The city to sod Jacksonville Landing site

[heights unknown]

Not to belittle Jacksonville because it is my city, and yes I am a dense downtown, urban, and tall/skyscraper fan, so here goes; Tampa is building, right now, two 600+ towers one on the Hillsborough River (both taller than Jax's BOA), and another one within the downtown core (can't remember the exact location). Not to be in competition with anyone, but Jax used to have the tallest building between Miami and Atlanta, well, with so much progress going on in downtown Tampa, and off the chain construction, THAT is being wrested away from Jacksonville. My point? Our downtown and urban core seems to be stagnant and not moving at all. And again, it shouldn't be a competition thing, or who has the most super tall or tall towers, or any of that; but what the hell is wrong with progress? Success? Density? Vibrant downtown and urban core? NEW construction of projects? NOTHING, of real and progressive significance seems to be proposed, moving, or planned in downtown Jax. It appears that the Leaders in Jax, or even the City as a whole, is scared, fearful, and frightful of being the big City that Jacksonville is or even wants to be. I just hope that I get to see a flurry and cauldron of numerous projects, soon, be constructed, piercing the skyline of Jacksonville in dense numbers, very soon, before I am laid to rest; but I fear that it will never happen. Wake up Jax; be the #1 City in Florida that you want to be, should be, was in the past, and deserve to be if you really want it!

[avonjax]

But sodding the old Landing site is such progress.

[avonjax]

I know most of you are going to chuckle, or even get cracked ribs from reading what I am about to say...….but here goes: Unless they build a 60 story, 900 or more foot skyscraper on that piece of land/parcel, ensuring that it doesn't block BOA or the Wells Fargo building, I will not be completely happy. Minimum? 20 stories 350 feet or more. Now if they build something similar to the landing, but with residential and office included, THAT will also make me happy. Otherwise, THEY need to take a hike!

No matter what they do it will be scaled back to near oblivion. This is Jax. Every project seems to shrink in size suitable for Lake City.

[avonjax]

Who wants to take bets on how long the Doro site will be an empty lot? It's very sad for me.

We just blew up our economy.  A lot of lots and a lot of buildings are going to be empty for a long time.

I'd encourage folks to focus on things that are working and build off of those.  JAX may not have the sort of downtown urbanistas dream about.  But it does have a lot of great neighborhoods.   What can be done to build off of that?

Think of it like Walmart.  They know their customer service is mediocre.  They know their store ain't pretty.  They're okay with that.  They just keep focusing on what they're doing well. 

What disgusts me is it didn't have to be like this.

[heights unknown]

Who wants to take bets on how long the Doro site will be an empty lot? It's very sad for me.

We just blew up our economy.  A lot of lots and a lot of buildings are going to be empty for a long time.

I'd encourage folks to focus on things that are working and build off of those.  JAX may not have the sort of downtown urbanistas dream about.  But it does have a lot of great neighborhoods.   What can be done to build off of that?

Think of it like Walmart.  They know their customer service is mediocre.  They know their store ain't pretty.  They're okay with that.  They just keep focusing on what they're doing well. 

What disgusts me is it didn't have to be like this.

Amen AVONJAX amen; it hurts me to say this, but Jax is not a city of over 900,000 people. Just the other day, I went and did a general tally of the current population of Jax relative to the zip codes around and within the old city limits (which was small to today's standards); and...I know, and understand that had Jax not consolidated, it is possible that it may have annexed quite a few areas outside of the old city limit boundaries. A rough tally of Jax's population now that I got from the zip codes within the old city limits? About 198,000, and, many of those zip codes extended outside of the old city limit boundaries (I guess they changed along the way), so really, THAT was being generous. I would guess, and this is only a guess, that if Jax had annexed other areas outside and around the old city limits, we might be talking about a population possibly close to Tampa's (possibly), maybe around 350,000; and that sounds about right. But the way the City acts, behaves, bumbles about, and gets nothing done, we are not a city of over 900,000 people. And lastly, our skyline and the state of our downtown and urban core, and the City as a whole, screams that fact.

[vicupstate]

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/dia-to-start-search-jan-20-for-firms-to-design-park-at-former-jacksonville-landing-site

The Downtown Investment Authority will issue a request for proposals Jan. 20 for public park space designs at the former Jacksonville Landing, according to CEO Lori Boyer.

The Professional Services Evaluation Committee of the city Procurement Division approved the DIA’s plan Jan. 14 to select three firms that will submit designs for a minimum 4.5-acre riverfront park/plaza.

The DIA plans to return to the committee with the three-firm shortlist for approval by March 25, according to the memo.

The design proposals are expected to take 10 weeks to deliver and the DIA will select the winner by Sept. 30, according to the memo.

The city’s fiscal year 2021-22 budget includes money to replace the St. Johns River bulkhead at the Landing site and the draft DIA documents state the city is considering realigning Water Street and Independent Drive to create more space for the park/plaza.

Maybe I am just forgetting but this is the first I remember hearing about realigning the streets. 

[fieldafm]

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/dia-to-start-search-jan-20-for-firms-to-design-park-at-former-jacksonville-landing-site

The Downtown Investment Authority will issue a request for proposals Jan. 20 for public park space designs at the former Jacksonville Landing, according to CEO Lori Boyer.

The Professional Services Evaluation Committee of the city Procurement Division approved the DIA’s plan Jan. 14 to select three firms that will submit designs for a minimum 4.5-acre riverfront park/plaza.

The DIA plans to return to the committee with the three-firm shortlist for approval by March 25, according to the memo.

The design proposals are expected to take 10 weeks to deliver and the DIA will select the winner by Sept. 30, according to the memo.

The city’s fiscal year 2021-22 budget includes money to replace the St. Johns River bulkhead at the Landing site and the draft DIA documents state the city is considering realigning Water Street and Independent Drive to create more space for the park/plaza.

Maybe I am just forgetting but this is the first I remember hearing about realigning the streets.

The only way to do that and be of any difference from past redevelopment proposals, would be to encroach upon Sisters Cities plaza. Which, although now privately owned, has an expired development agreement with COJ.

https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/repealing-deception-the-landing-and-public-engagement-page-3/

https://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2013-dec-the-jacksonville-landings-redevelopment-plan

[heights unknown]

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/dia-to-start-search-jan-20-for-firms-to-design-park-at-former-jacksonville-landing-site

The Downtown Investment Authority will issue a request for proposals Jan. 20 for public park space designs at the former Jacksonville Landing, according to CEO Lori Boyer.

The Professional Services Evaluation Committee of the city Procurement Division approved the DIA’s plan Jan. 14 to select three firms that will submit designs for a minimum 4.5-acre riverfront park/plaza.

The DIA plans to return to the committee with the three-firm shortlist for approval by March 25, according to the memo.

The design proposals are expected to take 10 weeks to deliver and the DIA will select the winner by Sept. 30, according to the memo.

The city’s fiscal year 2021-22 budget includes money to replace the St. Johns River bulkhead at the Landing site and the draft DIA documents state the city is considering realigning Water Street and Independent Drive to create more space for the park/plaza.

Maybe I am just forgetting but this is the first I remember hearing about realigning the streets. 

And...that's why I'm inclined to believe, because of the addition of the City considering to realign water street, that this "park thing" on the Landing site will be permanent; i.e., IMO, if they go through with the Park, nothing else will be built or developed on that property.