Peyton, Kuhn Project Manager meet with MetroJacksonville.com
Kuhn Project Update
George Moore of Kuhn Companies recently met with Metro Jacksonville to discuss three of their projects in Downtown Jacksonville: One 12 (formerly the Barnett Bank Building), The Laura St Trio, and River Watch at City Center.
One 12 will be completed towards the end of this year, with pricing starting just under $200,000. Metro Jacksonville was also happy to learn that the building will feature uplighting on the first two stories, coinciding with Metro Jacksonville's Lighting Laura Street plan. The building's first two stories totaling 12,000 square feet will be reserved for commercial/retail use.
Across the street from One 12 is the Laura St Trio, which Kuhn will close on next month. The first phase will be a 600 space parking garage, rising 10 stories above ground level with a different design than the one proposed by the Police & Fire Pension Fund. The design has not been finalized, but will feature a contemporary look. This building will not only provide parking for the trio and One 12, but will also include some public parking as well. Finally, the building will include 12,000 square feet of ground level retail. The actual plan for the development of the Marble Bank, Bisbee and Florida Life buildings that comprise the trio is still unknown at this point.
Finally, the new River Watch tower across the street from the Jacksonville Landing will be strictly condominiums, not a hotel condominium as previously reported. Kuhn Companies will be closing on the property next week, with groundbreaking in the coming weeks.
Mayor Peyton discusses Downtown Development and more with Metro Jacksonville
Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton stopped by a recent Metro Jacksonville meeting to discuss current issues facing downtown and Jacksonville in general. Among the issues discussed...
Lighting Laura Street Plan - Metro Jacksonville discussed their plan in brief with Mayor Peyton and Adam Hollingsworth, Chief of Strategic Initiatives. Tying in with this is the impending construction on Laura St to run chilled water lines to the Kuhn Developments on Laura St. Metro Jacksonville will have a follow up on this in the coming weeks.
Main St Park - Metro Jacksonville also had the opportunity to voice their concerns about the proposed Main Street Pocket Park directly across the street from the new main library. Metro Jacksonville believes that the park is a bad use of both land and money for many reasons, including the location in relation to both a street with high speed traffic and social service centers. The Mayor's office has promised to take another look at the issue.
Smart Meters - Another thing that Metro Jacksonville has long been an advocate for is Smart Meters. Smart Meters allow on street parking to be paid via credit card, debit card, cash and in some cases, cellular phones. Legislation has been introduced to fund the meters, with the support of the Mayor's Office.
The Courthouse - The Mayor's Office will be releasing plans for the new County Courthouse Complex in June. Metro Jacksonville has learned that the new plans will not close Monroe Street, unlike the original plan which sat square on top. In addition, the courthouse will not take up all of the seven blocks allocated to the complex. The big unknown is whether or not the courthouse will be built in phases or all at once. All at once is the Mayors goal.
Police Memorial Building/Jail - The Mayor felt that the JSO headquarters site at 501 E Bay Street had about 10 years of useful life left. The consensus was that the current site is underutilized, and that the site could be put to better use. Mayor Peyton also mentioned that the area near the pea farm would be a better site for the jail.
Flex Space - Once again, the Mayor mentioned the need for flex space. Other than the fact that he felt that Kids Kampus would be better served in a different location and that the Friendship Fountain area should be reevaluated, however did not go into further detail about the fountain repairs itself.
Bus Rapid Transit/Commuter Rail - Despite the fact that Jacksonville is blessed with rail lines that run down Phillips Highway to St Augustine, Roosevelt Blvd to Orange Park/Fleming Island/Green Cove Springs, Beaver Street to Baker County, and to Nassau County via the City-Owned S-Line and Main Street, and the fact that Metro Jacksonville's profiling of other cities proves that commuter rail can be done for far cheaper than Bus Rapid Transit, Mayor Peyton supports the JTA Bus Rapid Transit plan. Look for more on this in the coming weeks.
Brad Thoburn - Mayor Peyton feels that Brad Thoburn is an excellent appointee to the position of Planning Director because of the fact that Brad Thoburn has a proven track record in acquiring state and federal money for local projects. In addition, Peyton says that Brad is one of the smartest people he knows. Metro Jacksonville will have more on this issue over the next few days.