Committee on the Future of Downtown prompted efforts on how to best jumpstart downtown revitalization.

That new program takes aim at increasing both residential density and retail existence in downtown. The incentive is applicable to the “core” — a limited geographic area on the Northbank defined as Broad Street to the west, State Street to the north, Liberty Street to the east and the St. Johns River to the south. The program will be limited with a goal of 1,500 units in mixed-use developments in the next three years to activate downtown.

A residential program targeted at the urban core came at the request of City Council member Joe Carlucci, who sits on the special committee. The DIA has collaborated with stakeholders in the development community to create a program designed to generate rapid residential development.

The incentives would combine a completion grant, paid out at the issuance of a temporary certificate of occupancy, and a recapture enhanced value grant paid over a maximum of 20 years.

Developments under this program will not be subjected to the return on investment requirement of 1:1 and can’t be used in conjunction with the Downtown Preservation and Revitalization Program.

The maximum amount for a completion grant will depend on the number of residential units per acre. The staff report shows 16 to 40 units per acre earning $15,000 per unit up to 176 to 400 units per acre receiving a maximum of $35,000 per acre.

The incentive amount per unit increases in a tiered approach, in which each tier is additive to the previous. But developments that provide 176 units or greater per acre will be awarded a base rate of $35,000 per unit if it requires Type 1 or 2 construction, making it a high-rise requiring concrete and a different fire code.

Two- and three-bedroom apartments are scarce in downtown, DIA CEO Lori Boyer told the Business Journal. The staff report for the residential program includes a size bonus in which two-bedroom units receive a multiple of one-and-a-half times the base amount and three or more bedrooms receive two times the amount. Projects that provide 20% or more units of two- or more bedroom units are also eligible for an accelerated REV grant.

Besides density, workforce housing needs to be encouraged as well. The potential program would give a boost not to exceed more than 20% of total units to incentivize those with rents capped at the Florida Housing Finance Corporation limits for those making less than 80% or 120% of the area median income. For a single-bedroom unit, the program would provide $15,000 at the 80% AMI level and $12,500 at the 120% AMI; a two-bedroom apartment could receive $22,500 or $17,500 dependent on the AMI.

Riverfront, creekfront or developments adjacent to the Emerald Trail are not eligible for the affordable/workforce housing bonus. After a total of 400 workforce units have been awarded with this boost, it will no longer be available unless further approved by City Council.

To qualify for any of this funding, all developments must adhere to retail requirements, which include not decreasing or converting existing first-floor retail to a non-retail use, having 100% retail frontage for storefronts on the Emerald Trail, 80% for primary streets and 60% for secondary streets.

I really like both initiatives, and they're good examples of the types of fundamental blocking-and-tackling initiatives that will help the CBD much, much more over the long term than subsidizing a single "silver bullet" style project on the outskirts.

jcjohnpaint

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1577
  • Jason John- www.jasonjohnart.com
    • Jason John Website
Re: Two solid new initiatives from the DIA
« Reply #1 on: October 12, 2024, 04:22:37 PM »
This is a great idea. Sites like the Wells Fargo building look like a bunker from 3 sides. I really wish there was a master plan outlining the places retail corridors should go. I know this would be pretty hard to control, but it really feels like nobody is on the same page with this issue. Just thinking of the parking garage addition on Bay at the Skyway station. Also the garage on Hogan and Bay.

fsu813

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1662
Re: Two solid new initiatives from the DIA
« Reply #2 on: October 12, 2024, 06:40:47 PM »
As of a couple months ago, the Banyan property manager (1 Independent Square) was more concerned with keeping people out vs finding ways to get people in. Hopefully that perspective will change with this effort.
« Last Edit: October 12, 2024, 06:42:30 PM by fsu813 »

thelakelander

  • The Jaxson
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 35209
    • Modern Cities
Re: Two solid new initiatives from the DIA
« Reply #3 on: October 13, 2024, 12:06:59 AM »
I really like both initiatives, and they're good examples of the types of fundamental blocking-and-tackling initiatives that will help the CBD much, much more over the long term than subsidizing a single "silver bullet" style project on the outskirts.

I love it. That's something that has been discussed here for well over a decade now. Glad to see the idea of flipping ground floor retail to the street finally pick up some steam.
"A man who views the world the same at 50 as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.” - Muhammad Ali

acme54321

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3124
Re: Two solid new initiatives from the DIA
« Reply #4 on: October 14, 2024, 11:46:07 AM »
What if Haskell is going to be an anchor tenant of one of the currently unbuilt office buildings at Riverside Edge?  Wishful thinking but that would be cool.

Joey Mackey

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 56
Re: Two solid new initiatives from the DIA
« Reply #5 on: October 15, 2024, 03:57:22 PM »
Looks like Back to the Grind on Hogan Street closed up shop.

thelakelander

  • The Jaxson
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 35209
    • Modern Cities
Re: Two solid new initiatives from the DIA
« Reply #6 on: October 17, 2024, 06:49:45 AM »
Yes, they have closed.
"A man who views the world the same at 50 as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.” - Muhammad Ali

marcuscnelson

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2316
  • Gen Z - Tired of the status quo
Re: Two solid new initiatives from the DIA
« Reply #7 on: October 25, 2024, 10:42:33 AM »
So, to the young people fighting in this movement for change, here is my charge: march in the streets, protest, run for school committee or city council or the state legislature. And win. - Ed Markey

jaxlongtimer

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3613
Re: Two solid new initiatives from the DIA
« Reply #8 on: October 25, 2024, 03:08:10 PM »
^ There is official confirmation that Citizens Insurance is leaving Downtown embedded in this article.  Note the reasons cited.  I would speculate that the "lack of street level activation" is a diplomatic cover for a range of sins from concerns over crime to hassles by panhandlers based on comments by other Jaxson posters.
Quote
Also, the resolution notes that “a major corporation” chose not to renew its lease in its City Center building for reasons that included a lack of dining options and street-level activation.

That corporation is Citizens Property Insurance Corp., which since 2015 has operated at EverBank Center at 301 W. Bay St. It is seeking new space in South Jacksonville.

jaxlongtimer

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3613
Re: Two solid new initiatives from the DIA
« Reply #9 on: October 25, 2024, 03:28:39 PM »
JWB/Alex Sifakis advocating for street-front activation along Laura Street (something that's been noted here many times over the years as an urgent need) and pulling in the DIA to help formalize an incentive package for doing so. Really great stuff, particularly as we start investing more heavily in park space at JWJ and Riverfront Plaza.

I am starting to believe that JWB is the real DIA and Alex is its director.  JWB and its partners have done more to influence changes to Downtown in the last few years than DIA or its predecessors have in decades.