Ventures Development Group closes on Southbank property
The developer of a long-expected and hard-won project for a multi-family complex on the Southbank has closed on a 2.9-acre property near Baptist Health and Wolfson Children’s Hospital and will likely get the go ahead this month from City permitting to begin the project.
Ventures Southbank Apartments is to be located at Prudential Drive, near the Acosta Bridge. According to the plans, it is slated to be eight stories tall, a maximum of 85 feet, and have 185 units.
Downtown Investment Authority CEO Lori Boyer said the developer, Louisiana-based Ventures Development Group, closed in March. Boyer said city officials have been shepherding the project through the process, and it has benefits for the city and the people who will eventually live there.
“We are excited to see this finally break ground,” Boyer said. “We have long been striving for this goal of increased residential density downtown. You have to get a certain critical mass downtown to support a grocery store, to support a pharmacy, to support the types of retail that create a quality environment downtown. This is a high priority.”
It has been a long process to get here, though.
Ventures Development Group had originally proposed constructing the project with up to 300 units. That brought concerns about increased traffic flow in an already-busy area from neighbor GV-IP Jacksonville Owner LLC, which owns Eight Forty One, the former Aetna Building located at 841 Prudential Drive. The lawsuit was settled with a scaled-back project with nearly half of the original units.
“(Founder) Sean Siebert and Ventures Development have to be the most tenacious local developers in recent memory,” said Steven Diebenow, the attorney representing the company. “I know that Ventures is going to deliver an outstanding riverfront project that will enhance Baptist Health’s campus and downtown’s growing Southbank.”
Boyer also appreciated the developer’s perseverance.
“It has been a really tough, long process for them,” she explained. “I feel like the permitting process isn’t entirely to blame, they did that, they went through a lawsuit. I applaud them for sticking with it and making the modifications they had to.”
She also said people who work in the area are likely to find living right near their workplaces very convenient.
By Jennifer Edwards
Resident Community News
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