Downtown Jacksonville

[bobliocatt]

To tell the truth, I'm suprised they lasted this long. The one Saturday night I went, we paid $5 dollars to get in and we were the only party there, despite them having a live band that night. I agree that it may be too small to operate as a club, but it would make a nice restaurant with outdoor dining.

[vicupstate]

well it seems that the Bay Street experience has its first casualty.  its hard to survive downtown as an island next to the police station and the county jail.  and then on top of that being a jazz club?  had many a good time at Eclate when it first opened, but its no fun being one of the few patrons in a nightclub.  hopefully someone will take over the space and keep the design the way it is, it is an excellent example of contemporary design...  may we have a moment of silence for the fallen.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Very well put Cuban. I also liked the design.

I feel sorry for the owners, they went out on a limb to be the first pioneer, and the city just made life difficult IMO.

First the sidewalk is all torn up, followed by the removal of on-street parking, the shade are removed, and any hope of the courthouse moving anytime in the future is quenched.

It may still not have made it, but those things certainly didn't help matters.

[vicupstate]

At the meeting, the committee also approved conceptual designs for a new Synovus Bank Branch on Prudential Drive, the privatization of a segment of Forsyth Street near the Nolan Building, and a parking deviation for The Metropolitan, a proposed loft condominium project in the Jax Telecom Building.

Anyone have an info on this? I wonder if this is residential or office condos. The name sounds residential.

Also, the DRC came to an agreement on the Garage retail requirement. They made a good decision IMO.

Vestcor gets approvals

[asonj23]

Where is the Jax Telecom building?

[vicupstate]

Where is the Jax Telecom building?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

400 block of West Church St.

[RiversideGator]

Vestcor gets relief on retail issue

DRC says Carling developer doesn't need shops in parking garage.

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stor..._19136597.shtml

This is good news for Vestcor. We want to be reasonable with them, I think. They are the only company creating large scale, market rate, rental housing downtown (on the northbank) and hopefully they will do more after the Carlington is leased up.

[Urban_Legend]

^Yeah, and I hope Vestcor builds another building over there!

[La Florida]

Just in case anyone was wondering..Eclate jazz club IS actually under going RENOVATIONS and NOT CLOSING DOWN. I heard an ad on 92.7 the beat that announced the Grand Reopening soon. They have also added the second floor as part of the club as well. Looks like they are going to go for the mature Hip hop crowd with something called RED CARPET SUNDAY NIGHTS every sunday once reopened. I know i'll be there to see what major changes went on in there. With the addition of the second floor, business should pick up indeed.

[bobliocatt]

Hopefully things will work out. Maybe there was a change in ownership. It was also mentioned on SPAR's forum that the previous owners of a bar in the building that the Pearl, is going in at 1st & Main, sold the building with plans to open a new bar along Bay Street. I wonder if this is the same group or a completely different club?

[Urban_Legend]

^I hope they're ok. I keep hearing mixed stories on just what is going on with this place. They definitely need a few more bars and clubs nearby to stay in business for long.

[Captain Obvious]

^ That's very good news. Considering how empty Eclate always was, I'm still skeptical that they are actually undergoing an expansion ... but I sure won't complain if that's the case.

Personally, I'll probably never go there again if it becomes a full-fledged hip-hop club (hopefully they'll still have a jazz night or something). But if going that route makes Eclate a busy and profitable club, then I will be very happy for them.

[La Florida]

Actually guys, eclate was opened sunday night. Surprisingly there was more people there than ever...maybe it was because of a holiday wknd, maybe it was because of the renovations, or maybe it was due to the new hip-hop format?? Whatever it was, if every sunday continues to be that way then im definatelt not mad with their decision to go hip-hop...after all, its whats popular among everyone, all races.

[RiversideGator]

I wouldnt say hip hop is popular among everyone.

[La Florida]

I wouldnt say hip hop is popular among everyone. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Youre right it not. Not EVERYONE. But hip-hop is a cross-culture, multi-racial genre of music. Its not just limited to one group or culture anymore. If you listen to 97.9, a very pop culture station, two out of every 5 songs is hip-hop music. Its just whats popular among young people..u wouldnt understand...J/k ha! But seriously, this may help Eclate survive at least for now.

[bobliocatt]

At the meeting, the committee also approved conceptual designs for a new Synovus Bank Branch on Prudential Drive, the privatization of a segment of Forsyth Street near the Nolan Building, and a parking deviation for The Metropolitan, a proposed loft condominium project in the Jax Telecom Building.

Vestcor gets approvals

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

According to Downtown Vision Synovus Bank will be renovating the building that's currently occupied by a bar called Local's, which will be closing soon. The Metropolitan will be a residential project, although details are still sketchy at best.

Also, the old JEA Headquarters proposal is still tied up in litigation.

[asonj23]

400 block of West Church St.

Thanks!

I can't quite picture the building. Would this be a descent sized renovation project adding more that 20 or 30 units? I hope it would be a bit more significant but it is better than nothing!

QUOTE

Vestcor gets relief on retail issue

DRC says Carling developer doesn't need shops in parking garage.

Very good news for Vestcor. The DRC should be willing to bend a bit in order to keep the construction moving appropriately. Hopefully Vestcor now knows their limits and is able to make future projects downtown run a bit more smoothly with the DRC.

[Captain Obvious]

Auchter posted some more construction photos from June. So it's time for some updates. (Apparently they are concerned with hotlinking, because they disabled the "right click" function on their website. Seems kind of counterproductive, since I just downloaded the entire page - using about 10 times the bandwidth had I been allowed to individually save the specific pictures I wanted to host.)

Construction on the New Main Library will drag on until at least November. But the exterior is basically done.

The Strand is coming along well. Peninsula foundation work has already started, but I don't think that's visible from these photos.

Steel is going up at the Fidelity campus. The filename says this photo was taken on 6/20 ... but work already seems much further along.

[asonj23]

Man I can't wait to see the southbank towers challenging the Independent Life building in height.

Does anyone know the official height of the Peninsula and Strand?

[vicupstate]

The Metropolitan will be a residential project, although details are still sketchy at best.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Here is a pic of the building for "The Metropolitan"

[downtowngal]

Does anyone know the official height of the Peninsula and Strand?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I believe the Strand is 32 stories, while the Peninsula will be 27.

[Viper]

Almost and backwards.

Peninsula - 36

Strand - 28

[RiversideGator]

Judging by the current height of the Strand at 9 floors, I think it is likely that the Peninsula will surpass the Riverplace Tower in height and may be in the mid 400s in terms of feet tall.

[asonj23]

Thanks for the Pic Vic. I now recognize the building.

Judging by the current height of the Strand at 9 floors, I think it is likely that the Peninsula will surpass the Riverplace Tower in height and may be in the mid 400s in terms of feet tall.

I was under the impression that the Peninsula would be taller then the Riverplace tower. So it will take the trophy for the tallest on the southbank.

[bobliocatt]

So The Peninsula is officially listed at 36 stories? The building permit brief, listed in the FTU, said 37 and in the past I've seen it listed as high as 38.

[Captain Obvious]

So The Peninsula is officially listed at 36 stories?  The building permit brief, listed in the FTU, said 37 and in the past I've seen it listed as high as 38.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The floorplans for the Peninsula run from #10-#36. That would imply 9 floors of parking underneath, though developers aren't always accurate with their floor numberings. Either way, a mechanical floor or two could easily push the number to 37 or 38, since building permits count mechanical floors, but real estate agents rarely do.

My guess is a min 420ft and a max of 460ft. I find it hard to imagine a number outside that range, unless there is something we really don't know about. Peninsula has a good shot at becoming Jax's 3rd tallest. If the Strand really ends up being 28 floors, it seems guaranteed to be at least 6th tallest, but very unlikely to beat out Jax Center for 5th.

Great news about the "Metropolitan." That's the building that used to have the Uhaul truck on the roof! Few people ever notice the place because it's hidden behind those two massive telcom buildings. The views will probably be mediore at best, so hopefully the units (if ever built) will be in a reasonable price range.