The Tennyson

[Florida]

Hows about an update:

Crews are now applying the stucco.

They also continue to install doors and windows.

Its still very exciting watching the Tennyson's progress.

[csmurphy8885]

Good work getting in there to capture the details. I only see her from afar. I like the yellow though.... stands out!

[97preludesh]

Good work getting in there to capture the details. I only see her from afar. I like the yellow though.... stands out!

imagine if we didnt have these condos, our downtown would be so pansy, lol

[Florida]

Yeah that's gonna be my new thing whenever I've got to turn Moderator on you peeps(myself included)!

[Florida]

Update from the Tallahassee Democrat

The Tennyson, Tallahassee's downtown condo project, is still on schedule despite interruptions by Hurricane Katrina that destroyed the Biloxi, Miss., offices of the company building the condo.

Still, said condo developer Sonny Granger, tenants will move in in early January.

Dry wall is being hung, the lobbies and elevators are going in, and stucco is being put on the exterior.

Retail tenant agreements are also being worked out, but Granger doesn't want to say yet who they are with

[Florida]

A Fresh look @ The Tennyson's Progress

The Stucco is being applied to the exterior, notice the windows are almost completely installed.

[csmurphy8885]

slowly the yellow is leaving.... too bad. The yellow is like a highlighter for new projects skyline impact! BUt i suppose a finish product is money.

[Relient J]

Thanks for the photos! It's great to see how this is coming.

[Florida]

I was watching the Downtown episode of CityTalk today on WCOT and I think you're right... we won't really see the true impact until we see the finished product... the retail follows the people... just imagine what will come.

[cityboy05]

I don't know if it is just me but everytime I think about stucco I think of graphite, and mud being thrown to walls. I really wonder how this project is going to turn out, and if they will keep up with exterior cleaning. In my opinion I think stucco is like the easiest to get dirty.

[poonther]

Regular pressure washing does the trick for dirty stucco. I love stucco and don't care for brick.

[Florida]

Its quite possibly the easiest to clean also... pressure wash.

When you consider the elements, its probably just as easy to get dirty as anything else. But a quality application of Stucco material can be very nice.

[Tallahassee.S]

Granger was giving a speech not to long ago and he's looking at more properties within Tallahassee. Sales have been a huge success and the building brokeground way ahead of schedule.

Got to hand it for Sonny for taking a chance by being the first to propose a downtown condominium. Other developers have taken note of the success and now there is a handful planned in the area.

The more people living downtown, the better.

[jpl02]

The condos are great.....but I'm skepitcal in their being an instrument in a "18 hour" downtown. Let's look at the people buying these condos. I bet a good number of them are legislators and other politicians who only spend a few months out of the year here. These aren't the kind of people that make an 18-hour downtown.

[celebrated]

The condos are great.....but I'm skepitcal in their being an instrument in a "18 hour" downtown. Let's look at the people buying these condos. I bet a good number of them are legislators and other politicians who only spend a few months out of the year here. These aren't the kind of people that make an 18-hour downtown.

There was an article in the Democrat a few months ago that quoted 70% of their sales to date were to people who will be living there full-time. The remaining 30% were for investments. IMHO 70% would be a good start for an 18 hour downtown.

[Tallahassee.S]

From what I heard, it's mainly been investors. It would be ideal for politicians, lobbyists, and teachers on short-term stays.

As for an 18-hour downtown.. is that realistic at this point? What reason would anyone have for being downtown outside of office hours?

The new condos will help put a couple more people on the street, but what's really needed is some retail along with a much higher densities for it to be viable off foot traffic.

I doubt Tallahassee will be able to achieve such densities.

Just my two cents.

[poonther]

After work hours in downtown Tally you can currently:

eat at a few restaurants including the new Harry's on Kleman

get coffee at Tally's best coffeehouse, Kool Grindz on Park

catch a flick at the Imax

get drinks at Paradigmn (sp?)

on Saturdays visit the Market Place

and more

and hopefully in the future there will lots more to do. Now I don't think downtown will rapidly transform into an 18 hours downtown, but hopefully in time it will get slowly better.

Me, I'd rather spend my time in the uniquiness that is downtown that at most boring same ole same ole strip malls and chain restaurants in suburbia.

[AlaninTally]

Part of making downtown a "happening" place is to make it a unique destination. It needs to provide restaurants, shopping, nightclubs, etc...that you cannot find in the hinterlands of the suburbs. A lot of the places Poonther mentions fulfill that requirment. Although Kool Grindz needs later hours!

If Tallahassee capitalizes on the unique nature of downtown, it will be a more attractive destination.

The condos can only be a good thing in bringing in people who will eventually demand that these outlets be at their doorstep.

[Florida]

From what I heard, it's mainly been investors. It would be ideal for politicians, lobbyists, and teachers on short-term stays.

As for an 18-hour downtown.. is that realistic at this point? What reason would anyone have for being downtown outside of office hours?

The new condos will help put a couple more people on the street, but what's really needed is some retail along with a much higher densities for it to be viable off foot traffic.

I doubt Tallahassee will be able to achieve such densities.

Just my two cents.

I heard just the opposite. Yes a few specs and investors, but most from what I've heard have been actual occupiers, who can't wait to move in. Our downtown housing market study shows over 1500 people desire to live downtown, to date we've got 700 units under construction, or in the pipe line. I'm more than confident that once the initial downtown residents move in, others will see the charms and benifits of living downtown and want to follow suit.

18-Hour downtown would likely run from 6am-12am or 7am-1am... I don't see any reason why this isn't within reach for us... people wake early in the morning to coffee and breakfast, and stay up late at night for some entertainment and dining... yes its within our grasp... Tallahassee is a progressive city.

Of course I do agree with the higher density! I think thats a must, and I hope anyone planning to develop in our downtown understands this also... I will pitch a protest is anything else is proposed.

[Florida]

The condos can only be a good thing in bringing in people who will eventually demand that these outlets be at their doorstep.

I think you're right Alan...

With the downtown its tough to really figure which direction to go... does the chicken come before the egg? Does the housing come before the retail? I think the housing dows. Which is why I'm so optimistic about the promise of some retail...

The housing development will catch the attention of retailers, good retailers, who will find the downtown offices to be very supportive... this will cause a chain reaction, from those wanting to add more housing to be convienant to the retail, to those adding more office space to get closer to where employees live.

Just my personal thought.

[Tallahassee.S]

I think you're right Alan...

With the downtown its tough to really figure which direction to go... does the chicken come before the egg? Does the housing come before the retail? I think the housing dows. Which is why I'm so optimistic about the promise of some retail...

The housing development will catch the attention of retailers, good retailers, who will find the downtown offices to be very supportive... this will cause a chain reaction, from those wanting to add more housing to be convienant to the retail, to those adding more office space to get closer to where employees live.

Just my personal thought.

I agree but it's going to take a lot more housing for retail to pop up. There is not a lot of space for parking, so any new retail would primarily rely upon foot traffic. Even if downtown were to attract a thousand new residents, that's barely enough to support anything beyond a Subway or McDonald's.

From a major retailers point of view, it's probably better to skip downtown and instead look for a nearby location with can provide plenty parking.

[Florida]

I look at places like Harry's, Cool Grindz, Andrews, Po Boys and think there should be more of the same... people love those places.

If all new developmens would incorporate adequate parking, and can be built along some transit route... I see no reason why they can't be located in the downtown area.

I think the main goal is to shoot for entertainment, and dining venues and HOPE that small markets pop up.

[Tallahassee.S]

I heard just the opposite. Yes a few specs and investors, but most from what I've heard have been actual occupiers, who can't wait to move in.

I've heard the opposite from a professor. Speculators aren't necessarily a bad thing and investors help increase the rental supply. The important thing is the tower is sold well though so there will be few vacant units either way.

Our downtown housing market study shows over 1500 people desire to live downtown, to date we've got 700 units under construction, or in the pipe line. I'm more than confident that once the initial downtown residents move in, others will see the charms and benifits of living downtown and want to follow suit.

That's good news. The more, the better.

18-Hour downtown would likely run from 6am-12am or 7am-1am... I don't see any reason why this isn't within reach for us... people wake early in the morning to coffee and breakfast, and stay up late at night for some entertainment and dining... yes its within our grasp... Tallahassee is a progressive city.

I'm one of the few who actually lives near downtown. I think that's far too optimistic based on my personal observations. Even with the office crowd, it's mainly just auto trips. Pedestrian traffic is minimal.

A good rule of thumb I use is to look at random streetlevel photos from different cities. Those photos with pedestrians walking around usually mean the city has an active, animated downtown. Other photos with not a pedestrian in sight is usually a sign that the downtown is more or less dead. I hate to say it but Tallahassee currently falls in the latter category.

New development helps but it's not enough. The auto-centric culture will have to change first in my humble opinion.

[Tallahassee.S]

I look at places like Harry's, Cool Grindz, Andrews, Po Boys and think there should be more of the same... people love those places.

If all new developmens would incorporate adequate parking, and can be built along some transit route... I see no reason why they can't be located in the downtown area.

I think the main goal is to shoot for entertainment, and dining venues and HOPE that small markets pop up.

Transit would have to be greatly improved first. Simply running a bus down a street will not promote urbanity. Also the land downtown sells at a premium. The cost/benefit of providing adequate parking for a major retailer in the downtown area is not feasible. They would be better off in suburban areas where land and property taxes are cheaper.

In my humble opinion, for their to be real downtown retail, it's gotta have some foot traffic component as a base.

[Florida]

Indeed it is no secret that we have a sleepy downtown, overall. That's what we're hopefully working toward changing. You'd be amazed at the impact just the 90 units sold at the Tennyson, and the residents that will occupy them, will create in our percieved sleepy downtown.

Surely there will be drastic changes on Kleman Plaza and the chain of parks once the projects on the plaza are completed.

As far as the Tennyson Condo sales are concerned, I think your professor was making a general assumption as they often do, on the Tennyson condo sales. I'm sure he didn't mention that the Tallahassee center is nearly 90% sold to FSU alumni, or how already over 105 units have sold at Plaza Tower, mainly to politicians and lobbyist. I've inquired personally on this matter, and I've been assured that most units have sold to actual future residents. Although it really doesn't matter to me so long as they sell and continue to build.

The Pedestrian is going to bring downtown to life, no doubting that. It is my hope that our condo development downtown will help to reduce overall automobile traffic in our downtown area while picking up on foot traffic. No one expects a retail explosion, but I do expect to see significantly more retail as a component of these projects underway... all projects in our pipeline are mixed use, each has a retail compnent, more for people to want to visit if in the downtown area.

As far as strategic placement of projects along potential transit routes, I'm not simply referring to busses, but places where we may in the future decide to do something a little different (i.e. light rail, trolley, dedicated bus lanes. )