Ten Story Self Storage Mixed Use Facility Proposed

[acme54321]

That is.... something

[Captain Zissou]

DDRB just approved rezoning this 7 to 1 over the recommendation of denial by the staff.  Can't tell from the article if the 8,500 sf of retail was just added or was included in the staff review.

This was always included in the most recent design.  The space could previously allow for office use based on the proposed PUD, so maybe now it must be retail.  Not sure. 

Very interesting that we go to the trouble of hiring a DDRB staff and then totally ignore their recommendations.

[Charles Hunter]

DDRB just approved rezoning this 7 to 1 over the recommendation of denial by the staff.  Can't tell from the article if the 8,500 sf of retail was just added or was included in the staff review.

This was always included in the most recent design.  The space could previously allow for office use based on the proposed PUD, so maybe now it must be retail.  Not sure. 

Very interesting that we go to the trouble of hiring a DDRB staff and then totally ignore their recommendations.

Who staffs the DDRB - the DIA?, City Planning? their own staff?

[thelakelander]

While I can't really comment publicly on the project since I'm sitting on the DDRB now, the DIA staff is the DDRB staff.

[Charles Hunter]

While I can't really comment publicly on the project since I'm sitting on the DDRB now, the DIA staff is the DDRB staff.

Thanks, that's what I thought, but the way the article was worded it could have meant something else.
Have a good design review meeting.

[fsu813]

Have a good design review meeting.

Use is one thing, design is another. You definitely can put lipstick on a pig in this case. Hoping for less blank exterior walls in the final design. Heck, my house has a realistic faux window on the otherside of my shower wall. This project certainly doesn't require gigantic blank walls.

[Zac T]

DDRB defers vote on conceptual approval, requesting design changes

Developers of the Lofts at Southbank are going back to the drawing board after the Downtown Development Review Board raised concerns about the conceptual design of the mixed-use project, which has drawn opposition from neighbors for including a self-storage operation.

Two days after a special meeting in which the DDRB voted in favor of recommending rezoning for the project, the board deferred a request for conceptual approval from the developers during a regular meeting April 11.

The deferral was granted to give designers time to revise the plans based on input from DDRB members, several of whom criticized aesthetic elements of the design.

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2024/apr/11/southbank-self-storage-mixed-use-project-to-undergo-design-changes/

[jaxlongtimer]

Update... City Council's LUZ committee approves this project, 4 to 3.  The "yes" votes are the traditional and reliable developer's friends on the Council that almost always unquestionably rubber stamp what developers want, no matter the validity of the objections.  Example of what is wrong with money and politics.

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2024/apr/16/luz-committee-endorses-rezoning-for-lofts-at-southbank/

[jcjohnpaint]

Has there been design updates submitted?

[thelakelander]

No. Too early for that.

[acme54321]

Council approved rezoning.  Hopefully the aestetics improve, even if they do though it will get value engineered to death and look like crap in the end.  Such is life.

[jaxlongtimer]

Below is a link to the article.  The 11 "for" votes for this were the typical developer block of friends on the Council.  Same ol', same ol' way Jax operates.  Sad.

To add insult to injury, the Council went on to approve $6 million in incentives for this ridiculous project.  Maybe it will die along with all the other downtown projects of late.  With our luck, this one gets built.  Uuugh!

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2024/apr/23/jacksonville-city-council-approves-lofts-at-southbank-rezoning-despite-community-opposition/

[jaxoNOLE]

Strip away all the BS politicking, and council has achieved 2 things:

• Repeated loud and clear that the zoning code and overlays are meaningless. If an area as sensitive and well-resourced as San Marco can't get the council to respect the code, the rest of the city is hopeless.
• Codify into law a default pro-developer stance by specifying tie votes are not denials. But they aren't passage, either. So controversial, divisive projects get...unlimited mulligans?

Debating whether a tie vote is denial or simply failure to approve is about as close a thing to debating the meaning of the word "is" I've seen in some time. But I Am Not A Lawyer.

The project itself is underwhelming, but what's really upsetting is the ridiculously Jacksonville process it took to get here.

[Charles Hunter]

What "club" does the City have if the DDRB approves a certain design (say "paint the entire building in zebra stripes") and the developer doesn't do what the DDRB approved (say, they paint it solid blue)?

[fsu813]

If an area as sensitive and well-resourced as San Marco can't get the council to respect the code, the rest of the city is hopeless.

This project is in Downtown, not San Marco. Big difference. This project wouldn't be built in San Marco.