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The latest news and biggest stories from both sides of the river.

DDRB grants final design approval to The District

DDRB grants final design approval to The District

JEA grants 12-month extension to close on property It took less than an hour for the Downtown Development Review Board to unanimously vote its final approval – with one abstention — on the Final Master Plan Guidelines for The District – Life Well Lived during a special meeting at City Hall Oct. 26. Board member […]

Resident’s vision for new playground brings shouts of joy to Boone Park

Resident’s vision for new playground brings shouts of joy to Boone Park

Vowing she wouldn’t cry, Kim Clontz choked back tears of joy at the dedication of the new playground in Boone Park South Oct. 15, attended by hundreds of children, their parents, and more than a few family pooches. Clontz, of Avondale, was the instigator behind the renovation of the 25-year-old playground, originally designed by another […]

Commander 3.0 one step closer to project approval

Commander 3.0 one step closer to project approval

The first of three required approvals have put Chance Partners another step closer to a $42 million redevelopment of St. Johns Village and renovation of the Commander Tower Apartments at 3946-4000 St. Johns Ave. The Planning Commission unanimously approved two ordinances (2016-560 and 2016-561) Sept. 22, upon the recommendation of the City of Jacksonville’s Planning […]

Developer plans to turn blighted Riverside corner into eateries

Developer plans to turn blighted Riverside corner into eateries

Ten years after first proposing a plan for a mixed-use structure at the corner of Oak and Stockton Streets, Mark Rubin was optimistic that his latest endeavor to remove blight from Riverside would be approved. “We have high hopes for it,” he said, referring to the restaurant and drive-thru coffee shop he is proposing for […]

Billboard removal gets cheers from beautification group

Billboard removal gets cheers from beautification group

The last day of August 2016 was a red-letter day – and a long time coming, according to William Brinton, an Avondale attorney who has made a mission of fighting billboard blight in Jacksonville and around the country. On Aug. 31, Brinton was joined the presidents of Scenic Jacksonville, Inc. and the Douglas Anderson #107 […]

Coffee house planned for San Marco Boulevard

Coffee house planned for San Marco Boulevard

After taking more than a year to “find the best thing for the community,” San Marco developer Mark Rubin has decided to build a coffee house in the old Laundry Station building he owns at 1604 San Marco Boulevard. Although he purchased the property for $50,000 in March 2015, the old dry cleaner building has […]

Storm widens holes in Riverfront Park

Storm widens holes in Riverfront Park

Hurricane Hermine was not kind to the bulkhead in Riverfront Park. The early September storm caused much concern among neighboring residents after it tossed flotsam over the bulkhead’s banks and cut huge holes into the grass of the narrow park strip that lines the St. Johns River in San Marco. After an initial clean-up from […]

City, school officials christen Landon track and field

City, school officials christen Landon track and field

No longer will Julia Landon College Preparatory School students have to play soccer somewhere else due to a soggy field. In celebration of the completion of gutter repairs and drainage structures at Landon’s athletic facility on Minerva Avenue, school and city officials held a christening event Sept. 15 to celebrate having the track and field […]