Southbank to bloom with construction projects
From the east end of the Southbank to the Fuller Warren Bridge, 2021 will be a year of change.
Construction on the long-awaited District development will get underway. Plans for new apartments on the site of River City Brewing are being finalized, as new apartments emerge west of the Acosta Bridge take shape. Friendship Fountain and the Riverwalk will be expanded.
The District
Preston Hollow Capital LLC of Dallas took over The District – Life Well Lived development in October from the original developers Peter Rummell and Michael Munz.
The Texas-based company closed on $35.56 million in bonds in December that will pay for the infrastructure. It also transferred four acres of land to the city for riverfront parks and a Riverwalk extension.
Lori Boyer, CEO of the Downtown Investment Authority, said Preston Hollow has hired a French artist to design a sculptural node on the theme of health and wellness that will identify the development.
She also has been meeting with the company to discuss matters such as JEA easements and submerged land issues for the marina.
Boyer said she expects groundbreaking during the first quarter of the year. “They’re moving quickly,” she said. “They’ve got the money, and it’s waiting to be spent.”
The District is located on 32 acres of what was formerly the JEA Southside generating station. Plans are for Preston Hollow to build a multiuse development with residential, hotel, office space, retail, a marina, and park space.
School Board
Next door, the Duval County School Board is exploring the sale of its riverfront property.
The School Board owns the property at 1701 Prudential Drive and is considering consolidating its offices at another location.
Boyer said there are parties interested in the property, which has the potential for adaptive reuse.
She said the School Board would benefit from a third-party developer, who could provide a new location for the offices and take over the riverfront Prudential Drive site in exchange.
The board approved a resolution in December to consolidate its offices but has not put the property on the market yet.
Friendship Fountain and MOSH
Farther down the Southbank, work on Friendship Fountain could begin this spring. The City has set aside $1 million to renovate the fountain, which is in poor repair, and add technology to give it a multimedia function.
District 5 Councilwoman LeAnna Cumber said the walls of the fountain will be lowered so that people will have better access to the water.
“It will be illuminated and much more inviting,” Cumber said. “People will be able to sit and have their lunch.”
A playground will be added that will feature a ship modeled on the Peter Pan ship at Kensington Palace. Cumber said the city has hired the same company to build a ship based on French explorer Jean Ribault’s ship. The theme of the park will be exploring the St. Johns River.
“Everything is going to tie into the city’s history. It will give families a great place to be,” Cumber said.
The park originally was to tie into the adjacent Museum of Science and History that was planning an expansion. But late last year, the museum’s board announced it was planning to build a new museum at the Shipyards on the Northbank.
The board renamed its capital campaign MOSH Genesis with plans to build an $80 million to $90 million museum on four acres at the Shipyards to open by the end of 2024.
CEO Bruce Fafard said the museum still plans to make the move even though the National Park Service rejected the city’s request to swap the Shipyards for Metropolitan Park.
The city used federal money to build the Metropolitan Park in the 1980s, which required that the land be used as a park in perpetuity. The city had sought the swap to allow Jaguars owner Shad Khan to build a Four Seasons hotel, residences and a medical complex at Metropolitan Park and turn the Shipyards property into a park.
River City Brewing
Next to MOSH, a proposed redevelopment of River City Brewing is moving forward. The land is owned by the city and leased to Maritime Concepts, owner of the restaurant.
Related Group of Miami plans to buy out the lease, which expires in 2097 and build a 335-unit apartment building with a restaurant and parking garage.
The company submitted conceptual plans for the $92 million project to the Downtown Development Review Board, but the board rejected the plan for the eight-story building, saying it didn’t contextually fit Jacksonville’s riverfront.
While the company revises the design, the DIA approved an additional $500,000 grant to help offset the costs of stabilizing the subsurface soil. Soil borings found 15 to 30 feet of fill that will require remediation before the foundation can be laid.
Related Group will now receive $15.94 million in incentives for the project, which is expected to be complete by 2025. The incentives include an $11.9 million Recapture Enhanced Value Grant; $3 million for upgrades to the Riverwalk, boat ramp parking and marina, and a $500,000 grant upon completion of the restaurant.
The DIA has sent the new term sheet and details of the disposition of the property to the City Council for approval. Boyer said DIA is now drafting a redevelopment agreement that will be sent to the mayor’s budget review committee. Once it is approved, legislation will be filed on the project. DDRB needs to sign off on the new conceptual design and give the project its final approval.
Cumber said she likes the overall concept of the project. “It’s a great use of that land. We need more people living down there, and there’s a restaurant component to it,” Cumber said. “I think it’s going to be great.”
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Acosta Bridge near Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville, construction is under way on the Southbank Urban Residences. The eight-story, 185-unit building, a project of Ventures Development, is expected to be open by 2022.
The Southbank Riverwalk will be extended from Friendship Fountain to the Fuller Warren Bridge. Boyer said it is in the design process and will link up with the multi-use path currently under construction on the Fuller Warren Bridge that is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
By Lilla Ross
Resident Community News
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