River South: Another project for the Southbank?

[Jax_Developer]

Right! The parcel owner is local though. Seems like a cash grab for a big pocket out of town developer to bully the approval. That’s my concern. Then what..

[acme54321]

The site they show it on is one two parcels, one owned by the Humane Society and the rest JEA.  It would be a really weird location for that kind of development in general.  I live in the adjacent neighborhood so NIMBY and all...

[simms3]

There are dozens of cities with worse conditions than JAX that fair pretty well. In fact.. you can design places to flood. JAX has the triple whammy of lack of flooding infrastructure, lack of central flood planning, and a community that fears flooding. The last point likely being valid bc of the two former... nonetheless.. that land needs to have a purpose. It doesn't now. Given it's location, I would so much rather have this area be utilized and walk back wetland development elsewhere on the river. This area is CCBD... not RLD.

I agree.

[Jax_Developer]

Did some digging.. we shall see how this goes. The parcel already possesses access through an old city ROW with Reed Ave. (It is specified as a causeway.) The ROW is also included on the parcel's legal description. Unless something has changed since 2007 for that ROW (extremely unlikely) the developer doesn't seem to have access issues. With that in mind, I really don't see how this doesn't get pushed for approval. Seems to me too that the developer 'could' even get rewarded for developing this.. Here's why:

- Very clearly was sold with unusable/contaminated soil
- Almost completely surrounded by registered Brownfield's
- Property is still within the CCBD

Between a brownfield & ccbd classification, there are grants/incentives for: planning, cleanup, REV (tax) grants, completion grants, and some smaller ones that just come to mind... With Riversedge being right there too.. and Artea.. seems impossible to stop. The contaminated soil also means the cost of replacing all the soil just got heavily discounted.. making foundations cheaper.

Also not sure which map is right or wrong, but COJ shows the parcel as having large chunks of Flood Zone X. Makes it that much harder to fight when it reaches committee if that is correct.

[thelakelander]

It's real early in the game, the site is in a well known flood prone area, there's potential opposition given COJ's approach to South Shores, and they're still looking for investors. I'm not even sure this is feasible or a good return on investment.

I think this is a case of us stumbling on material not originally intended for public consumption. I'll be interested to see if they make it out of the due diligence phase.

[jaxlongtimer]

With the Channel 4 TV tower so close, residents will be able to microwave their meals on their balconies... 

[Florida Power And Light]

It's real early in the game, the site is in a well known flood prone area, there's potential opposition given COJ's approach to South Shores, and they're still looking for investors. I'm not even sure this is feasible or a good return on investment.

I think this is a case of us stumbling on material not originally intended for public consumption. I'll be interested to see if they make it out of the due diligence phase.

Material not intended for Public Consumption is in Demand..... by the “ Public”..... and Others’.

[acme54321]

With the Channel 4 TV tower so close, residents will be able to microwave their meals on their balconies... 

Lol, but that tower no longer broadcasts.

[jaxlongtimer]

With the Channel 4 TV tower so close, residents will be able to microwave their meals on their balconies... 

Lol, but that tower no longer broadcasts.

I viewed it on Google street view.  It doesn't appear to be the older 1,000+ foot tower but the one there now appears to be covered with microwave and/or satellite dishes.  I figured they are to receive signals from their remote trucks and vehicles I see around town.

[acme54321]

With the Channel 4 TV tower so close, residents will be able to microwave their meals on their balconies... 

Lol, but that tower no longer broadcasts.

I viewed it on Google street view.  It doesn't appear to be the older 1,000+ foot tower but the one there now appears to be covered with microwave and/or satellite dishes.  I figured they are to receive signals from their remote trucks and vehicles I see around town.

Yep, now there are some smaller antennas and the skycam in on it. It's their original broadcast tower as far as I know.  They transmit from one over on Hogan road notw

[Charles Hunter]

With the Channel 4 TV tower so close, residents will be able to microwave their meals on their balconies... 

Lol, but that tower no longer broadcasts.

I viewed it on Google street view.  It doesn't appear to be the older 1,000+ foot tower but the one there now appears to be covered with microwave and/or satellite dishes.  I figured they are to receive signals from their remote trucks and vehicles I see around town.

Yep, now there are some smaller antennas and the skycam in on it. It's their original broadcast tower as far as I know.  They transmit from one over on Hogan road notw

Pretty sure that is not the original WJXT tower. Back in the 1960s, WJXT decorated the full height of the tower with Christmas lights, and my recollection is the tower was tall and skinny - like the WTLV (ne WFGA) tower across the river.

[jaxlongtimer]

^ Yep, it was much taller (1,000 feet tall) than the current one and it was tethered by guy wires, not the triangular structure there now.  See article and pictures below that show parts of the guy wires and the thinner antenna in the background.

Found lots of old pix on the web of WJXT in their prime during the 1960's and 70's.  Was a local and national force, owned by the Washington Post.  Their investigative reporting of local corruption led to indictments and the consolidation of Jax.  Even made Nixon's enemies list after uncovering the racist background of one of his Supreme Court nominees that led to their withdrawal.  Steve Kroft from 60 Minutes also got his start with the station.  Original call letters were WMBR.