Summer 2019
J Magazine, Summer 2019
J Magazine, Summer 2019
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THE MAGAZINE OF THE REBIRTH OF JACKSONVILLE’S DOWNTOWN<br />
THE PLAY<br />
I S S U E<br />
NORTHBANK<br />
NOW THAT THE<br />
CITY HAS SEIZED<br />
THE LANDING,<br />
WHAT’S NEXT?<br />
P30<br />
POWER MOVE<br />
JEA DIDN’t need<br />
to look far for<br />
ItS next HQ<br />
P38<br />
INTRIGUING PEOPLE<br />
THINK YOU’VE MET<br />
ALL THE fascinating<br />
people DOWNTOWN?<br />
THINK AGAIN.<br />
P44<br />
DISPLAY THROUGH AUGUST <strong>2019</strong><br />
$6.50<br />
OF<br />
THE<br />
STATE<br />
PLAY<br />
» DEREK<br />
REICHARD<br />
bartender at<br />
Downtown<br />
cocktail lounge<br />
Dos Gatos<br />
THERE’S FUN TO BE<br />
FOUND DOWNTOWN,<br />
BUT IS IT ENOUGH?<br />
P14<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
BEAUTIFUL.<br />
MADE AFFORDABLE.<br />
PROUDLY SERVING JACKSONVILLE SINCE 1977<br />
351 BLANDING BOULEVARD<br />
904-276-1400<br />
VISIT US AT WWW.CARPETONE.ME<br />
8956 PHILIPS HIGHWAY<br />
904-260-0109<br />
3670 US HIGHWAY 1 SOUTH<br />
904-794-5008<br />
14333 BEACH BOULEVARD<br />
904-620-0288
Urban Living<br />
in Downtown<br />
Jacksonville<br />
100%<br />
occupied<br />
100%<br />
occupied<br />
coming fall <strong>2019</strong>
THE MAGAZINE OF THE REBIRTH<br />
OF JACKSONVILLE’S DOWNTOWN<br />
GREATER<br />
TOGETHER<br />
H<br />
THE MAGAZINE OF<br />
THE REBIRTH OF<br />
JACKSONVILLE’S<br />
DOWNTOWN<br />
H<br />
PUBLISHER<br />
Bill Offill<br />
GENERAL MANAGER/<br />
CREATIVE DIRECTOR<br />
Jeff Davis<br />
EDITOR<br />
Frank Denton<br />
ADVERTISING<br />
Liz Borten<br />
WRITERS<br />
Michael P. Clark<br />
Roger Brown<br />
CONTRIBUTORS<br />
Carole Hawkins, Shelton<br />
Hull, Dan Macdonald, Charlie<br />
Patton, Denise M. Reagan,<br />
Lilla Ross, Caron Streibich,<br />
Marilyn Young<br />
MAILING ADDRESS<br />
J Magazine, 1 Independent Dr., Suite 200, Jacksonville, FL 32202<br />
CONTACT US<br />
EDITORIAL:<br />
(904) 359-4268, frankmdenton@gmail.com<br />
ADVERTISING:<br />
(904) 359-4099, lborten@jacksonville.com<br />
DISTRIBUTION/REPRINTS:<br />
(904) 359-4255, circserv@jacksonville.com<br />
WE WELCOME SUGGESTIONS FOR STORIES.<br />
PLEASE SEND IDEAS OR INQUIRIES TO:<br />
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© <strong>2019</strong> Times-Union Media.<br />
All rights reserved.<br />
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contents<br />
Issue 2 // Volume 3 // SUMMER <strong>2019</strong><br />
14<br />
THE STATE<br />
OF PLAY<br />
BY FRANK DENTON<br />
30 38 44 60<br />
WHAT’S NEXT<br />
FOR THE LANDING<br />
BY CAROLE HAWKINS<br />
JEA’S POWER MOVE<br />
BY MARILYN YOUNG<br />
5 INTRIGUING<br />
DOWNTOWNERS<br />
BY ROGER BROWN<br />
POLISHING THE<br />
CROWN JEWELS<br />
BY CHARLIE PATTON<br />
64 72 76 80<br />
THE BROOKLYN<br />
REVIVAL<br />
BY FRANK DENTON<br />
REIMAGINING A<br />
RENEWED LAVILLA<br />
BY MIKE CLARK<br />
TINY HOUSE VILLAGE<br />
FOR VETERANS<br />
BY LILLA ROSS<br />
‘URBAN REST STOP’<br />
AIDS HOMELESS<br />
BY ROGER BROWN<br />
BOB SELF<br />
6<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
BEHIND THE SCENES:<br />
Looking for fun in the core? Look<br />
no further than Dos Gatos, at 123 E.<br />
Forsyth St., and bartenders Caroline<br />
Bryn, Derek Reichard and Devon<br />
Chase. The cocktail lounge celebrates<br />
its 10th anniversary this fall.<br />
J MAGAZINE<br />
PARTNERS<br />
DEPARTMENTS<br />
9 FROM THE EDITOR<br />
10 RATING DOWNTOWN<br />
11 BRIEFING<br />
12 PROGRESS REPORT<br />
26 CHECKING THE PULSE<br />
28 THE BIG PICTURE<br />
60 CORE EYESORE<br />
92 QUESTIONS & ANSWERS<br />
98 THE LAST WORD<br />
THE MAGAZINE OF THE REBIRTH OF JACKSONVILLE’S DOWNTOWN<br />
THE PLAY<br />
I S S U E<br />
NORTHBANK<br />
NOW THAT THE<br />
CITY HAS SEIZED<br />
THE LANDING,<br />
WHAT’S NEXT?<br />
P30<br />
POWER MOVE<br />
JEA DIDN’T NEED<br />
TO LOOK FAR FOR<br />
ITS NEXT HQ<br />
P38<br />
DISPLAY THROUGH AUGUST <strong>2019</strong><br />
$6.50<br />
OF<br />
INTRIGUING PEOPLE<br />
THINK YOU’VE MET<br />
ALL THE FASCINATING<br />
PEOPLE DOWNTOWN?<br />
THINK AGAIN.<br />
P44<br />
STATE<br />
THE<br />
» DEREK<br />
REICHARD<br />
bartender at<br />
PLAY<br />
Downtown<br />
cocktail lounge<br />
Dos Gatos<br />
THERE’S FUN TO BE<br />
FOUND DOWNTOWN,<br />
BUT IS IT ENOUGH?<br />
P20<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong><br />
ON THE COVER<br />
As Downtown entertainment ebbs and<br />
flows, some places – like local cocktail<br />
lounge Dos Gatos and bartender Derek<br />
Reichard – continue to have loyal<br />
followings. // SEE PAGE 14<br />
STORY BY FRANK DENTON<br />
PHOTO BY BOB SELF
<strong>2019</strong><br />
CLAIM YOUR TITLE!<br />
BOLDCITYBEST.COM<br />
NOMINATIONS: JUNE 9 - 23 | VOTING: JULY 21 - AUGUST 4<br />
Bold City Best is brought to you by<br />
@BOLDCITYBESTJAX<br />
#BOLDCITYBEST
FROM THE EDITOR<br />
Berkman II sham<br />
ends in 465-mile<br />
wild goose chase<br />
FRANK<br />
DENTON<br />
PHONE<br />
(904) 359-4268<br />
EMAIL<br />
frankmdenton@<br />
gmail.com<br />
t first I thought the joke was on<br />
A me.<br />
I had driven to Biloxi, Miss., to<br />
check out the Margaritaville Resort, whose<br />
developers were planning to replicate the<br />
“family entertainment center” — plus a<br />
Ferris wheel — on the beleaguered Berkman<br />
II site on Jacksonville’s riverfront. I<br />
wanted to give you a preview and reassure<br />
you the project would be an asset to our<br />
Downtown revitalization.<br />
When I got there, I discovered that I would not be<br />
seeing a typical weekend “family” crowd at the resort because<br />
it was college spring break, and the students were<br />
more likely to be on the beach and in the bars rather<br />
than in a family entertainment center. Police were everywhere,<br />
as last year’s event drew 30,000 rowdy revelers<br />
to what was called one of the “the biggest, wildest, most<br />
talked about outdoor parties in America.” As a relatively<br />
old guy taking notes, I figured I might stand out.<br />
Then, over lunch the first day, I saw a Jacksonville.<br />
com story that the developers had abruptly pulled out<br />
of the Berkman II project, and I realized the joke was on<br />
Jacksonville.<br />
I had smelled something fishy as the developers, a<br />
group called Barrington Development based in Biloxi,<br />
had not returned my phone calls or emails — a red flag<br />
to a journalist.<br />
After all, the promoters had a lot to talk about. Their<br />
original news release promised a 340-room hotel, a water<br />
park, a parking garage and this: “Located adjacent to<br />
the hotel will be Florida’s newest indoor/outdoor family<br />
entertainment center with a state-of-the-art arcade with<br />
over 200 of the newest and most popular games, indoor<br />
attractions including ropes courses and a rock wall with<br />
amusement rides outside along the river’s edge … this<br />
property will have something for all ages.”<br />
That sounded like a complement to our Downtown<br />
being revitalized with attractions aimed primarily at<br />
adults, a perfect pairing with the proposed MOSH expansion<br />
across the river.<br />
When the developers pulled the plug, they blamed<br />
the Navy’s cancellation of the USS Adams warship museum<br />
at the site and environmental contamination on the<br />
property — though both situations had been known for<br />
months.<br />
More likely, they were responding to revelations<br />
by the Times-Union’s Christopher Hong that the main<br />
Barrington investor had $11 million in legal judgments,<br />
unpaid debts to contractors and delinquent taxes. One<br />
company said it was still owed $243,000 for furniture for<br />
a Margaritaville in Vicksburg, Miss.<br />
Needless to say, this didn’t sit well with City Council<br />
members being asked to approve up to $36 million in<br />
public incentives for the Berkman project.<br />
Barrington said they “remain committed” to developing<br />
the Berkman skeleton, now with a “right-sized” hotel,<br />
70-80 residences on the upper floors and a ground-floor<br />
restaurant.<br />
We’ll believe it when we see hardhats and hammers.<br />
This time, as the Times-Union editorialized, the DIA<br />
and city auditors should not just take the developer’s<br />
word that they are legitimate and free of legal and financial<br />
baggage, but should investigate them thoroughly<br />
— and put the information before the public before the<br />
deal is announced and the Times-Union watchdogs start<br />
sniffing and digging.<br />
Downtown revitalization has become a surprisingly<br />
emotional subject for people who love Jacksonville and<br />
want it to become a complete city. We have enough John<br />
Q. Cynics out there without feeding them more pie in the<br />
sky, financial shenanigans and failure.<br />
Thank goodness for our local developers whose<br />
projects you can see happening Downtown or credibly<br />
on the horizon. After all, they live here.<br />
The Biloxi weekend was not entirely wasted. Across<br />
the road from the glitzy beach strip of casinos, hotels and<br />
that Margaritaville “Escape family entertainment center”<br />
is the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art, which has remarkable<br />
Frank Gehry architecture but remarkably skimpy<br />
exhibits.<br />
Investing some of that Margaritaville money into that<br />
authentic local attraction could create a real asset for<br />
quality of life in Biloxi.<br />
Frank Denton, retired editor of The Florida<br />
Times-Union, is editor of J. He lives in Riverside.<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 9
POWER<br />
RATING DOWNTOWN<br />
By The Florida Times-Union Editorial Board<br />
Barnett Bank project inspiring<br />
renewed enthusiasm in the core<br />
7<br />
8<br />
6 6<br />
MIN<br />
MAX<br />
MIN<br />
MAX<br />
MIN<br />
MAX<br />
MIN<br />
MAX<br />
PUBLIC SAFETY<br />
LEADERSHIP<br />
HOUSING<br />
INVESTMENT<br />
Serious crime remains low, and<br />
Hemming Park has become<br />
vastly more welcoming, at least<br />
until late night. We hope the new<br />
Urban Rest Stop will help lower<br />
the negative perception caused<br />
by transients and panhandlers.<br />
Outgoing City Councilwoman<br />
Lori Boyer continues to lead on<br />
the river, zoning and, soon, as<br />
CEO of the DIA. JEA stays in the<br />
core. And Mayor Curry fulfilled<br />
his promise to resolve<br />
the Landing.<br />
All those new apartment<br />
buildings will close in on the<br />
critical mass of 10,000 people we<br />
need living Downtown. We hope<br />
more of them are market-rate.<br />
JAX Chamber is becoming active<br />
in drawing Downtowners.<br />
Despite the retreat by the<br />
Berkman II developers, investors<br />
see Downtown gaining momentum.<br />
While public subsidies make<br />
investment decisions easy, we’re<br />
looking forward to the purely<br />
market-supported projects.<br />
PREVIOUS: 7<br />
PREVIOUS: 8<br />
PREVIOUS: 6<br />
PREVIOUS: 6<br />
5 5 5<br />
4<br />
MIN<br />
MAX<br />
MIN<br />
MAX<br />
MIN<br />
MAX<br />
MIN<br />
MAX<br />
DEVELOPMENT<br />
EVENTS & CULTURE<br />
TRANSPORTATION<br />
CONVENTION CENTER<br />
Read the story on Brooklyn’s<br />
rebirth and you’ll see how<br />
convergence of housing, retail<br />
and public works can create a<br />
whole new community.<br />
Something similar is happening<br />
in the Cathedral District.<br />
PREVIOUS: 5<br />
We lost the USS Adams to Navy<br />
nervousness and the Berkman II<br />
project to developer nervelessness,<br />
and the Landing, such as it<br />
was, is closing. But our diverse<br />
range of entertainment venues<br />
continue growing nightlife.<br />
PREVIOUS: 5<br />
Riverplace Boulevard is<br />
showing how a road diet makes<br />
our car-centric streets more<br />
walkable and bikeable. Park Street<br />
in Brooklyn is next, connecting<br />
to both LaVilla and Riverside.<br />
PREVIOUS: 5<br />
With the old City Hall and<br />
courthouse site off the table as a<br />
possible convention center site,<br />
the city has chilled the whole<br />
idea, awaiting more Downtown<br />
development to make us more<br />
attractive to conventions.<br />
PREVIOUS: 4<br />
OVERALL RATING<br />
We’re still inspired by the Barnett Bank completion and<br />
the exciting progress and promise in LaVilla and Brooklyn.<br />
All those new apartments are being filled rapidly,<br />
hurrying us toward a critical mass of residents.<br />
As a symbol, we need a re-envisioned Landing!<br />
PREVIOUS: 6<br />
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10<br />
JEFF DAVIS<br />
10<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
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»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»<br />
207,810 24-27<br />
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»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»<br />
«««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««<br />
DIGITS<br />
The square<br />
footage of a new<br />
nine-story JEA<br />
headquarters<br />
building planned<br />
for 325 W.<br />
Adams St.,<br />
adjacent to the<br />
Duval County<br />
Courthouse.<br />
The number<br />
of months the<br />
Ryan Companies<br />
expect the JEA<br />
project to take.<br />
(PAGE 38)<br />
BRIEFING<br />
By The Florida Times-Union Editorial Board<br />
Thumbs up to longtime<br />
City Councilwoman<br />
Lori Boyer becoming<br />
the new CEO of the<br />
Downtown Investment<br />
Authority. Given Boyer’s<br />
passion, vast knowledge<br />
and proven track record<br />
in addressing Downtown<br />
issues along with her<br />
visionary work in putting<br />
together a bold plan<br />
to reduce the number<br />
of Downtown zoning<br />
designations, her hiring is<br />
a home run.<br />
Thumbs up for Jacksonville<br />
showing up in the<br />
top 10 of Money magazine’s<br />
Best Places to<br />
Live in America list.<br />
The list ranks cities with<br />
at least 300,000 people<br />
that are affordable, offer<br />
promising job growth and<br />
have interesting neighborhoods.<br />
Thumbs down to the<br />
still-sparse number of<br />
Downtown locations<br />
that offer pedestrians<br />
shade during hot<br />
days and cover during<br />
rainy ones. Can’t we all<br />
start grasping the fact<br />
that Jacksonville has a<br />
subtropical climate —<br />
and needs a Downtown<br />
that fully reflects that<br />
fact? And, please, no<br />
more useless palm trees!<br />
HITS & MISSES<br />
Thumbs up to a project<br />
to have 18 tiny<br />
apartments —<br />
made out of shipping<br />
containers — built on<br />
East Ashley Street in the<br />
Cathedral District. Each<br />
unit would be the size<br />
of a hotel room, and<br />
the whole apartment<br />
complex would be a cool<br />
addition to Downtown.<br />
Thumbs down to the<br />
reality that there still isn’t<br />
enough being done to<br />
draw people into Downtown<br />
on the weekends<br />
just because they love the<br />
idea of being Downtown<br />
— and not because they<br />
have come there for<br />
some special event. Case<br />
in point: On one recent<br />
beautiful, 87-degree<br />
Sunday, it was possible to<br />
throw a rock down Laura<br />
Street from the Main<br />
Library to the foot of<br />
the Landing and not even<br />
come anywhere close to<br />
plunking anyone walking<br />
on either sidewalk.<br />
Thumbs up to the recent<br />
upgrades on the<br />
riverwalks, which<br />
include a colorfully<br />
renovated restroom and<br />
benches with shade along<br />
the Southbank and new<br />
wayfinding markers on<br />
both the banks.<br />
FIRST PERSON<br />
«««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««<br />
»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»<br />
«««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««<br />
»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»<br />
Thumbs up to the<br />
rising home prices<br />
in the near-Downtown<br />
neighborhoods of Riverside<br />
and Avondale, as<br />
well as Ortega. A lively<br />
Downtown must have<br />
healthy nearby neighborhoods<br />
offering a variety<br />
of housing options that<br />
attract high interest on<br />
the market.<br />
Thumbs up the rescheduled<br />
Rolling<br />
Stones concert at<br />
TIAA Bank Field. The<br />
legendary rock group will<br />
now appear July 19. The<br />
original date had been<br />
canceled after iconic lead<br />
singer Mick Jagger had<br />
heart surgery.<br />
Thumbs down to<br />
Downtown<br />
parking that still<br />
isn’t as convenient as it<br />
should be in the center<br />
of a major American<br />
city. St. Augustine is<br />
handing Jacksonville its<br />
lunch when it comes<br />
to making downtown<br />
parking easy and<br />
hassle-free. St. Augustine<br />
is moving toward<br />
an app-based system<br />
for parking in the city<br />
center; in contrast, our<br />
Downtown still has too<br />
many outdated parking<br />
meters.<br />
“We want a very well designed public space that draws people in.<br />
It will become a more open public space that excites people<br />
and provides a way for families to enjoy the waterfront.”<br />
DIA Interim Director Brian Hughes ON THE FUTURE OF THE LANDING (PAGE 30)<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 11
OAK<br />
HOUSTON<br />
FORSYTH<br />
J MAGAZINE’S<br />
PROGRESS REPORT<br />
LAVILLA<br />
BROOKLYN<br />
UNITY<br />
PLAZA<br />
ADAMS<br />
JOHNSON<br />
PRIME OSBORN<br />
CONVENTION<br />
CENTER<br />
MONROE<br />
LEE<br />
DAVIS<br />
BAY<br />
WATER<br />
LaVilla<br />
Townhomes<br />
Vestcor, developers of<br />
several apartment complexes<br />
Downtown, plans to build 70 townhomes in<br />
LaVilla valued around $250,000 each. As part<br />
of a deal with the city, Vestcor would donate<br />
$100,000 to Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing Park.<br />
STATUS: Vestcor hopes to close with the<br />
city this year, with groundbreaking no later<br />
than nine months later.<br />
PARK<br />
MAY<br />
OAK<br />
FOREST<br />
MAGNOLIA<br />
JACKSON<br />
RIVERSIDE AVE.<br />
MADISON<br />
JEFFERSON<br />
BROAD<br />
CLAY<br />
PEARL<br />
Brewster Hospital<br />
Jacksonville’s first hospital for African-Americans<br />
was built in 1885 and also served as a<br />
nursing school. The city spent $2.3 million restoring<br />
and moving the building to 843 W. Monroe St., then<br />
leased it to North Florida Land Trust.<br />
STATUS: Renovation is complete and the Land Trust moved<br />
in, setting aside a room for a historical display open to the<br />
public. A new historical marker is coming.<br />
Brooklyn<br />
Station<br />
The “jughandle”<br />
that allowed big<br />
trucks access to the old Times-<br />
Union building will be removed,<br />
and a land swap with the city will<br />
allow expansion of the shopping<br />
center.<br />
STATUS: With the<br />
redevelopment agreement<br />
approved, the street-closure<br />
legislation was poised to pass the<br />
Council. Next: permitting.<br />
Residence Inn<br />
A six-story, 135-room hotel is planned<br />
on the block between Oak and Magnolia<br />
and Dora and Forest in Brooklyn, across<br />
from Unity Plaza.<br />
STATUS: The land has been purchased, and DIA and<br />
DDRB have approved. Construction pending, with<br />
completion next summer.<br />
JEA Headquarters<br />
JEA chose the Ryan Companies to<br />
build its new $72 million headquarters<br />
at 325 W. Adams St., next to the courthouse,<br />
with an 850-space parking garage nearby.<br />
STATUS: Ryan will negotiate to buy the property<br />
from the city, requiring DIA approval, and work out<br />
final lease terms with JEA. Construction could start<br />
in April.<br />
ACOSTA<br />
BRIDGE<br />
JULIA<br />
TIMES-<br />
UNION<br />
CENTER<br />
HEMMING<br />
PARK<br />
HOGAN<br />
BAY<br />
Hyatt Place<br />
hotel<br />
Main Street LLC, developer<br />
of the parking<br />
garage at Hogan and Independent<br />
Drive, bought the parcel at Hogan<br />
and Water and plans to build a<br />
nine-story hotel with 128 rooms and<br />
a rooftop restaurant and bar.<br />
STATUS: The Downtown<br />
Development Review Board has<br />
approved the design. The developer<br />
is awaiting an air rights easement,<br />
as the balconies will extend over<br />
sidewalks. Legislation is pending.<br />
BEAVER<br />
ASHLEY<br />
CHURCH<br />
DUVAL<br />
LAURA<br />
JACKSONVILLE<br />
LANDING<br />
MAIN STREET<br />
BRIDGE<br />
MAIN<br />
FRIENDSHIP<br />
FOUNTAIN<br />
SAN MARCO BLVD.<br />
RIVERPLACE<br />
MARY<br />
PRUDENTIAL DR.<br />
OCEAN<br />
N<br />
RIVERSIDE<br />
12<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong><br />
Jacksonville Landing<br />
The city paid Sleiman Enterprises $15 million to give up its longterm<br />
lease, and City Council approved another $3 million to buy<br />
out tenants’ subleases then raze the copper-topped structure.<br />
STATUS: All tenants should be out by October, with demolition starting soon<br />
after, though the future of the Landing is still under debate, fueled by a justreleased<br />
2015 consultant’s study and Mayor Curry’s sense of urgency.<br />
FULLER WARREN BRIDGE
NEWNAN<br />
FLAGLER<br />
SPRINGFIELD<br />
MARKET<br />
NORTHBANK<br />
WASHINGTON<br />
ST. JOHNS<br />
RIVER<br />
SOUTHBANK<br />
KIPP<br />
LIBERTY<br />
KINGS<br />
Shipping-container apartments<br />
JWB Real Estate Capital plans to build an 18-unit studio-apartment<br />
complex using repurposed shipping containers<br />
on a tiny plot at 412 E. Ashley St. in the Cathedral District.<br />
STATUS: JWB is seeking city incentives, according to the Business Journal.<br />
CATHERINE<br />
ONYX<br />
PALMETTO<br />
Lofts at the Cathedral<br />
Cathedral District-Jax is working with Vestcor<br />
on a $20 million project to transform<br />
the old Community Connections (YWCA)<br />
property at 325 E. Duval St. into about 115 workforce and<br />
low-income apartments.<br />
STATUS: The Legislature approved $8 million as the state’s<br />
portion of the cost. The district hopes to close with<br />
Vestcor in October.<br />
Hotel Indigo<br />
A developer bought the old Life of the<br />
South building at 100 W. Bay St. to convert<br />
it into a seven-story, 89-room boutique<br />
hotel with a rooftop restaurant and bar.<br />
STATUS: The developer zapped the project and sold the<br />
building to VyStar, whose new headquarters is next door.<br />
VyStar is seeking permits for interior demolition and<br />
renovation.<br />
VETERANS<br />
MEMORIAL<br />
ARENA<br />
A. PHILIP RANDOLPH<br />
Laura St. Trio and<br />
Barnett Bank Building<br />
A $79 million project is renovating the iconic<br />
buildings into residences, offices, a Courtyard by<br />
Marriott, commercial/retail and a UNF campus.<br />
STATUS: Barnett is opening, with the Residence at Barnett<br />
apartments attracting a reported 800 applications for about 100<br />
units. The UNF space is open. Next: Construction of the nearby<br />
parking deck. The Trio renovation could begin this summer.<br />
Berkman Plaza II<br />
The 23-story structure has been<br />
an eyesore since it collapsed under<br />
construction in 2007. The new owners<br />
planned a $150 million 312-room hotel and a “family<br />
entertainment center.”<br />
STATUS: After questions about the background of an<br />
investor, the developer canned the project and said it<br />
will substitute a smaller hotel and some residences.<br />
BASEBALL<br />
GROUNDS<br />
GEORGIA<br />
Downtown<br />
parking<br />
DIA hired a consultant<br />
to do another study<br />
covering all aspects of the issue, including<br />
availability, regulation, technology<br />
and pricing.<br />
STATUS: The consultant’s report should<br />
be completed by the end of June.<br />
FRANKLIN<br />
SPORTS<br />
COMPLEX<br />
ADAMS<br />
GATOR BOWL BLVD.<br />
TIAA<br />
BANK FIELD<br />
DAILY’S<br />
PLACE<br />
Parking Lot J<br />
and Shipyards<br />
Shad Khan’s proposed development<br />
will begin on Lot J next<br />
to the stadium with an entertainment complex,<br />
two office towers, a 200-room hotel and<br />
a 300-residence tower.<br />
STATUS: Razing Hart Expressway ramps to<br />
make room for the project was delayed until<br />
after football season. The $500 million Lot J<br />
construction will be simultaneous. The deadline<br />
for Khan’s Iguana Investments to work out a<br />
redevelopment agreement with the city for<br />
the Shipyards was extended to June 30, 2020.<br />
City Council has approved rezoning.<br />
The District<br />
Peter Rummell’s healthy-community concept will<br />
have up to 1,170 residences, 200 Marriott hotel<br />
rooms and 285,500 square feet of office space,<br />
with a marina and public spaces along an extended Riverwalk.<br />
STATUS: The Community Development Board is getting the<br />
ducks in a row, including engineering and clearing the way for<br />
issuing bonds. An RFP seeks a health and wellness partner to<br />
create the “Base Camp.” Marina approvals continue. The hotel is<br />
in final design. Negotiations with the “green grocer” continue; it<br />
will be a new brand for Jacksonville.<br />
HENDRICKS<br />
MONTANA<br />
Tuk’N Tours<br />
A new service provides three-hour tours of Downtown’s<br />
architecture, history and other features via three-wheeled,<br />
six-passenger, open-air electric vehicles. Price: $19-$49 each.<br />
STATUS: See gotukn.com/ for more information and to make reservations<br />
for pickup at TIAA Bank Field or Downtown hotels.<br />
SAN MARCO<br />
DOWNTOWN<br />
JACKSONVILLE<br />
TRACKING DEVELOPMENT IN THE URBAN CORE<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 13
PL<br />
THE<br />
PLAY<br />
ISSUE<br />
THE STATE OF<br />
ABY FRANK DENTON<br />
ILLUSTRATION<br />
BY JEFF DAVIS<br />
14<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
WINTER 2018-19 | J MAGAZINE 57
The state of play Downtown<br />
offers a little something for<br />
a few people and not nearly<br />
enough for a whole lot more.<br />
What will it take for the core to<br />
become a hotspot that attracts<br />
people after the workday ends?<br />
The<br />
New Urbanism principles of live-work-play, where<br />
people can build their lifestyles and community without<br />
commuting all over creation, are used as sort of a vision<br />
for a truly revitalized Downtown Jacksonville. If those<br />
three things happen together, we’ll have synergy building<br />
into critical mass and, finally, a Downtown worthy of<br />
our city.<br />
The “work” part we’ve got down: More than 55,000<br />
people work Downtown, the last State of Downtown<br />
Report said, and it’s increasing steadily.<br />
The “live” goal is actively in process. Last year, 4,842<br />
people lived Downtown, and more were standing in<br />
line to fill the ever-growing number of new apartment<br />
complexes being built, with average occupancy of 96<br />
percent. Conventional wisdom says we need 10,000 for<br />
that critical mass, and the official goal is 13,730 by 2025.<br />
But what about that “play” thing?<br />
When we surveyed people in Duval and surrounding<br />
counties in 2017, 75 percent said they “never” or<br />
only “a couple of times a year” came Downtown for<br />
entertainment or leisure activities. While that improved<br />
to 70 percent in 2018, it still showed a profound lack<br />
of connection between Northeast Floridians and their<br />
urban center.<br />
The number one reason people don’t come<br />
Downtown, they said, was some variation on “there’s<br />
nothing to do there.”<br />
So J magazine asked four local writers to take a deep<br />
look at what Downtown offers — and should offer —<br />
from four different perspectives: during the daytime,<br />
especially for families; evening events; late-night revelry<br />
and restaurant options.<br />
Our weakest point may be the first. Downtown is so<br />
weekday-work-focused that, aside from a few cultural<br />
assets like MOCA and MOSH, a family has to search to<br />
find a good time Downtown. We do have our almost<br />
secret treasures: Chamblin’s Uptown, the antique map<br />
collection at the Main Library, the historical photos<br />
display at City Hall, Treaty Oak. You can always score<br />
some sugar at Sweet Pete’s Candy and consume it catty-corner<br />
on the reactivated Hemming Park.<br />
We had a chance to make a substantial leap toward<br />
family-friendliness with the proposal to turn Berkman<br />
II into a “family entertainment center,” but questions<br />
about a financial backer spooked the developer to<br />
back off those plans and fall back on maybe another<br />
apartment building and hotel. And the Navy reneged<br />
on donating the USS Adams to create a naval museum<br />
in the river off Berkman.<br />
The conclusion: Downtown planners need to put<br />
a daytime/family frame on Downtown development,<br />
including following through on the grand MOSH<br />
expansion.<br />
Our strong point is the great variety of evening activities.<br />
Our examination noted that Jacksonville once<br />
was “a one-show town,” but now we have a rich array<br />
of venues for live performance. Pick your show at the<br />
Times-Union Center, Florida Theatre, VyStar Veterans<br />
Memorial Arena or Daily’s Place. Heck, pony up for the<br />
Rolling Stones at TIAA Bank Field.<br />
But you may have to scramble for supper first. Aside<br />
from a few gems like Cowford Chophouse, Bellwether<br />
and Gili’s Kitchen, our restaurant scan found few interesting<br />
or excellent dining options Downtown.<br />
Our critic blamed “Downtown’s chronic syndromes:<br />
lack of activity, density and connectivity.” The<br />
eateries will come when the feet on the street do.<br />
Finally, for those of you able to keep your eyes open<br />
and enthusiasm up after hours, our late-night writer<br />
says Downtown is developing a real and diverse bar<br />
and music scene, mostly around the Elbow, along and<br />
off Bay Street, and the block on Adams between Laura<br />
and Hogan.<br />
He offers a helpful tip to get your toe in: If you want<br />
to sample Downtown late-night, start with the first<br />
Wednesday Art Walk, when the bars and clubs open a<br />
bit earlier to take advantage of the foot traffic.<br />
The bottom line is that survey from a couple of<br />
years ago about “nothing to do” Downtown is way out<br />
of date. There’s a lot to do now — but we need a lot<br />
more.<br />
Frank Denton, retired editor of The Florida Times-Union,<br />
is editor of J. He lives in Riverside.<br />
16<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
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THE<br />
PLAY<br />
ISSUE<br />
Day Break<br />
BY DENISE M. REAGAN // PHOTO BY BOB SELF<br />
18<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
The quest for Downtown family fun<br />
reveals the challenge to find engaging<br />
activities after 5 p.m. and on the weekends<br />
When<br />
Friends of Hemming Park first assumed management<br />
of Jacksonville’s central park, the group had<br />
a crucial objective: Make women and families feel<br />
safe and comfortable when they visit. If they could<br />
accomplish that goal, everything else would fall in<br />
place.<br />
Six years later, Hemming Park has made progress,<br />
even if there’s still room for improvement.<br />
Downtown should be striving for that same goal,<br />
but there are some barriers.<br />
The biggest impediment blocking the core from<br />
becoming a daytime family-friendly destination?<br />
The stranglehold of weekday 9 to 5 schedules.<br />
Nearly all of Downtown is focused on capturing the<br />
business of people who work there during the week.<br />
A few stay-at-home parents might be able to take<br />
advantage of weekday activities, but most families<br />
require weekend hours.<br />
Weekends are barely acknowledged by Downtown<br />
businesses. Unfortunately, they simply don’t<br />
have the foot traffic to make weekend hours a<br />
reality.<br />
After years of regular trips to Downtown Jacksonville,<br />
my daughter and I are pros. On a recent<br />
Saturday outing, we were incredulous that so few<br />
restaurants were open for lunch. Besides a couple of<br />
fast-food joints, only a handful of restaurants in the<br />
core have lunch hours: Intuition Ale Works, D&G<br />
Deli and Grill, Bay Street Bar and Grill, River City<br />
Brewing Company.<br />
We chose to sit on the back patio at Burrito<br />
Gallery and dug into a trio of salsa, guacamole,<br />
and queso with chips along with our burrito and<br />
quesadilla. We counted two other tables occupied<br />
outside. We spotted a family of three eating lunch at<br />
a nearby table. The mother used to live in a high rise<br />
on the Southbank when she worked at Sweet Pete’s<br />
Candy, but now they live in Mandarin. They had<br />
just attended a birthday party at Sweet Pete’s, and<br />
we commiserated about the lack of lunch options<br />
on the weekends. Her daughter fed tortilla chips to<br />
birds that whisked away with chips held tightly in<br />
their beaks.<br />
After lunch, we walked to Wolf & Cub where we<br />
found a jacket, a thrift shop find from the owners’<br />
trip to Paris, and a T-shirt imprinted with a playing<br />
card graphic depicting the store’s mascots.<br />
We strolled by Chamblin’s Uptown — open seven<br />
days a week! — on our way to the Main Library<br />
to visit the Jax Makerspace (jaxpubliclibrary.org/<br />
jax-makerspace). The space includes a wide variety<br />
of activities: a green screen, sewing machines,<br />
building kits, recording equipment, etc. The space<br />
also hosts several art exhibitions each year, such as<br />
“On the Fringe.” We admired mixed-media paintings<br />
by Thony Aiuppy, textile works by Billie McCray, and<br />
fanciful gourds hand-carved as striking water birds<br />
by Mindy Hawkins. Richard McMahan’s miniature<br />
recreations of masterworks were striking for their<br />
detail and charm. The next exhibition, “Reclaimed,”<br />
was scheduled to open during June’s First Wednesday<br />
Art Walk and runs through Sept. 22.<br />
We headed next-door to the Museum of Contemporary<br />
Art Jacksonville (mocajacksonville.<br />
unf.edu), where a family annual membership is just<br />
$100. We walked up a few steps to the Project Atrium<br />
space to view “Since You Were Born,” a mural depicting<br />
four months of search history by artist Evan<br />
Roth, on view through June 23. The images covered<br />
three walls up to the third-story ceiling and continued<br />
on the floor. The museum provided booties that<br />
slip over your shoes so you could walk on top of the<br />
images for a closer look.<br />
We explored a selection of [Continued on page 86]<br />
« Berlin-based artist Evan Roth amid the installation of his exhibit, “Since You Were Born,” at MOCA Jacksonville’s Project Atrium.<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 19
THE<br />
PLAY<br />
ISSUE<br />
Good<br />
Evenings<br />
BY DAN MACDONALD // PHOTO BY WILL DICKEY<br />
20<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
The next time you find yourself in a hurry to<br />
race home after work, stick around for a few<br />
hours and unwind while exploring Downtown<br />
What’s<br />
the hurry to sit in traffic after work? It’s understandable<br />
that a parent’s day is hardly done after<br />
closing shop in a Downtown office. But those without<br />
the responsibility of having to gather children<br />
from daycare and prepare the nightly meal, there’s<br />
no need to rush and join the hurry-up-and-wait traffic<br />
that is I-95 or I-10 or San Jose or Roosevelt during<br />
the go-home parade.<br />
Stick around. There are things to do in Downtown<br />
after 6 p.m.<br />
There was a time not so long ago that Downtown<br />
businesses were like many offices. When quitting<br />
time came, nearly everything closed. That’s hardly<br />
the case these days. There are restaurants and activities<br />
that are just getting started when workers have<br />
punched out for the day.<br />
Downtown clearly needs to offer more. While<br />
some progress is being made, City Hall has yet<br />
to come up with a vision for a new Jacksonville<br />
Landing. Still too many restaurants are content to<br />
specialize in just serving breakfast and lunch. Art<br />
Walk continues to draw crowds to Hemming Park<br />
on the first Wednesday of the month, but the Friends<br />
of Hemming Park budget limits the special events<br />
programmed there after 5 p.m.<br />
Already Downtown offers the river, wellness<br />
centers, an ever-growing number of bars open for<br />
happy hour, and major venues VyStar Veterans<br />
Memorial Arena and the Florida Theatre — setting<br />
attendance records year after year. With the addition<br />
of Daily’s Place, the city has yet another major<br />
player in the music and entertainment scene, which<br />
is helping draw a greater number of acts that would<br />
have bypassed Jacksonville in the past. On any given<br />
night, it’s possible to partake in a number of different<br />
entertainment options.<br />
The diversity of entertainment also brings an<br />
eclectic collection of people into the city center. Back<br />
in April, tuxedo and tattoo crowds shared the same<br />
space at the Times-Union Center for the Performing<br />
Arts when the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra<br />
performed in Jacoby Symphony Hall while the<br />
heavy metal band Dream Theater was in the Moran<br />
Theater across the lobby.<br />
What Downtown needs as much as anything is<br />
more feet on the street, whether in sneakers, sandals,<br />
heels or oxfords.<br />
Or even barefoot. A good way to unwind is to<br />
take advantage of the St. Johns River by spending<br />
some time riding on the St. Johns River Taxi. It is<br />
not just a form of river transportation. For a $10 day<br />
pass, passengers can relax and just ride the boat as<br />
it transports other passengers. No food or beverages<br />
are served on the boat, but Heather Surface, the river<br />
taxi owner, encourages people to bring a bottle of<br />
wine and a picnic-style snack to enjoy during the<br />
cruise. Its website details its several specialty cruises<br />
and private party packages.<br />
Healthy diversions<br />
Remove the stress of sitting for eight hours with a<br />
workout at either the YMCA or Anytime Fitness. The<br />
Y has two downtown locations. The Winston Family<br />
YMCA on Riverside Avenue is a complete family<br />
workout and social facility. Besides the large gym<br />
area, there is a basketball court and saunas as well as<br />
a Healthy Living Center and a Teaching Kitchen.<br />
Tim Burrows, executive director at the Winston<br />
YMCA, said the facility, with its many amenities, is a<br />
destination location for Y members from throughout<br />
the region. “It is one key cog in the wheel of revitalizing<br />
Downtown Jacksonville, from Riverside all the<br />
way down to the Sports Complex.”<br />
The YMCA in the basement [Continued on page 87]<br />
« Jumbo Shrimp baseball fans enjoy a game against the Montgomery Biscuits on Thirsty Thursday at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 21
THE<br />
PLAY<br />
ISSUE<br />
Night Moves<br />
BY SHELTON HULL // PHOTO BY BOB SELF<br />
22<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
As more people choose to live Downtown,<br />
the bars, restaurants and clubs that provide<br />
nightlife in the core begin to light up<br />
Well,<br />
if Manhattan is the city that never sleeps, then<br />
Jacksonville would be one that naps, a lot.<br />
That was once far more true than it is now. For<br />
years, the lack of late-nightlife Downtown was as much<br />
a part of the city’s brand as many of the things that actually<br />
did exist, but a decade’s worth of combined effort<br />
by the public and private sector have led to a healthy<br />
uptick in foot traffic and business activity. This year is<br />
expected to have some of our most heightened activity<br />
in years, as far as bars, clubs and restaurants go.<br />
With the Jacksonville Landing easing its way into<br />
history, this summer will be the first in more than 30<br />
years without that venerable shopping plaza to anchor<br />
the social life of Downtown, and no one knows for sure<br />
exactly how that will impact the rest of the neighborhood.<br />
We do know, however, that their peers have<br />
been operating independently of Independent Drive<br />
for years already, so none of the recent developments<br />
will have come as a shock to anyone who’s been paying<br />
attention.<br />
Civic leaders have been pushing for enhanced<br />
Downtown development for decades now, but things<br />
really began to pick up speed 15 years ago, as the city<br />
was gearing up to host Super Bowl XXXIX in February<br />
2005. Downtown nightlife was spotty, at best, in the<br />
years just before, with a handful of dive bars and relatively<br />
high-profile clubs like Mark’s, Dive Bar and TSI.<br />
By and large, though, unless you were in your 20s<br />
and going out to dance and drink, there was really<br />
no reason to hang out Downtown after hours, except<br />
maybe the Landing, which had begun its long-slow,<br />
precipitous decline years before.<br />
All that changed as the new millennium began, and<br />
an increase in nightlife options brought with it a commensurate<br />
increase in foot traffic, thanks largely to the<br />
rise of Art Walk, and business owners began to finally<br />
see some much-needed momentum, which brings us<br />
to the present and a Downtown scene<br />
that is much busier and more diverse than perhaps<br />
ever before.<br />
A long night out is best when it begins with a nice<br />
meal. Your options abound Downtown, but that is better<br />
done earlier than later. Many eateries in the urban<br />
core close after lunch or at the end of business hours.<br />
Certain others stay open until 9 or 10 p.m., sometimes<br />
a little later on the weekend, while all retail establishments<br />
shut their doors long before that. Gallery spaces<br />
are the same, but they will sometimes keep odd hours<br />
for key openings or other such special occasions. It’s<br />
worth getting out early to check out some of these<br />
places. And for what it’s worth, summertime sunsets on<br />
the St. Johns River are just gorgeous.<br />
After your meal, it’s time to walk off those calories<br />
with a little bar-hopping. Your nightlife options are<br />
largely concentrated in a several-block radius that<br />
is easily walkable, no matter how lazy one might be<br />
feeling. In terms of after-hours activity Downtown,<br />
everything revolves around Bay Street, which quickly<br />
emerged as the area’s primary bar district, with a variety<br />
of nightspots spanning several blocks that will appeal to<br />
most interests.<br />
The strip begins at the corner where East Bay Street<br />
intersects with North Ocean Street. That corner is two<br />
blocks down from Burrito Gallery, on Adams Street,<br />
which stays open with food, drink and sometimes live<br />
music (usually rock, soul or fusion) until 2 a.m. Thursday-Saturday.<br />
On your way up toward the Elbow, be sure to stop at<br />
Dos Gatos. Located on Forsyth Street right across from<br />
Casa Dora, Space Gallery and the Florida Theatre,<br />
Dos Gatos essentially ushered what quickly became a<br />
million-dollar market for craft-cocktails (and the highend<br />
spirits that animate them).<br />
Just a few feet down, [Continued on page 88]<br />
« Fans of the band Tauk take in the show at 1904 Music Hall, a live music venue on North Ocean Street in Downtown Jacksonville.<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 23
THE<br />
PLAY<br />
ISSUE<br />
Hunger<br />
Games<br />
BY CARON STREIBICH // PHOTO BY BOB SELF<br />
24<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
From Bellwether to Cowford Chophouse to<br />
The Happy Grilled Cheese, eclectic restaurant<br />
options are vital to Downtown’s livelihood<br />
Great<br />
downtowns are a smorgasbord for the senses.<br />
They glisten and grind and waft vibrations of coolness<br />
day and night. They exude vibrant diversity and<br />
kitschy, artsy, organic realism without even trying.<br />
And without a doubt, they smell like things are cooking,<br />
whether from a late-night pizza stand, a taco<br />
bus, or a Michelin-starred eatery.<br />
On that last point, I have a grievance with you,<br />
Downtown Jacksonville. I’ve given you nearly five<br />
years of my work life, and I’ve even had a few novel<br />
bites along the way to and from the office. But<br />
through it all, I can’t help but feel the burners are<br />
off in our urban core. How can we make it a true<br />
culinary destination?<br />
Just as winning sports teams and performance<br />
venues are magnets for human activity, restaurants<br />
have much the same effect. Having an abundant<br />
mix of reputable eateries — fast-casual, sit-down,<br />
upscale, ethnic, healthy — is vital to keeping people<br />
interested in working Downtown, living Downtown,<br />
moving hordes of their employees Downtown, and<br />
telling others how much they love Downtown.<br />
Great urban cores boast slurp-worthy ramen,<br />
Indian buffets, doughnuts and sashimi, Barcelona-grade<br />
tapas, artery-aggravating soul food,<br />
pre-concert fuel and late-night not-ready-to-gohome<br />
greasy fries, food halls, old-school ice cream<br />
shops, and sandwich masterpieces from smarmy<br />
service stations.<br />
On one hand, I feel it’s all within reach here in<br />
Cowford. But the ones that have it press up against<br />
our urban core, harass it, lean in suggestively and<br />
whisper, “Don’t you want a taste?”<br />
In Brooklyn, I visit fast-casual trifecta Vale Food<br />
Co., BurgerFi and Zoe’s Kitchen, and occasionally,<br />
“daytime café” First Watch or Burrito Gallery’s<br />
rooftop. But just try to walk there from the core and<br />
you’ll easily blow up your lunch hour and a good<br />
pair of shoes.<br />
Same goes with Southbank treats bb’s, The<br />
Bearded Pig, Clara’s Tidbits, Sake House, The<br />
Southern Grill, The Wine Cellar, Ruth’s Chris, The<br />
Charthouse or River City Brewing Company. Extra<br />
points to the latter three for touting riverfront views<br />
— though dated interiors — and The Bearded Pig for<br />
its enclosed kids’ area. I’ve enjoyed bb’s for years, but<br />
it’s not pedestrian-friendly from the Northbank.<br />
Activity, density,<br />
connectivity<br />
So why are these gems just out of Downtown’s<br />
reach? The simple fact is that restaurants are but a single<br />
piece of what makes urban districts thrive. To fully<br />
understand the dearth of culinary options north of the<br />
St. Johns, I chalk it up to three of Downtown’s chronic<br />
syndromes: lack of activity, density and connectivity.<br />
First, the activity. In most of Downtown after 5 p.m.<br />
and on weekends, street-level activity sputters to a<br />
dim hum. Nightlife is limited. Events are sporadic, but<br />
not consistent. Sports events to the core’s east hardly<br />
register due to the chasm that is our jail and police department,<br />
not to mention the hulking skeleton of a condominium<br />
that creates a virtual east-west checkpoint.<br />
A popular restaurant (or restaurants) theoretically<br />
should drive traffic to an area. Ongoing programming<br />
— daily and nightly, not just weekly or monthly —<br />
should drive traffic, too. Marry the two in regular ceremonies,<br />
and the guests will soon follow. Then throw<br />
in a bodega or standard grocery to appeal to would-be<br />
residents.<br />
Anthony Hashem, owner of fast-casual eatery The<br />
Happy Grilled Cheese on Hogan Street, echoes this<br />
sentiment. “The gorgeous apartments going in one<br />
block from us on Adams Street [Continued on page 90]<br />
« Giovanni Roman, front of house director at Cowford Chophouse, inspects glassware on the table settings before customers arrive.<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 25
Q:<br />
CHECKING<br />
More than 4,000 readers of<br />
The Florida Times-Union<br />
have volunteered to be part of<br />
the Email Interactive Group.<br />
They respond to occasional<br />
questions about public issues<br />
in our community.<br />
Eileen Erikson,<br />
Isle of Palms<br />
We need safe places to eat<br />
near the Times-Union Center.<br />
Charles Winton,<br />
Jacksonville<br />
We need a hop-on-hop off<br />
tram that could be as much of<br />
a draw as the cable cars in San<br />
Francisco or New Orleans.<br />
Amelia Gaillard,<br />
East Arlington<br />
I generally feel safe<br />
Downtown except after<br />
dark, walking through<br />
dimly lit areas populated<br />
with apparently homeless<br />
people staring me down. I<br />
was obviously unwelcome in<br />
“their” territory.<br />
Jack Knee, Nocatee<br />
We need something like Gray<br />
Line Tours Downtown.<br />
THE PULSE<br />
Judy Johnson,<br />
Jacksonville<br />
Downtown needs more nice<br />
restaurants. We are missing<br />
shopping and more reasons<br />
to come downtown. When<br />
reading the J magazine,<br />
everything sounds great with<br />
all kinds of promises, but year<br />
after year nothing happens.<br />
Laura D’Alisera,<br />
Mandarin<br />
Art Walk is fun, and we<br />
should have more of that<br />
kind of energy in Downtown<br />
programming. If the Landing<br />
is demolished, the green<br />
space should be like the park<br />
in downtown Charleston,<br />
with fountains, walking paths<br />
and gazebos for people to<br />
enjoy the riverfront. With<br />
Metropolitan Park and the<br />
Landing scheduled to go<br />
away, there needs to be an<br />
outdoor performance space<br />
for smaller events.<br />
Jane White,<br />
Ponte Vedra Beach<br />
I think it would be wonderful<br />
if we had an aquarium in<br />
Downtown Jacksonville.<br />
By Mike Clark<br />
What kind of additional<br />
entertainment options<br />
are needed in Downtown<br />
Jacksonville?<br />
Camilla Crawshaw,<br />
Jacksonville<br />
I love downtown areas of small<br />
towns and big cities. But in<br />
my past homes (eight cities in<br />
five states), some had water<br />
features and periodic events.<br />
All of them had hotels, stores<br />
and restaurants and lots of jobs<br />
in floors above street level.<br />
Michael Cross,<br />
St. Augustine<br />
Build a footbridge across the<br />
river (our own little arch),<br />
something architecturally<br />
interesting, something<br />
defining. Open an Imax theater.<br />
Make roadways just for golf<br />
carts. Have free concerts every<br />
Friday and Saturday night.<br />
Offer subsidies for any of these.<br />
Build it and they will come.<br />
Michael McGahan,<br />
Jacksonville Beach<br />
I would like to see more<br />
family-friendly events and free<br />
musical concerts Downtown.<br />
It would be nice to have more<br />
college baseball games at the<br />
ballpark.<br />
Eileen Erikson,<br />
Jacksonville<br />
The theater area needs more<br />
ambassadors to help people<br />
navigate safely around town!<br />
Eduardo Balbona,<br />
Jacksonville<br />
A new downtown<br />
neighborhood should be<br />
our goal. A Downtown<br />
neighborhood means people<br />
living in an interesting area<br />
with public spaces, shops,<br />
restaurants and, yes, plenty<br />
of bars.<br />
Tom Bary,<br />
Neptune Beach<br />
For a Downtown renaissance<br />
to truly take place there<br />
needs to be an influx of<br />
interesting restaurants that<br />
serve excellent food and have<br />
interesting atmospheres in<br />
the city center. I also think<br />
there needs to be quality<br />
residential.<br />
The Landing is key. Put in an informal meeting<br />
place, band shell and glass floor for looking down<br />
at the water. Let food trucks in and make it a T-shirt<br />
kind of place. A historic ship would be nice. Maybe<br />
a zip line. Bring back the ship museum. Get 10<br />
plans, take the best of the ideas.<br />
Jeff Cooper, Southside<br />
26<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
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SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 27
THE BIG<br />
PICTURE<br />
SHIPPING<br />
Container<br />
APARTMENTS<br />
IN THE WORKS<br />
RENDERING BY<br />
Fisher Koppenhafer<br />
Architects<br />
If all goes to plan, a three-level<br />
apartment complex built with 18<br />
shipping containers will soon pop<br />
up on an empty lot in Downtown’s<br />
Cathedral District.<br />
According to JWB Real Estate<br />
Capital President Alex Sifakis,<br />
each container would house a<br />
320-square-foot apartment, roughly<br />
the size of a hotel room, with a<br />
living room, full-sized bathroom,<br />
small bedroom and kitchen. Rent<br />
could start at $550 a month.<br />
“We’ve been getting people<br />
coming out of the woodwork<br />
interested in it,” Sifakis said. “it<br />
seems like 50 percent think it’s the<br />
dumbest thing … and about 50<br />
percent think it’s the greatest thing<br />
ever and they want one now.<br />
“You’ll be able to tell they’re<br />
shipping containers from the<br />
outside,” he said, “but some really,<br />
really good-looking shipping<br />
containers.”<br />
28<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 29
THE JACKSONVILLE LANDING<br />
By CAROLE HAWKINS<br />
PHOTOGRAPH BY NATE WATSON<br />
30 J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> NOW WHAT?
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 31
“WE HAVE IT NOW.”<br />
That’s what Brian Hughes said in a May phone interview<br />
about the future of The Jacksonville Landing. At the<br />
same time, the city was sitting at the closing table,<br />
buying back the festival marketplace that had for<br />
decades languished on Downtown’s struggling<br />
retail scene.<br />
“I am not at all adverse to a public conversation<br />
[about what happens next]. The mayor<br />
is excited for it,” said Hughes, interim director for<br />
Jacksonville’s Downtown Investment Authority.<br />
“We’re about to unfurl the future for the epicenter<br />
of our urban core and totally rework it.”<br />
As this article goes to press, political will stands<br />
behind tearing down the Landing, and if that happens,<br />
the city will rebuild from a blank canvas. So<br />
what would come next?<br />
A tranquil riverside park, maybe with a museum? A<br />
destination play space, with an events plaza? Trendy<br />
open-air restaurants and shops, high-rise offices and<br />
apartments? An active urban experience shared across<br />
generations, or a vacant green space overrun by shabby-clothed<br />
panhandlers?<br />
Thus has ranged the conversation over the likely future of<br />
one of Downtown’s most controversial properties.<br />
White elephanT<br />
The Landing is a cornerstone to<br />
Downtown revitalization. It’s located at a<br />
crossroads, connecting Hemming Park;<br />
the Laura, Hogan and Water street corridors,<br />
and the Riverwalk. These are places<br />
where other revitalization is underway<br />
— a collection of riverside improvements<br />
including a new pocket park, the old courthouse<br />
demolition, and the redevelopment<br />
of the Barnett Bank building and the Laura<br />
Street Trio. From the Landing, pedestrians<br />
can travel to other Downtown places,<br />
using the Skyway, water taxi, bus or the<br />
Main Street Bridge.<br />
The Landing could be the crown jewel<br />
in a connected string of Downtown destinations.<br />
But right now, it isn’t. The horseshoe-shaped<br />
retail complex faces away<br />
from the city, blocks the view of the river<br />
from the Laura Street corridor and crowds<br />
the walking space along the Riverwalk<br />
down to single-file.<br />
The Landing was built in 1987 as a<br />
festival marketplace. The concept — a<br />
combination enclosed mall and events<br />
plaza — was designed to lure suburbanites<br />
back Downtown. It came to Jacksonville<br />
at a time when the retail tide was already<br />
beginning to turn against indoor malls.<br />
Councilman John Crescimbeni said even<br />
in its early years, the Landing was a flop.<br />
Crescimbeni owned a Hickory Farms<br />
franchise, with other stores in Avondale,<br />
Jacksonville Beach, Mandarin, Lake City<br />
and Waycross, Ga. He was at The Landing<br />
in 1989, just two years after it opened.<br />
32<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
CITY OF JACKSONVILLE<br />
“It was the worst location I ever operated<br />
in 37 years,” he said. “I think everybody<br />
was so desperate to do something with<br />
that piece of property they didn’t look<br />
closely at the details.”<br />
Years of struggle<br />
In 2003 the Landing’s original owner<br />
sold the underperforming venue to local<br />
developer Toney Sleiman. Sleiman owned<br />
the buildings, but leased the land from the<br />
city. The ensuing developer-city relationship<br />
was marred by controversies over<br />
parking, safety and upkeep.<br />
In 2015 the DIA hired outside consultants<br />
with experience in urban waterfront<br />
design to help both parties work out<br />
redevelopment of the Landing. The team<br />
accumulated extensive public input. But<br />
disagreements between Sleiman and the<br />
city continued, and the project fizzled.<br />
In 2017 the battle hit the courts. It<br />
ended earlier this year, with a $15 million<br />
settlement that sold ownership of the<br />
Landing to the city.<br />
Now that the city has it back, it can turn<br />
the page on the venue’s troubled history.<br />
The mayor last summer floated the<br />
Mayor Lenny Curry’s earlier idea to demolish the<br />
Jacksonville Landing and turn most of the property<br />
into a riverfront plaza with trails and fountains. The<br />
site would have two buildings for commercial activity.<br />
idea of an iconic park — a large grassy<br />
space next to the river, punctuated by two<br />
commercial buildings. That differs from<br />
the 2015 DIA vision, which had imagined<br />
a more active riverside park, with dining<br />
spots, a playground, a grassy events space,<br />
a public plaza and a mixed-use commercial<br />
building.<br />
Hughes said it could be as late as Octo-<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 33
The 2015 design plan for the Jacksonville Landing showed a two-level public plaza. The lower level would have steps taking people down closer to the St. Johns River.<br />
ber before outstanding lease agreements<br />
are resolved with the sub-tenants that<br />
remain at the Landing. So, there’s time for<br />
the public to append some new ideas to<br />
previous thoughts on what comes next.<br />
Calls have been made to replace the<br />
Landing with an equally iconic structure. It<br />
sounds exciting. A park? Kinda boring.<br />
It doesn’t have to be.<br />
“I think a park in connection with<br />
other things to do Downtown is the way<br />
to go,” said Elena Madison, vice president<br />
at Project for Public Spaces. “Especially if<br />
you think of your public destinations as a<br />
network, instead of individual islands.”<br />
So, how do planners separate the good<br />
from the great when it comes to urban<br />
parks?<br />
engagE people<br />
Ask yourself, Madison said, are people<br />
there or not? You don’t simply want a<br />
grassy contemplative place where you can<br />
be on the water. That kind of park has a<br />
different function, one more appropriate<br />
for a residential neighborhood than the<br />
heart of Downtown.<br />
Urban parks are multiuse destinations,<br />
with event lawns, public plazas, dining<br />
spots and retail kiosks. They engage people<br />
with playgrounds, climbable art and<br />
touchable water features.<br />
Downtown Detroit activated an underused<br />
lawn by transforming it into a seasonal<br />
beach, with a large sand-filled area,<br />
lounge chairs, a deck, and a beach bar and<br />
grille. In the winter, the space turns into an<br />
ice skating rink.<br />
Harvard University activated its campus<br />
public spaces with outdoor seating,<br />
URBAN DESIGN ASSOCIATES (2)<br />
34<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
food trucks, a pet therapy zoo, and fire<br />
rings for roasting marshmallows.<br />
Urban parks create more energy when<br />
special events are paired with everyday<br />
uses. Parks that rely only on events will be<br />
active during performances, but empty<br />
the rest of the day.<br />
Also, anything that discourages people<br />
from stopping and staying is not the way<br />
to go. Think of the planters laid across<br />
seating areas at Hemming Park.<br />
“If that’s the approach, then why are<br />
you building a park?” Madison said.<br />
“Just running and biking through it is not<br />
enough.”<br />
A lot of placemaking is thinking about<br />
the history and uses that make that space<br />
interesting, said Dan Amsden of MIG, a<br />
Berkeley-based planning and design firm.<br />
Sacramento’s historic riverfront area<br />
had for decades been home to T-shirt<br />
shops and tourist attractions, with few<br />
offerings for local residents.<br />
But Sacramento has its roots as a<br />
railroad city. So, developers began adding<br />
historic railroad elements back into old<br />
Sacramento’s re-purposed restaurants<br />
and buildings.<br />
“It drives interest and excitement,”<br />
Amsden said. “It gets people into the<br />
experience of a place.”<br />
Urban parks<br />
Privately owned restaurants, stores and<br />
other commercial venues often support<br />
the urban park’s public assets by earning<br />
the income that pays for maintenance and<br />
public events. It’s important to make sure<br />
the privatization enhances, rather than<br />
overtakes, public use, though.<br />
“Waterfronts are too valuable to simply<br />
allow developers to dictate whatever<br />
happens there,” Madison said. “You<br />
should put public goals first, not private<br />
short-term financial objectives.”<br />
Instead, look for commercial uses<br />
that complement public ones. Restaurants<br />
and bars mix well with events.<br />
Residential buildings can bring more<br />
around-the-clock activity, but don’t<br />
overdo it.<br />
“In the last 20 years we’ve seen a<br />
strong desire with waterfront development<br />
to do what’s easiest, which is highrise<br />
residential,” said Madison.<br />
It may turn a park into the private<br />
backyard of wealthy riverside condo<br />
owners who control everything that<br />
happens there.<br />
If residences are part of the plan,<br />
locate them at the perimeter of a park,<br />
not next to a core entertainment area,<br />
HOT TAKES ON THE FUTURE OF THE LANDING<br />
“[I’ve heard suggestions from young people, like having]<br />
climbing walls and boulders. In Europe you have small,<br />
400-square-foot restaurants that add to the experience<br />
of the park. You have shaded places where people can<br />
sit down. It would be cool to have a mini field, for<br />
somebody who wants to kick around a soccer ball.<br />
A kayak launch was mentioned. A place where you<br />
could rent jet skis was mentioned. How cool would it<br />
be to have a botanical garden?”<br />
Matt Carlucci<br />
City Councilman-Elect<br />
“More open and flexible spaces. If you look at Hemming<br />
Park right now — all of that built environment makes<br />
it challenging for events. You have the fountain, you<br />
have a little riser, and you have railings everywhere. It<br />
probably makes more sense to be flexible with a lot of<br />
grass. When the Jaguars win the Super Bowl, where<br />
are we going to have our parade? Where is our giant<br />
meeting space?”<br />
Jake Gordon<br />
Downtown Vision CEO<br />
“[For the income-earning components] we’ll need to decide<br />
how much we’ll divvy it up as far as potential residential<br />
versus office and potential retail. I think there will be an<br />
RFP process, where proposals can say if it’s all public<br />
space and we lease them under a long-term [agreement],<br />
or if we isolate parcels and sell them, so they become<br />
privately owned and developed under guidelines. Then,<br />
what’s constructed will generate property taxes which<br />
will help us maintain [the park].”<br />
Brian Hughes<br />
DIA Interim Director<br />
“To me it’s a vibrant gathering place at the<br />
intersection of the Riverwalk and the end of Laura<br />
Street … It could be a very active space that has a<br />
plaza and stage, with events going on at all times.<br />
That seems more appropriately urban for this<br />
area. But I also believe you need green relief in<br />
an urban setting. So I don’t think [something<br />
similar to Riverside’s] Memorial Park is<br />
completely off base either.”<br />
Lori Boyer<br />
City Councilwoman<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 35
This rendering from 2015 shows how the redevelopment of the Jacksonville Landing would look when viewed from the St. Johns River looking toward downtown.<br />
Amsden said. He recalled a Sacramento<br />
developer who built a trendy pop-up<br />
outdoor bar out of shipping containers.<br />
It was exciting, but it was right next door<br />
to some of the most expensive condos in<br />
Sacramento. Complaints shut the venue<br />
down.<br />
“Outdoor bar-goers at 2 a.m. next to<br />
expensive condos was not a good thing.”<br />
Amsden said.<br />
Retail HAS CHANGED<br />
Even though the Landing’s retail<br />
faltered, downtowns are one place where<br />
retail can still succeed. It just looks different<br />
these days.<br />
The trend is moving away from a single<br />
product line sold in a single store and<br />
towards experience-based retail, Amsden<br />
said.<br />
Sacramento regularly closes off two<br />
city blocks for street fairs. When it does,<br />
the nearby retail becomes a mash-up of<br />
bars with artists painting pictures, while<br />
patrons visit and buy T-shirts.<br />
“At the end of the day, it makes it fun<br />
and interesting,” Amsden said.<br />
Next steps<br />
When news of Jacksonville’s agreement<br />
to buy the Landing hit the media,<br />
public opinion flurried. Nostalgic photos<br />
of a crowded Landing from years gone by<br />
appeared on Facebook. People wondered:<br />
Should parts of the iconic copper-roofed<br />
building be repurposed? Would a new<br />
city park become a magnet for homeless<br />
people?<br />
Councilman-elect Matt Carlucci said he<br />
received 128 comments on the Landing.<br />
He called for a public charrette.<br />
But Hughes said it’s a been-there-donethat<br />
kind of a situation. DIA’s 2015 charrette<br />
already collected opinions from hundreds<br />
of participants.<br />
“We’re not going to hit the pause button<br />
and go backwards several years. We know<br />
what should go there. The public has<br />
already told us,” Hughes said.<br />
The size and scope of The Landing does<br />
warrant extra public input, Hughes said.<br />
But it will probably take the form of public<br />
lunch-and-learns, such as those held for<br />
other major developments like The District<br />
and the Berkman II.<br />
For such a large project, opinions are<br />
already surprisingly aligned.<br />
Almost everyone agrees they want<br />
development to be set farther back from<br />
the river. And they want to open the river<br />
view along the Laura Street corridor. It<br />
also appears the Landing is to become a<br />
mixed-use park, more than a retail marketplace.<br />
It won’t be just another city park that’s<br />
hard to sustain and to manage either,<br />
Hughes said.<br />
“We want a very well designed public<br />
space that draws people in. And we’ll keep<br />
it financed by building into the long-term<br />
plan some privately developed space,” he<br />
said. “It will become a more open public<br />
space that excites people and provides a<br />
way for families to enjoy the waterfront.”<br />
We’re looking forward to it. After decades<br />
of being stuck in a holding pattern,<br />
The Landing’s future finally looks bright.<br />
Carole Hawkins was a reporter<br />
for the Times-Union’s Georgia bureau<br />
in 2007-10. She is a freelance writer<br />
who lives in Murray Hill.<br />
URBAN DESIGN ASSOCIATES<br />
36<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
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Jacksonville, FL 32202<br />
904.359.4318<br />
jacksonville.com
By MARILYN YOUNG<br />
RENDERING BY THE RYAN COMPANIES<br />
38<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
The new JEA headquarters will be<br />
located on a block at 325 W. Adams<br />
Street and feature a nine-story tower<br />
and attached parking garage.<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 39
TJEA’s board of directors selected the Ryan Companies as the developers to build a new headquarters at 325 W. Adams Street, east of the Duval County Courthouse.<br />
he old and the chosen new JEA headquarters sites are just a few blocks<br />
from each other, less than a half-mile walk: the current JEA building<br />
on West Church Street, showing every bit of its 56 years, and the empty<br />
city-owned block on West Adams Street, a prime spot to help breathe<br />
life into that part of the urban core.<br />
Their close proximity tempers some of the immediate tangible economic<br />
benefits the new JEA headquarters may bring.<br />
A company the size of JEA moving to<br />
the urban core from elsewhere would bring<br />
hundreds of new customers for restaurants,<br />
bars and shops. But many of the 760 utility<br />
employees making the short move are likely<br />
already eating or shopping at businesses<br />
near the West Adams Street location.<br />
While the project doesn’t contribute to<br />
the residential density that Jacksonville’s<br />
urban core needs, it adds to the intangible<br />
feeling of progress.<br />
When Ryan Companies begins work on<br />
the $72 million headquarters, the activity<br />
will be a sign that Jacksonville’s urban core is<br />
continuing its renaissance.<br />
Impact around<br />
the new site<br />
JEA’s West Adams Street site is in the<br />
Downtown area visually dominated by<br />
the monolithic Duval County Courthouse,<br />
which opened in 2012.<br />
Many speculated the courthouse moving<br />
three-quarters of a mile from its East Bay<br />
Street site would drive retail and restaurant<br />
development in the area with its employees<br />
and the attorneys who needed to file<br />
motions and attend hearings. It didn’t,<br />
especially after electronic filing eliminated<br />
the need for many attorneys to make the trip<br />
to the courthouse.<br />
Nor did the move of the State Attorney’s<br />
Office from Bay Street to across North Pearl<br />
RYAN COMPANIES<br />
40<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
“We have a successful track record of taking complicated<br />
Downtown projects and creating places for the building’s<br />
users and the community to thrive.”<br />
Doug Dieck<br />
Southeast Region president for Ryan Companies<br />
Street from the courthouse.<br />
So, it’s understandable that JEA’s move<br />
a shorter distance will not solely drive the<br />
need for many new restaurants and shops,<br />
particularly since the bulk of the impact will<br />
likely be felt during regular weekday business<br />
hours. The utility’s new site will have<br />
its own restaurant (as does the current one),<br />
and most of the employees work shifts when<br />
they head home in time for dinner.<br />
“This is a more minor shift compared<br />
to the courthouse,” said Oliver Barakat, a<br />
Downtown Investment Authority board<br />
member who also is senior vice president<br />
with CBRE Inc. “I don’t think it will create<br />
that catalytic activity that people tend to<br />
believe it will.”<br />
There will likely be some storefront<br />
demand. “You might see two or three more<br />
storefronts in that area,” he said.<br />
Christian Oldenburg, managing director<br />
of Colliers International Northeast Florida,<br />
said the courthouse’s move generated a little<br />
more interest in land “out that direction.”<br />
“The reality is things take time to take<br />
root,” he said.<br />
Barakat said the area also will benefit if<br />
other projects planned nearby, such as at<br />
the Ambassador Hotel and the Jones Brothers<br />
Furniture building, are completed.<br />
“If all those projects together happen,<br />
I think you’re going to see probably more<br />
development happen and more confidence<br />
in that area of Downtown,” said Barakat, one<br />
of two original DIA board members serving<br />
since its inception in 2012.<br />
Staying Downtown<br />
It was critical that JEA decided to remain<br />
in the urban core versus heading to the suburbs.<br />
That loss would have been devastating<br />
at a time when Downtown is enjoying some<br />
long-awaited momentum.<br />
And it wouldn’t have just been felt by<br />
the lights being shut off in the well-known<br />
building with the iconic glass top floor that<br />
once was a high-end revolving restaurant.<br />
The biggest losers would have been many<br />
restaurants that depend on several hundred<br />
of the utility’s worker to provide a steady<br />
lunchtime business. It could have been the<br />
JEA’s 760-point scorECARD USED to rank the proposals<br />
LOT J<br />
Cordish Companies & Iguana Investments<br />
KINGS AVENUE<br />
Chase Properties Inc. & Parkway Property Investments<br />
325 W. ADAMS ST.<br />
Ryan Companies<br />
Building program accommodation<br />
Workforce engagement,culture<br />
Presentation and interview<br />
Customer engagement<br />
Timing and site control<br />
Economic development<br />
BOARD SCORE AVERAGE<br />
Development schedule<br />
TOTAL STAFF SCORE<br />
Quantitative summary*<br />
TOTAL SCORE<br />
JEFF DAVIS<br />
LOT J<br />
KINGS AVENUE<br />
325 W. ADAMS ST.<br />
SOURCE: JEA<br />
Potential points:<br />
20 120 80 80 40 60 60 200 660 100 760<br />
20 92 40 30 32 40 45 200 499 69.25 568.25<br />
15 88 50 30 23 45 30 190 471 63.25 534.25<br />
10 75 65 55 17 45 50 190 507 78.75 585.75<br />
*Total or annualized cost and life cycle costs<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 41
“We don’t need a Sydney Opera House. But I do believe there<br />
is a role for architecture to play in government buildings.<br />
... I don’t want to add just another glass box Downtown.”<br />
Alan Howard<br />
JEA board chair during the headquarters-selection process<br />
LEFT: JEA’s current headquarters is located at<br />
21 W. Church St.<br />
RIGHT: A former JEA headquarters building at<br />
233 W. Duval St. has sat vacant for nearly 20 years.<br />
death knell for some already on the edge.<br />
Staying Downtown was important to<br />
the utility from the beginning, said Alan<br />
Howard, who was board chair during the<br />
headquarters-selection process.<br />
“The staff and board analyses both<br />
agreed that the invitation to negotiate<br />
should include, as a criteria, a Downtown<br />
location,” he said.<br />
Two of the three bidders to make the<br />
shortlist met that benchmark: the West<br />
Adams Street location and a Shad Khan-led<br />
effort in a planned $500 million development<br />
in Lot J near TIAA Bank Field.<br />
Howard said the strength of the bid<br />
from a third team, which included respected<br />
Jacksonville developer Mike Balanky,<br />
deserved to be a finalist despite the site at<br />
the Kings Avenue Station being just outside<br />
DIA’s boundaries.<br />
Not choosing Khan’s project quickly<br />
silenced the conspiracy theorists who<br />
believed that a fix was in and the JEA board<br />
would kowtow to pressure from City Hall<br />
to select the proposal from the Jacksonville<br />
Jaguars owner.<br />
The two sites that were not chosen definitely<br />
would have benefited by landing JEA’s<br />
headquarters, but their projects can still<br />
thrive without it.<br />
Oldenburg said he it would have been<br />
nice to see JEA select Lot J and “hopefully<br />
get some momentum in that direction. But<br />
I understand that JEA’s job isn’t really to<br />
advance Downtown development. … They<br />
have to make the decision best for their<br />
business.”<br />
He believes Lot J developers saw JEA’s<br />
headquarters as an opportunity to “jumpstart”<br />
their project. “In the long run, provided<br />
they stick to it, there could be potentially<br />
another opportunity,” he said. “Maybe a<br />
better opportunity.”<br />
JEFF DAVIS (2)<br />
42<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
“There’s a general belief if you have a strong<br />
periphery but a weak core, that the weak core almost<br />
overshadows the strength in the periphery.”<br />
Oliver Barakat<br />
Downtown Investment Authority board member<br />
JEFF DAVIS<br />
Oldenburg said he understood why<br />
JEA decided to build a new headquarters<br />
but ideally would have liked the utility to<br />
absorb some of the current vacancy to<br />
reduce the vacancy rate and help stabilize<br />
the market.<br />
Barakat said projects like the new JEA<br />
headquarters add to the momentum happening<br />
in Downtown, which is good for the<br />
entire city.<br />
“There’s a general belief if you have<br />
a strong periphery but a weak core, that<br />
the weak core almost overshadows the<br />
strength in the periphery,” he said.<br />
Joining ‘great bones’<br />
of Downtown<br />
Downtown was also important to Ryan<br />
Companies, a firm with success in corporate<br />
headquarters, build-to-suit and office<br />
projects in urban core areas, including in<br />
Arizona, Iowa and Minnesota.<br />
“We have a successful track record of<br />
taking complicated Downtown projects<br />
and creating places for the building’s users<br />
and the community to thrive,” said Doug<br />
Dieck, Southeast Region president for Ryan<br />
Companies.<br />
He said Downtown Jacksonville has<br />
“great bones” in buildings like The Florida<br />
Theatre and the former Barnett Bank Building,<br />
being redeveloped by Steve Atkins.<br />
He also called Hemming Park “a fantastic<br />
amenity (that) should be treasured.”<br />
Dieck said Ryan Companies selected<br />
three potential solutions for JEA’s headquarters:<br />
redeveloping the current site, the<br />
West Adams Street location (Block 48) and a<br />
block north of the courthouse.<br />
“Ultimately, they chose Block 48, and<br />
we couldn’t be more thrilled,” he said. “We<br />
really feel this is their best choice.”<br />
In mid-April, the DIA put the 1.5-acre<br />
property up for sale and will choose the<br />
best bid for the property, which is expected<br />
to be Ryan Companies. The site is appraised<br />
at $2.3 million; Ryan bid $2.6 million. When<br />
the building is complete, Ryan would hand<br />
it over to JEA on a long-term lease.<br />
Dieck said Ryan hopes to close on the<br />
property in November and start deep foundations<br />
by the end of the year.<br />
JEA HEADQUARTERS TO REMAIN IN THE CORE<br />
Former JEA<br />
headquarters<br />
233 W. Duval St.<br />
Duval County<br />
Courthouse<br />
325 W. Adams St.<br />
The site chosen<br />
for the location<br />
of JEA’s new<br />
headquarters<br />
95<br />
FULLER<br />
WARREN<br />
BRIDGE<br />
ACOSTA<br />
BRIDGE<br />
Hemming<br />
Park<br />
FORSYTH ST.<br />
The Landing<br />
MAIN ST.<br />
BRIDGE<br />
Friendship<br />
Park<br />
MAIN ST.<br />
OCEAN ST.<br />
ADAMS ST.<br />
KINGS AVE.<br />
Howard said he had an extended<br />
discussion with the design team at Ryan<br />
Companies about potential changes in the<br />
building’s exterior, particularly to add “a<br />
more iconic design that references Jacksonville<br />
and Northeast Florida.”<br />
“We don’t need a Sydney Opera House,”<br />
he said, referring to the arts center in Australia.<br />
“But I do believe there is a role for architecture<br />
to play in government buildings.<br />
... I don’t want to add just another glass box<br />
Downtown.”<br />
Howard said the design team was “very<br />
open” to his suggestions.<br />
Dieck agreed, saying the company is<br />
“very open to understanding and embracing<br />
the customer’s needs and their ideas on<br />
look and functionality.”<br />
What’s next for<br />
the old site<br />
The next decision JEA may be making<br />
is what to do with its current headquarters,<br />
which it bought in 1989 and is much<br />
larger than the utility needs today. Two<br />
other structures make up its Downtown<br />
campus — a parking garage and a motor<br />
Current JEA headquarters<br />
21 W. Church St.<br />
ARLINGTON EXPY.<br />
St. Johns River<br />
95<br />
Lot J<br />
One of<br />
the JEA<br />
site finalists<br />
Kings Avenue<br />
One of the<br />
JEA site finalists<br />
MLK JR. PKWY.<br />
TIAA<br />
Bank<br />
Field<br />
Metropolitan Park<br />
pool building.<br />
Gina Kyle, media relations manager<br />
for JEA, said the utility plans to market the<br />
A DOZEN RIVER<br />
The VIEWS deteriorating IN condition THE of the<br />
URBAN CORE<br />
buildings at some point.<br />
building costs JEA millions a year to maintain<br />
it and will play a role in whether the<br />
structure will be renovated or demolished.<br />
1<br />
Barakat said he has been contacted by<br />
two out-of-town developers about the JEA<br />
tower.<br />
“They’ve never been inside and don’t<br />
know the condition,” he said. “But there are<br />
some developers that have an interest in<br />
developing in Downtown Jacksonville but<br />
have not been able to find an appropriate<br />
building of scale to justify coming down<br />
here.”<br />
He said there’s a fair amount of energy<br />
in the community toward preservation of<br />
properties.<br />
“I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion<br />
that demolition is its future,” he said.<br />
MARILYN YOUNG was an editor at The Florida<br />
Times-Union in 1998-2013. She lives in northern<br />
St. Johns County.<br />
N<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 43
intriguing downtowners<br />
By ROGER BROWN<br />
Photos by BOB SELF<br />
44<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
Enjoying a cup of coffee and<br />
some delightful conversation —<br />
at the Urban Grind.<br />
Having a sense of<br />
concern about the number of transients<br />
and homeless people.<br />
Savoring the ease of being able<br />
to easily walk or drive to and from<br />
countless adventures and attractions.<br />
Longing for more activity, more people,<br />
more late-night dining spots — and for all of it<br />
to happen much quicker.<br />
Savoring the diversity of faces on the streets<br />
during a typical weekday afternoon.<br />
Fearing that in the move to improve<br />
and change for the better, uniqueness<br />
and distinctiveness will be left by the<br />
wayside.<br />
These are some of the joys and<br />
pet peeves about being Downtown<br />
that five interesting and intriguing<br />
Downtowners — people who spend a<br />
significant amount of their daily lives working,<br />
living or both in the city center — shared during<br />
these individual chats with J magazine. »<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 45
intriguing downtowners<br />
46<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
Pilar Langthon<br />
Downtown connection: Owner of the Mocha Misk’i Brownie Shop,<br />
a fixture on North Laura Street for nearly four years.<br />
In May, Langthon and her sister and business partner, Helga, moved<br />
Mocha Misk’i out of Downtown to the Mandarin area so they can<br />
largely focus on meeting the growing demands of the boutique/<br />
specialty brownie shop’s booming online business.<br />
v v v v v<br />
What are the best things about Downtown — and about being in<br />
Downtown on a daily basis?<br />
Just the mix of people that you have in Downtown — so many<br />
backgrounds, professions, interests. That makes it exciting to be<br />
here.<br />
What is the biggest misconception that people have about<br />
Downtown?<br />
People think Downtown isn’t safe — that’s just not true. It’s<br />
a really safe place. I leave the shop lots of times late at night, and<br />
there is no problem at all. It’s a safe place.<br />
If you could change one thing about Downtown, what would it<br />
be?<br />
The city must do more about the homeless issue, the transients<br />
Downtown; more has to be done to really change the situation in a<br />
major way. There are plenty of places that help the homeless during<br />
the nighttime, but there need to be more places during the daytime<br />
— and during Saturdays and Sundays too. The bad part is there<br />
are homeless people who have been Downtown for a long time; I<br />
know them, and they are good people. But over the last year, there<br />
seems to be more and more new homeless people coming into<br />
Downtown, people I have never seen before. And they are not very<br />
good people. I don’t know if they are transients who have come<br />
from different places, but they aren’t nice — and some of them<br />
cause problems on the street in front of the businesses Downtown.<br />
The city must do more about this.<br />
And if I can say one more thing, I think we need to do more to<br />
get more activity down here as quickly as possible. It’s coming, but<br />
it needs to be faster; the city needs to speed it up.<br />
Helga and I have loved being Downtown all these years; being<br />
here has really helped to give us exposure and expand our concept.<br />
It has helped us become successful enough to move on to this<br />
exciting new chapter for us. It is a great time for us, and it means<br />
leaving Downtown. But I will always be a big supporter of Downtown.<br />
Downtown will always be a special place to me. It will always<br />
be special in my heart, too.<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 47
Paul Compagnon<br />
The Downtown Connection: Bartender at The Volstead<br />
and he lives in a loft above the popular bar.<br />
v v v v v<br />
What are the best things about Downtown — and about being in<br />
Downtown on a daily basis?<br />
The nightlife, and the fact that everything is within a pretty walkable<br />
distance. I mean, let’s say you just saw a show at the Florida Theatre and<br />
then you want to go to some cool place Downtown to eat or grab a drink.<br />
You can do easily; it’s just a quick walk.<br />
What is the biggest misconception that people have about Downtown?<br />
That it’s crime-ridden and overrun with homeless people. There is a<br />
slight problem as far as transients, but it’s nowhere near as major a problem<br />
as people make it out to be.<br />
If you could change one thing about Downtown, what would it be?<br />
We need a grocery store, big time. And it would be great to have even<br />
more dining options late at night. We’re still lacking that, and that’s what is<br />
keeping us from not only being like big downtowns across the country, but<br />
even ones in other Florida cities like Tampa and Orlando.<br />
48<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
intriguing downtowners<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 49
Emiko Board<br />
The Downtown Connection: Property manager<br />
of The Carling and 11East apartment complexes<br />
v v v v v<br />
What are the best things about Downtown — and<br />
about being in Downtown on a daily basis?<br />
Just being in the middle of so much culture and<br />
diversity. That’s what I love about being Downtown.<br />
There is a real energy all throughout Downtown, and<br />
the good thing is it’s only going to keep building and<br />
building because of all the new development and<br />
activity that’s going on. That’s really exciting. I love<br />
that.<br />
What is the biggest misconception that people<br />
have about Downtown?<br />
People think the traffic is bad Downtown and<br />
that there’s a lot of congestion. But seriously, there’s<br />
rarely ever a big issue with traffic Downtown. It’s not<br />
overwhelming at all, but there are still a lot of people<br />
who are afraid to come Downtown because they fear<br />
there’s going to be a traffic issue. That’s definitely a<br />
misconception.<br />
If you could change one thing about Downtown,<br />
what would it be?<br />
I would really focus on the issue with transients<br />
Downtown, because I do think that’s a problem that<br />
could discourage some people from really being<br />
involved in Downtown. Whether it’s a fair thing or<br />
not, I think some people see the number of transients<br />
we have Downtown and they immediately have a<br />
negative perception — it scares them off from really<br />
exploring Downtown.<br />
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intriguing downtowners<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 51
intriguing downtowners<br />
52<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
Dimitri Demopoulos<br />
The Downtown Connection: A resident of the Churchwell Lofts on Bay Street.<br />
v v v v v<br />
What are the best things about Downtown — and about being in Downtown<br />
on a daily basis?<br />
The best thing about living Downtown on a daily basis is the convenience<br />
that comes with being at the center of almost everything. In my immediate<br />
neighborhood, I can easily walk to the Times-Union Center for a night with the<br />
Jacksonville Symphony or pop over to the Florida Theatre for a David Chapelle<br />
concert.<br />
I can take a stroll along the Riverwalk or wander over to Hemming Park for Art<br />
Walk or just a pleasant al fresco lunch with some tunes.<br />
Best of all, I can hop on my bike and wave to folks in their cars as I coast to<br />
TIAA Bank Field in less than 10 minutes for a Jags game — no traffic and no parking<br />
lot fees for this Downtown resident.<br />
The same principle applies when I want to venture beyond the Urban Core:<br />
The bars and restaurants of Springfield, Riverside, Avondale and San Marco are all<br />
but a short ride away like points on a star.<br />
And when I want to head to the beach, the airport, Amelia Island or St. Augustine,<br />
I can access Interstate 95, the Arlington Expressway and the Hart Bridge all in<br />
less than 5 minutes.<br />
Truth be told, I’m a bit lazy, and living Downtown allows me to spend more<br />
time having fun and enjoying all that Jacksonville has to offer rather than waiting<br />
to have fun.<br />
What is the biggest misconception that people have about Downtown?<br />
The biggest misconception about Downtown is that it’s unsafe. Wrong! I’ve<br />
lived Downtown for 10 years and I regularly attend my local Sheriff’s Watch<br />
meetings. Both my personal experience and the JSO’s data confirm that the<br />
Urban Core is one of the safest neighborhoods in Northeast Florida — thanks to<br />
the hard work and commitment of the JSO’s officers and Downtown Vision Inc.’s<br />
Downtown Ambassadors.<br />
I often feel that people perceive Downtown as unsafe because it can appear so<br />
quiet and empty during certain week nights, but that perception should quickly<br />
change as more Downtown pioneers take the plunge and contribute to the daily<br />
activity occurring in the Urban Core.<br />
If you could change one thing about Downtown, what would it be?<br />
Demopoulos: I’m afraid it would be what many people would say: the plight<br />
of the homeless population concentrated in Downtown and the limited resources<br />
available to assist this population. Hopefully some of the more recent efforts<br />
being made by city officials, the JSO and various charities and nonprofits — like<br />
the creation of the Urban Rest Stop at the Sulzbacher Center — will begin to bear<br />
fruit and encourage many of the homeless to enter the system and access the help<br />
they may need to leave the streets.<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 53
Allishia Bauman<br />
Downtown connection: Chief of staff for City Year<br />
Jacksonville, a Downtown nonprofit.<br />
v v v v v<br />
What are the best things about Downtown — and about being in Downtown<br />
on a daily basis?<br />
I love the strong nonprofit community Downtown. Being the chief of staff for<br />
one of those nonprofits, I consider it an honor to be a part of that community.<br />
There is nothing better than walking to and from your Downtown parking garage<br />
and running into someone from the Jessie Ball duPont Center where many of our<br />
favorite nonprofit partners call home.<br />
I’m also a huge fan of the growing places where you can break bread with<br />
the community. One of the top places would absolutely be Urban Grind. The<br />
friendly faces, the delicious food and drink and the beautiful Urban Garden<br />
make it a perfect spot to get away from a tense day. One of my recent favorite<br />
things is running into “The Uniform Guy” grabbing a coffee and asking you,<br />
“Has anyone done anything nice for you today?” If the answer is “no” — or<br />
you’re caught off guard by the question — he delights you with the purchase<br />
of a delicious Urban Grind muffin or cookie. Other notable gems on my list<br />
include Olio, Chamblin’s Uptown, 20 West Cafe, Toss Green, Coastal Cookies<br />
and my favorite happy hour spot: The Volstead!<br />
What is the biggest misconception that people have about Downtown?<br />
The biggest misconception would absolutely be that Downtown is<br />
unsafe. I walk three to four blocks to and from my parking garage, and I<br />
am never concerned about my safety. I have been here after hours and am<br />
never concerned about what might be around the corner. With the growing<br />
restaurants and shops, I can see the bustle of a city growing here in such<br />
fun ways that makes you feel like you’re not alone. If you don’t frequent<br />
Downtown, you won’t truly know about the charm I get to see, feel and<br />
experience every day.<br />
If you could change one thing about Downtown, what would it be?<br />
I would change how our community thinks about the area. The<br />
misconception about safety and assumption that there is nothing to<br />
do prevents people from coming Downtown; both of them are unfair<br />
assumptions. Also the way we regard historical landmarks is sad. Don’t get<br />
me wrong; it’s incredibly exciting to see the work being done to preserve<br />
the Barnett and Laura Street Trio buildings, but there are other times when<br />
I wonder how much more we truly value the importance of preservation.<br />
Admittedly there is a lot that I don’t know about building codes, safety and<br />
other stuff. But it’s sad to see the current conversations about iconic buildings<br />
like The Jacksonville Landing.<br />
What if we did what we are doing with the Trio and refurbished more spaces<br />
in creative ways that could draw our community together?<br />
What if we committed to solidifying our identity by understanding our history,<br />
learning from it and honoring what has made us great — much of which<br />
is in and around Downtown. I feel proud that City Year gets to be in the oldest<br />
building in Downtown Jacksonville, the Dyal-Upchurch Building, and I often<br />
paint a picture of the stories these walls hold. Imagine how powerful it would<br />
be if we would truly understand and uplift the stories that live in all of our<br />
historic Downtown walls.<br />
54<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
intriguing downtowners<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 55
CORE<br />
EYESORE<br />
‘MODERN DAY<br />
CENTRAL PARK’<br />
STILL A DREAM<br />
220 RIVERSIDE AVE.<br />
BY MIKE CLARK<br />
“What were they thinking?”<br />
That statement comes up often about<br />
Downtown. It applies to Unity Plaza in Brooklyn,<br />
which was designed to be iconic, boldly<br />
inspired by Bryant Park in Manhattan and<br />
Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland, Ore.<br />
And now it’s one of Jacksonville’s iconic<br />
failures. We don’t need any more eyesores<br />
Downtown.<br />
Unity Plaza contains just about all of Downtown’s<br />
shortcomings in one small space at the<br />
corner of Riverside Avenue and Forest Street.<br />
There is inadequate parking.<br />
There is hardly any shade with non-native<br />
palm trees.<br />
And all the concrete is more fitting for a<br />
parking garage than a welcoming gathering<br />
place.<br />
Its retail businesses have gradually disappeared<br />
so that its sales price was dropped<br />
from $4.5 million to $3.5 million, reported the<br />
Jacksonville Business Journal.<br />
The plaza is separate from the residential<br />
space at 220 Riverside, which has been a spectacular<br />
success.<br />
Compare Unity Plaza to its two inspirations.<br />
Bryant Park has lush gardens, free activities<br />
and world-class restaurants. It’s visited by more<br />
PHOTO: BOB SELF<br />
Spot a Downtown eyesore and want to know<br />
why it’s there or when it will be improved?<br />
Submit suggestions to: frankmdenton@gmail.com.<br />
56<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 57
Renderings from 2014 show a bustling, well-lit area around the pond and retail<br />
businesses filling 220 Riverside’s ground floor.<br />
PRODUCED BY<br />
FREE, SELF-GUIDED TOUR | 5-9 P.M.<br />
Explore Downtown’s musuems and theatres, galleries<br />
and shops, murals, restaurants and bars on the<br />
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Jacksonville has a long history as one of the<br />
leading commercial centers in Florida.<br />
Holland & Knight is proud of the contributions our<br />
lawyers have made in promoting the business and<br />
community interests of Downtown Jacksonville.<br />
www.hklaw.com<br />
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ILOVEARTWALK.COM<br />
DOWNTOWN JACKSONVILLE ART WALK<br />
Copyright © <strong>2019</strong> Holland & Knight LLP All Rights Reserved<br />
than 12 million people annually. Photos show plenty of trees, shade<br />
and grassy spaces despite all the traffic.<br />
In the heart of downtown Portland, Pioneer Courthouse Square<br />
hosts more than 300 events each year. It’s called “Portland’s living<br />
room.”<br />
When it opened in 2015, Unity Plaza was oversold as “a modern-day<br />
Central Park” with a non-profit managing lots of activities.<br />
Its Facebook page called it “A Life Enhancing Urban & Performance<br />
Park.”<br />
There were supposed to be daily activities — concerts, art shows, festivals,<br />
free yoga and meditation sessions. Maybe even winter ice skating.<br />
It was supposed to attract people from outside Brooklyn because the<br />
activities would be exciting.<br />
Developer Alex Coley told Times-Union reporter Matt Soergel that<br />
he saw Unity Plaza as a gathering spot for “cultural creatives.”<br />
Now? Nothing. While Brooklyn booms with activity, Unity Plaza is a<br />
lonely mess.<br />
If the new owners want to revive the space, they need to ditch the<br />
palm trees, bring in native trees that provide shade, provide some<br />
architecturally interesting shade forms, set up interesting activities and<br />
develop better parking.<br />
There could be something like Saturday’s Riverside Arts Market<br />
for the other six days of the week. There could be services that still<br />
are lacking Downtown such as a dry cleaner, a drug store and even a<br />
mini-hardware store.<br />
With the impending closing of the Jacksonville Landing, there will be<br />
a need for some of the community activities that Unity Plaza originally<br />
promised.<br />
Hemming Park has the template for a reviving a successful Downtown<br />
open space: Provide security, lots of shade, food trucks and plenty<br />
of activities.<br />
Unity Plaza could be successful, too.<br />
All of the globetrotting involved in the Unity Plaza research was<br />
unnecessary.<br />
Jacksonville has a classic urban park less than one mile from Unity<br />
Plaza.<br />
Memorial Park in Riverside was designed by the Olmstead Brothers<br />
of Central Park fame.<br />
It has everything that Unity Plaza lacks: trees and shade along a<br />
walking path, a grassy center for all kinds of community activities and a<br />
classic piece of sculpture. The wonderful design has inspired the neighborhood<br />
to advocate for the park.<br />
In contrast, Unity Plaza looks like an overgrown retention pond.<br />
Mike Clark has been a reporter and editor for The Florida Times-<br />
Union and its predecessors since 1973 and editorial page editor since<br />
2005. He lives in Nocatee.<br />
Hallmark Partners<br />
58<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
POLISHING A<br />
CROWN JEWEL<br />
The new CEO of the Cummer Museum & Gardens<br />
brings ‘youth and vibrance’ to the museum’s future<br />
BY CHARLIE PATTON v PHOTO BY BOB SELF<br />
60<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
T<br />
he man who is<br />
now the Cummer<br />
Museum of Art &<br />
Gardens’ director<br />
and CEO had never<br />
heard of the Cummer<br />
and had no interest in leaving the<br />
highly regarded Toledo Museum of<br />
Art when the Cummer’s recruiter first<br />
contacted him in November 2017.<br />
“At first I was not convinced it was<br />
an opportunity that would interest<br />
me,” Adam Levine, who in January<br />
became the Cummer’s George W. and<br />
Kathleen I. Gibbs Director and Chief<br />
Executive Officer, said in a recent interview.<br />
“I was fully engaged in Toledo<br />
and wasn’t thinking about leaving. I<br />
took the call because it was a recruiter<br />
I didn’t know. It’s good to know<br />
recruiters.”<br />
The recruiter convinced Levine to<br />
talk to Ryan Schwartz, the Cummer’s<br />
immediate past board chairman who<br />
was helping lead the search for a<br />
director after Hope McMath’s resignation<br />
in August 2017.<br />
“Ryan and I had a conversation,<br />
and I was impressed with the way they<br />
were conducting the search,” Levine<br />
said.<br />
Still Levine resisted visiting Jacksonville.<br />
“I told him I wasn’t a candidate, and<br />
I’d feel terrible using their resources<br />
to come down for a trip when I’m not<br />
serious about the position,” he said.<br />
Schwartz’s response was that, even<br />
if Levine didn’t consider himself a<br />
candidate, he should still visit.<br />
So Levine came to Jacksonville in<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 61
January 2018. And he was impressed.<br />
“Frankly it infected me,” he said. “The idea of<br />
the Cummer and the opportunity to drive change<br />
here was exciting.”<br />
But Levine, who had become engaged to a<br />
Toledo resident who was studying to be a dentist,<br />
ultimately decided “the timing wasn’t right” and<br />
withdrew as a candidate.<br />
“However interesting, I had to pass,” he said.<br />
Levine’s decision left the Cummer in a difficult<br />
position. Finding candidates who had the qualities<br />
they were looking for — a solid knowledge of<br />
art history combined with business knowledge<br />
and leadership skills — was proving frustrating,<br />
Schwartz said.<br />
“The Cummer was having a hard time with our<br />
search,” Schwartz said.<br />
Then in August 2018 the Cummer’s board invited<br />
Levine to reconsider. He and his fiancée, Brooke<br />
Brown, visited in September 2018, and he decided<br />
he wanted the job. His hiring was announced by<br />
the Cummer in mid-October.<br />
Levine grew up in New York City, in the Riverdale<br />
section of the Bronx. His love of museums<br />
began young.<br />
“I grew up going to art museums on rainy days,”<br />
he said.<br />
He attended the Horace Mann School, a college<br />
preparatory school located in Riverdale, for high<br />
school and spent three years studying art history.<br />
As a senior he read Dan Brown’s novel “The<br />
Da Vinci Code.” While he wasn’t impressed by the<br />
book, he was intrigued by its discussion regarding<br />
which gospels were included in the New Testament.<br />
He spent his summer vacation reading<br />
books about the Gnostic gospels by Princeton<br />
scholar Elaine Pagels.<br />
That fall, enrolled at Dartmouth College, he<br />
began studying early Christian art and developed<br />
an interest in artistic depictions of Christ<br />
during the Roman Empire. He majored in<br />
anthropology, art history and mathematics and<br />
social sciences.<br />
He then attended the University of Oxford’s<br />
Corpus Christi College as a Rhodes Scholar, earning<br />
a master degree and a doctorate in art history.<br />
While a student at Oxford, he co-founded a<br />
company, Art Research Technologies, and served<br />
as its CEO until 2012. The company was designed<br />
to price art effectively. Levine said he did a poor<br />
job managing his company, but it was a valuable<br />
experience.<br />
“I made virtually every mistake someone in his<br />
20s could make,” he said. “I think I’m better for it<br />
having metabolized those failures … We managed<br />
a positive exit out of it. It was a really important<br />
lesson for me.”<br />
Levine then went to work for the Metropolitan<br />
Museum of Art in New York City as a<br />
collections management assistant in the Greek<br />
and Roman Art Department. In 2013 he was<br />
hired by the Toledo Museum of Art, initially as<br />
ADAM M.<br />
LEVINE<br />
George W. and Kathleen I.<br />
Gibbs Director and Chief<br />
Executive Officer of the<br />
Cummer Museum of Art<br />
& Gardens<br />
Age: 32<br />
Hometown:<br />
Bronx, New York<br />
Education:<br />
Bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth<br />
College in anthropology,<br />
art history and mathematics<br />
and social sciences; Master of<br />
Studies and Doctor of Philosophy<br />
degrees in the history of<br />
art from Oxford University.<br />
PREVIOUS Work<br />
experience:<br />
Deputy director and curator<br />
of ancient art at the Toledo<br />
Museum of Art, 2013-2018;<br />
collections management assistant<br />
in the Greek and Roman<br />
Art Department at the Metropolitan<br />
Museum of Art in New<br />
York City 2011-2013; founder<br />
and CEO of Art Research<br />
Technologies, 2009-2012.<br />
FAMILY:<br />
Parents live in Bend, Ore.;<br />
brother, a chef, lives in Brooklyn;<br />
fiancée Brooke Brown<br />
lives in Toledo, Ohio.<br />
QUOTE:<br />
“When I visited the Cummer<br />
Museum, I was overwhelmed<br />
by its potential. The seasoned<br />
staff, the magnificent gardens,<br />
the strong collection and the<br />
supportive board all suggested<br />
the museum could become a<br />
truly special institution.”<br />
an Andrew W. Mellon Fellow.<br />
He subsequently was promoted to assistant<br />
director, then associate director and finally deputy<br />
director while also serving as curator of the museum’s<br />
collection of ancient art. The Toledo Museum<br />
of Art has a permanent collection of more than<br />
20,000 works of art (the Cummer’s collection is<br />
about 5,000 works of art).<br />
v v v<br />
Levine, like his predecessor McMath, is interested<br />
in expanding and diversifying the Cummer’s<br />
focus and its audience. In February he invited<br />
Johnnetta Cole, a Jacksonville native who was president<br />
of Spelman College and of Bennett College<br />
and, from 2009-2017, was director of the Smithsonian<br />
Institution’s National Museum of African Art,<br />
to join him at the Cummer for a discussion of how<br />
to make museum membership more diverse.<br />
During the evening, Cole repeatedly referred to<br />
Levine as her mentee.<br />
“I mentor many young people, most of whom<br />
are women and people of color,” said Cole, now<br />
a resident of American Beach in Nassau County.<br />
“However, I offered to be Adam’s mentor because<br />
we share the same perspective about art museums<br />
…<br />
“Adam exhibits characteristics of an outstanding<br />
leader. He has a collaborative style, he<br />
is courageous in doing what he thinks is right, he<br />
commands the subject matter of his field, he is<br />
open to new and innovative ways of doing things,<br />
and he inspires his colleagues.”<br />
Cole’s enthusiasm about Levine is widely<br />
shared.<br />
“He’s a rising star in the museum world,” said<br />
Ricardo “Rick” Morales III, the chair of the Cummer’s<br />
board of trustees.<br />
“He seemed to check all the boxes,” said Jim<br />
Draper, an artist who teaches at the University<br />
of North Florida and was part of the search<br />
committee. “He was the perfect choice for the<br />
Cummer. He understands the dynamics of the<br />
way things work.”<br />
“I think he’ll bring fresh energy,” said Crystal<br />
Floyd, studio director of CoRK, a collection of artist<br />
studios in North Riverside.<br />
“He has youth and vibrance,” said James<br />
Richardson, a Cummer trustee who was part of the<br />
search committee. “I was impressed by his entrepreneurial<br />
thinking.”<br />
“His credentials are just top notch,” said Debra<br />
Murphy, chair of UNF’s Department of Art and<br />
Design. “He opens up a new era for the Cummer.”<br />
“We were lucky he even bothered to come<br />
here,” said Martha Baker, co-chair of the Cummer<br />
search committee. “He has such a fresh view of<br />
things.”<br />
“I would say that he has a fresh approach on<br />
what the art scene should be in Jacksonville,” said<br />
artist Lana Shuttlesworth, who said Levine has<br />
been visiting Jacksonville artists in their studios<br />
62<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
and offering critiques of their works. “He’s very<br />
intelligent, very articulate and very generous with<br />
his time.”<br />
“He’s a terrific new face to represent the Cummer,”<br />
said Jacksonville historian Wayne Wood.<br />
“I think they made a very good choice,” said<br />
Preston Haskell, a long time leader in the Jacksonville<br />
arts community. “He jumped into the job with<br />
a good deal of energy and enthusiasm.”<br />
Levine’s vision for the Cummer’s future focuses<br />
on growing the museum’s audience, increasing its<br />
endowment and its budget, showcasing its permanent<br />
collection including the gardens and improving<br />
programming.<br />
“The Cummer is not all that well-known in the<br />
community,” Levine said. “But the people who experience<br />
it say it’s a gem. And it is. But it’s a gem that<br />
needs some polish. … I think the institution can be<br />
elevated a substantial amount, but I don’t know that<br />
huge changes need to be made.”<br />
Levine said that there were about 140,000 visits<br />
to the Cummer last year, a number he wants to see<br />
increased. One of the things he is doing to accomplish<br />
that goal is seeking meetings with individuals<br />
and organizations that can help drive attendance.<br />
The Cummer’s operating budget for the current<br />
fiscal year is $4.2 million. Levine said he would like<br />
to see that budget increase in future years. One of<br />
the ways to do that is to increase the Cummer’s endowment,<br />
which funds 40 percent of the Cummer’s<br />
annual operating budget. As of the end of the last<br />
fiscal year the Cummer had an endowment of about<br />
$33 million.<br />
Levine said he found the Cummer’s permanent<br />
collection to be “much better than I would have<br />
anticipated,”<br />
He cited “Home From the Harvest,” a painting by<br />
William-Adolph Bouguereau, a 19th century French<br />
artist; the Constance I and Ralph H. Warl Collection<br />
of Early Meissen Porcelain and the Cummer<br />
gardens as among the masterpieces in the Cummer<br />
permanent collection.<br />
“There are some lovely, lovely things,” he said.<br />
“There are some really quite good things in storage<br />
that haven’t been seen in a long time …<br />
“The gardens are an extraordinary resource. We<br />
need to start thinking of the gardens not as this thing<br />
behind the museum but as an integral part of the<br />
collection.”<br />
As for exhibits, Levine said that while he isn’t<br />
ready to announce the subjects, “we are almost<br />
completely planned out through 2022. At least two<br />
exhibits now being planned will be curated by the<br />
Cummer, “and another two that we will be curating<br />
are in the works.”<br />
He said he wants to do more exhibits like recent<br />
“Augusta Savage: Renaissance Woman,” an exhibit<br />
originally planned by McMath.<br />
Levine said he introduced himself to McMath<br />
the first week he was on the job.<br />
“The first words out of my mouth after I met<br />
Hope were ‘thank you,’” he said. “I told her ‘I am<br />
“We want<br />
to create an<br />
institution<br />
that drives<br />
civic pride<br />
and civic<br />
engagement<br />
with the<br />
highest<br />
quality art.<br />
There are lots<br />
of institutions<br />
that can<br />
drive civic<br />
pride. The<br />
Jaguars are<br />
an example.<br />
But the way<br />
we do it is<br />
not through<br />
football. The<br />
way we do it<br />
is with art,<br />
specifically<br />
the very<br />
best art.”<br />
ADAM M. LEVINE<br />
CUMMER MUSEUM<br />
& GARDENS CEO<br />
inheriting a strong institution because of you.’…<br />
Historically this has been a very well-managed<br />
organization.”<br />
He also has high praise for Holly Keris, the Cummer’s<br />
chief curator, who served as chief operating<br />
officer in the period between McMath’s exit from<br />
the Cummer and Levine’s arrival.<br />
“I am going to work with and mentor Holly to be<br />
the absolute best chief curator she can be because I<br />
know she can be a total star not just in Jacksonville<br />
but in the museum community,” Levine said. “She’s<br />
brilliant.”<br />
Keris played a key role in the Cummer’s recent<br />
purchase of “Magnetic Fields,” a large abstract<br />
painting by Mildred Thompson, a 20th century<br />
African-American artist born in Jacksonville. It is<br />
the first addition to the permanent collection since<br />
Levine arrived in Jacksonville.<br />
v v v<br />
Although the Cummer owns the land next to<br />
the museum building, land that once was occupied<br />
by the Women’s Club of Jacksonville, Levine said<br />
there is no immediate plan to expand the Cummer’s<br />
facilities.<br />
“That doesn’t mean that down the road there<br />
won’t be expansion opportunities,” he said. “It does<br />
mean there is a manageable footprint within this<br />
institution already. We need to begin by refreshing<br />
the galleries, breathing life into the permanent<br />
collection. We want to upgrade the quality of the<br />
programming.<br />
“We want to create an institution that drives civic<br />
pride and civic engagement with the highest quality<br />
art. There are lots of institutions that can drive civic<br />
pride. The Jaguars are an example. But the way we<br />
do it is not through football. The way we do it is with<br />
art, specifically the very best art.”<br />
Levine is living in a rented apartment in Atlantic<br />
Beach. While he doesn’t particularly enjoy the daily<br />
commute via Atlantic Boulevard from the beach to<br />
Riverside, he said the smell of the ocean makes the<br />
long drive acceptable. And as a native New Yorker,<br />
Levine said he is used to commuting.<br />
In his free time Levine enjoys running, reading<br />
and watching sports. He’s a fan of the New York<br />
Knicks, Giants and Mets. But it doesn’t sound as if<br />
Levine has a lot of free time.<br />
He is working to meet as many people as he<br />
can and change the community perception of the<br />
Cummer.<br />
“People don’t know what’s here,” he said. “This<br />
can be not just a gem but a crown jewel among<br />
American museums. That’s certainly ambitious.<br />
But I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think it was true.<br />
“… Everyone in Jacksonville wants Jacksonville<br />
to be a great city. Name one great city that doesn’t<br />
have a great art museum.”<br />
Charlie Patton retired in September after more than<br />
41 years with The Florida Times-Union, spending his last<br />
nine years covering the arts. He lives in Riverside.<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 63
THE<br />
BROOKLYN<br />
REVIVAL<br />
HOW ONE DOWNTOWN<br />
NEIGHBORHOOD keeps<br />
BUILDING MOMENTUM<br />
BY FRANK DENTON<br />
ILLUSTRATION BY Trevato Group<br />
64<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
Preliminary plans for a Brooklyn<br />
food hall include a two-building<br />
adaptive reuse development that<br />
could contain five market anchors<br />
and one retail anchor as well<br />
as 16 market stalls.<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 65
ooklyn<br />
Plans for a Brooklyn food hall in the 300 block of Park Street include indoor food stalls with communal seating, an outdoor beer garden and a dining courtyard.<br />
SUDDENLY,<br />
IN THE BLINK<br />
OF AN EYE,<br />
Brooklyn finally is becoming a community<br />
again — a hip 21st century successor to the<br />
historic 19th century neighborhood.<br />
If the old Brooklyn were not essentially<br />
long-gone, the new Brooklyn would represent<br />
urban gentrification. Rather, it is more<br />
like rediscovery of a neighborhood that is so<br />
intimate with the urban core and is officially<br />
the southwest sector of Downtown.<br />
Drive along Riverside Avenue, and you<br />
can see Brooklyn coming to life. Turn west,<br />
between the new construction and the Fresh<br />
Market, and you quickly come face to face<br />
with the new staring down the old.<br />
Pause at 328 Chelsea St., all boarded up<br />
and ramshackle with the house number<br />
crudely spray-painted on the front, and<br />
you’ll see the final, sad artifact of the community<br />
that was settled after the Civil War by<br />
black Union veterans and freed slaves.<br />
One block east is planned what could be the<br />
21st century anchor of the new community:<br />
a food hall. Unsure what that is? Read on<br />
about a new lifestyle for the new Downtown.<br />
Brooklyn’S history<br />
If you’re not a Jacksonville native, you<br />
are forgiven for not knowing that Brooklyn<br />
is historic, because it’s been rundown, razed<br />
and ignored since desegregation beginning<br />
in the 1960s.<br />
The area was first settled in the late 1700s,<br />
Trevato Group<br />
66<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
JEFF DAVIS<br />
as Jacksonville was taking shape, according<br />
to Wayne Wood’s book, “Jacksonville’s<br />
Architectural Heritage.” It served as a corn<br />
and cotton plantation until it was put up for<br />
sale in 1858.<br />
This newspaper ad promoted the appeal<br />
of Brooklyn that endures today: “This tract of<br />
land is valuable not only for planting purposes<br />
but, owing to its immediate vicinity to the<br />
flourishing and growing Town of Jacksonville,<br />
is well adapted for private residences<br />
— its position being on the River — the Bluff<br />
high and commanding an extensive view<br />
of the River St. Johns. That portion adjacent<br />
to the Town of Jacksonville and lying on<br />
McCoy’s Creek will at once find ready purchasers<br />
at good prices, if lots are laid out and<br />
offered for sale.”<br />
During the Civil War, the area served<br />
as the encampment for black and white<br />
Union troops for the fourth occupation of<br />
Jacksonville, and a garrison stayed after the<br />
war to help restore order. Beginning in 1868,<br />
it was named “Brooklyn,” subdivided and<br />
developed. Black Union veterans stayed or<br />
returned and were joined by former slaves,<br />
creating a black community. Wood’s book<br />
says an 1885 map shows numerous two- and<br />
three-room wooden cottages. Apparently,<br />
328 Chelsea is the only one remaining and,<br />
obvious by its condition, is listed by the<br />
Jacksonville Historical Society as one of our<br />
“most endangered buildings.”<br />
For a century, Brooklyn remained a<br />
“vibrant” black community, said Ennis Davis,<br />
an urban planner, student of local history<br />
and co-founder of Moderncities.com and<br />
TheJaxson.org, websites about urbanism and<br />
culture. “If you were black, no matter how<br />
much money you had, you had to live in a<br />
black neighborhood.”<br />
Desegregation beginning in the 1960s<br />
allowed black people to live anywhere they<br />
could afford, and Brooklyn — deteriorating<br />
because of lack of infrastructure investment,<br />
Davis said — withered rapidly, down to perhaps<br />
40 residents in the 2010 census.<br />
What has happened in the past eight<br />
years could be an example of urban gentrification,<br />
but Brooklyn was so down and<br />
out, it’s more like a rebirth, akin to a trend<br />
identified by The New York Times of “predominantly<br />
minority neighborhoods near<br />
downtowns growing whiter, while suburban<br />
neighborhoods that were once largely white<br />
are experiencing an increased share of black,<br />
Hispanic and Asian-American residents …<br />
(A)s revived downtowns attract wealthier<br />
residents closer to the center city, recent<br />
white home buyers are arriving in these<br />
neighborhoods with incomes that are on<br />
average twice as high as that of their existing<br />
TRACKING BROOKLYN’S TRANSFORMATION<br />
ELM ST.<br />
PRICE ST.<br />
1<br />
2<br />
3<br />
4<br />
5<br />
6<br />
7<br />
N<br />
JACKSON ST.<br />
FOREST ST.<br />
PARK ST.<br />
CHELSEA ST.<br />
11 3<br />
13<br />
12<br />
8<br />
9<br />
220 Riverside<br />
A six-story, 294-unit apartment complex<br />
opened in 2015<br />
Brooklyn Station<br />
A shopping center anchored by The Fresh<br />
Market opened in 2014<br />
Brooklyn Riverside<br />
A five-story, 310-unit apartment complex<br />
Vista Brooklyn<br />
A 10-story, 308-unit apartment complex,<br />
with retail, under construction<br />
Lofts at Brooklyn<br />
A 133-unit apartment complex to be<br />
under construction this summer<br />
Brooklyn Place<br />
A proposed 12,500-square-foot dining<br />
and shopping center<br />
Winston Family YMCA<br />
New facility opened in 2016 to replace<br />
the Yates Family YMCA<br />
neighbors, and two-thirds higher than that of<br />
existing homeowners.”<br />
“In the places where white households<br />
are moving, reinvestment is possible mainly<br />
because of the disinvestment that came<br />
before it. Many of these neighborhoods were<br />
once segregated by law and redlined by<br />
banks. The federal government built highways<br />
that isolated them and housing projects<br />
that were concentrated in them.”<br />
The Brooklyn version of that trend is<br />
that the newcomers are “wealthier” only in<br />
relation to traditional residents, and they are<br />
apartment renters rather than homeowners.<br />
But Brooklyn is quickly transforming into<br />
5<br />
1<br />
4<br />
2<br />
7<br />
McCoys Creek<br />
MAGNOLIA ST.<br />
6<br />
RIVERSIDE AVE.<br />
Northbank Riverwalk<br />
8<br />
9<br />
10<br />
11<br />
12<br />
13<br />
10<br />
St. Johns River<br />
WATER ST.<br />
ACOSTA BRIDGE<br />
Residence Inn<br />
A six-story, 135-room hotel planned to<br />
open next summer<br />
Brooklyn Park<br />
Small but with a basketball court and<br />
baseball field<br />
Old Times-Union Building<br />
Now empty, as owners plan<br />
redevelopment<br />
328 Chelsea<br />
Last home from the community<br />
settled after the Civil War by black Union<br />
veterans and freed slaves. “One of our<br />
most endangered buildings.”<br />
331 and 339 Park<br />
Empty commercial buildings envisioned<br />
for adaptive reuse as a food hall<br />
260 Park<br />
Commercial building owned by the<br />
developers of the possible food hall<br />
a neighborhood that is younger and more<br />
affluent — and into a real community.<br />
a new Brooklyn<br />
The renaissance began only five years<br />
ago when The Fresh Market bravely opened<br />
its doors as the anchor for Brooklyn Station<br />
shopping center at 150 Riverside. Downtown<br />
cynics and naysayers speculated on how long<br />
it would last.<br />
Then the next year, NAI Hallmark Partners<br />
opened 220 Riverside, the six-story,<br />
294-unit apartment complex a block south.<br />
The units quickly filled, but the restaurants<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 67
LEFT: When the<br />
Brooklyn Station<br />
shopping center<br />
at 150 Riverside<br />
Ave. was opened<br />
in 2014, developers<br />
commissioned murals<br />
honoring the history<br />
of the area.<br />
RIGHT: The owners<br />
of the former Florida<br />
Times-Union buildings<br />
at 1 Riverside Ave.<br />
reportedly are<br />
considering proposals<br />
for redevelopment of<br />
the site and possibly<br />
opening access to<br />
McCoys Creek.<br />
LEFT: Under<br />
construction between<br />
220 Riverside and<br />
Brooklyn Station is<br />
Vista Brooklyn, a<br />
10-story, 308-unit<br />
apartment building<br />
with a rooftop pool,<br />
beer garden, dog park<br />
and ground-floor<br />
retail.<br />
RIGHT: Just two<br />
blocks from the<br />
bulk of the ongoing<br />
development in<br />
Brooklyn, boarded<br />
up and abandoned<br />
homes fill the<br />
blighted Downtown<br />
neighborhood.<br />
on the first floor flopped, and the ballyhooed<br />
Unity Plaza, built with some public money<br />
and intending to be the “central park” of<br />
Jacksonville, fizzled.<br />
Despite that misstep, 220 Riverside was<br />
the catalyst for more. The Daily Record quoted<br />
developer and property manager Alex<br />
Sifakis as saying other developers should<br />
thank Hallmark for its courage: “220 Riverside<br />
is the reason anything in Downtown<br />
Jacksonville is getting developed right now.<br />
It gave the comps (comparable values) for all<br />
the projects getting done today.”<br />
It certainly sparked Brooklyn. An Atlanta<br />
developer came in and built The Brooklyn<br />
Riverside, a sprawling five-story, 310-unit<br />
apartment complex directly behind Brooklyn<br />
Station.<br />
Now under construction, immediately<br />
between 220 Riverside and Brooklyn Station,<br />
is Vista Brooklyn, a 10-story, 308-unit<br />
apartment building with a rooftop pool, beer<br />
garden, dog park, parking deck and groundfloor<br />
retail.<br />
And Vestcor, the developer that built or is<br />
building three “lofts” apartment complexes<br />
in adjacent LaVilla, announced it will build<br />
the 133-unit Lofts at Brooklyn as workforce<br />
and affordable housing on an entire block<br />
between Chelsea and Spruce streets and<br />
Jackson and Stonewall streets. Construction<br />
is to start this summer.<br />
Add them up, and that will be more than<br />
1,000 new apartment units built in Brooklyn<br />
since 2015.<br />
THE PEOPLE ARE THERE<br />
As the planners keep saying about other<br />
sectors of Downtown, more residents will<br />
bring more retail, more food and drink and<br />
other amenities that are the adhesive to a<br />
true community.<br />
That’s there too, or coming.<br />
On the northeast side of Brooklyn Station,<br />
where you now see the “jug handle” street<br />
loop that allowed big trucks to get into the<br />
former Times-Union building, the city is<br />
planning to swap that 1.5 acres to a developer<br />
to build a 12,500-square-foot retail and<br />
dining and shopping center called Brooklyn<br />
Place with about a half-dozen “national,<br />
regional and experienced local operators.”<br />
A Jacksonville Business Journal source says<br />
they may include Chipotle and Panera Bread.<br />
On the opposite, southwest side of Brooklyn<br />
Station, Vista Brooklyn, under construction,<br />
plans to offer 14,000 square feet of retail<br />
space on the ground floor.<br />
Add those two developments to Brooklyn<br />
JEFF DAVIS (4)<br />
68<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
Station, and Riverside Avenue will offer three<br />
consecutive blocks of retail and restaurants.<br />
Directly across the street is the new<br />
Winston Family YMCA, which exceeded its<br />
seven-year membership goal in two years<br />
and now is planning an expansion. It’s<br />
probably already the most complete and<br />
up-to-date fitness and wellness facility in<br />
Northeast Florida.<br />
Just west of 220 Riverside is planned a<br />
six-story, 135-room Residence Inn at the<br />
corner of Magnolia and Forest. Construction<br />
is to begin soon, with the opening next<br />
summer. Hotel guests will be itinerant traffic<br />
but also feet on the street and customers for<br />
the growing eateries and stores.<br />
In a city of parks, you’d expect a community<br />
to have one, and this one does. The aptly<br />
named Brooklyn Park is small and obscure<br />
but offers a basketball court and baseball<br />
field — directly across the street from the<br />
planned Lofts at Brooklyn. Residents probably<br />
will have it mostly to themselves.<br />
Need more?<br />
In March, the City Council approved<br />
Groundwork Jacksonville’s plan to restore<br />
and develop the long-envisioned Emerald<br />
Necklace, almost 20 miles of new trails to<br />
connect with the S-Line urban greenway,<br />
McCoys Creek, Hogans Creek and the riverwalks.<br />
The “model project” of 1.3 miles to be<br />
completed next year will connect the S-Line<br />
to the intersection of Park and Stonewall<br />
streets — in Brooklyn, behind The Brooklyn<br />
Riverside.<br />
A big unknown is the future of the former<br />
Times-Union buildings across Riverside from<br />
Brooklyn Station. The newspaper’s former<br />
owners retained ownership of the buildings<br />
and reportedly are considering proposals<br />
for redevelopment, ideally opening up<br />
McCoys Creek, which runs to the St. Johns<br />
underneath the walkway connecting the two<br />
buildings.<br />
There are other potential projects under<br />
the radar. Last June, the Daily Record reported<br />
that 13 networked local companies have<br />
been buying up vacant and rundown properties<br />
in Brooklyn, suggesting that developers<br />
are just waiting for critical mass. Only one<br />
idea has surfaced: turning the abandoned<br />
Mt. Calvary Baptist Church into a brewery<br />
and restaurant.<br />
Now, if you look at the map of Brooklyn,<br />
you have to believe that all this development<br />
in a relatively small area of two dozen city<br />
blocks promises some intense synergy.<br />
Perhaps the final component, the catalyst,<br />
could be a natural indoor gathering place,<br />
maybe a city block or so from the fizzled<br />
LEFT: Surrounded<br />
by razor-wire topped<br />
fences, a variety of<br />
abandoned businesses<br />
and warehouses<br />
line three blocks<br />
of Park Street in<br />
Jacksonville’s Brooklyn<br />
neighborhood.<br />
RIGHT: Formerly<br />
home to The Trophy<br />
Center, this abandoned<br />
building at 339 Park<br />
St. was built in 1945<br />
and is part of a plan<br />
to turn the area into<br />
the 33,000-square-foot<br />
Brooklyn food hall,<br />
with a variety of dining<br />
and retail tenants.<br />
LEFT: The boarded up<br />
house at 328 Chelsea<br />
St. is believed to be the<br />
lone survivor of the<br />
community built during<br />
and after the Civil War<br />
by black Union soldiers<br />
and former slaves.<br />
JEFF DAVIS (4)<br />
RIGHT: Though little<br />
progress has been<br />
made, plans to convert<br />
the abandoned Mt.<br />
Calvary Baptist Church<br />
at 301 Spruce St. into<br />
a brewery and an<br />
adjoining 5,000-squarefoot<br />
restaurant were<br />
announced in 2017.<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 69
\\\\\ T R E N D I N G /////<br />
F O O D<br />
H A L L S<br />
A modern food hall is a permanent market building that features a mix of food-inspired retail (everything<br />
from cooking supplies to cookbook stores), artisanal food vendors (upscale chocolatiers, premium cheeses,<br />
bakers, butchers, etc.) and a mix of restaurateurs serving authentically prepared foods (anything from<br />
street foods to chef-driven concepts, typically with an emphasis on “farm-to-fork” fresh ingredients).<br />
Millennial Eating<br />
Patterns Favor<br />
Food Halls<br />
40+60+v<br />
55+45+v<br />
44+56+v<br />
40% of millennials will<br />
order something different<br />
every time they visit the<br />
same restaurant.<br />
55% of millennials prefer<br />
communal tables when<br />
dining out.<br />
44% of the food dollars<br />
spent by millennials are<br />
spent on eating out.<br />
FOOD HALL GROWTH IN THE UNITED STATES<br />
Food Halls<br />
300<br />
250<br />
200<br />
150<br />
100<br />
50<br />
0<br />
Food halls are popping up around the<br />
U.S. at a breakneck pace. By 2020, an<br />
estimated 300 will have opened, nearly<br />
tripling the marketplace size since 2017.<br />
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 <strong>2019</strong> 2020<br />
n Existing n Projected<br />
THE BEST NEW FOOD HALLS IN THE U.S.<br />
As food halls continue to be one of the biggest culinary trends in the country, an estimated 180 are now open across<br />
the U.S. Earlier this year, USA Today conducted a poll to find the best new food halls which have opened in the past year.<br />
1. KEG AND CASE<br />
WEST 7TH MARKET<br />
St. Paul<br />
Located at the Schmidt Brewery,<br />
Keg and Case combines chef-driven<br />
restaurants with craft beer and a<br />
curated market of regional goods,<br />
including more than two dozen<br />
vendors serving everything from<br />
coffee and sweets to smoked meats<br />
and Jamaican chicken.<br />
2. MORGAN STREET<br />
FOOD HALL & MARKET<br />
Raleigh, N.C.<br />
Diners at Morgan Street Food Hall<br />
will find no shortage of options.<br />
More than a dozen vendors<br />
prepare classics like pizza, burgers,<br />
tacos and ice cream, as well as<br />
unique offerings like sushi burritos<br />
and dishes from India, Lebanon,<br />
Vietnam and Argentina.<br />
3. LEGACY FOOD HALL<br />
Plano, Texas<br />
Located just outside of Dallas,<br />
Legacy Hall is part food village,<br />
part beer garden and part live<br />
entertainment venue. It features<br />
two dozen concepts by local chefs,<br />
including naan wraps, popsicles,<br />
barbecue and Peruvian chicken.<br />
Plus, a pair of cocktail bars, a natural<br />
wine bar and a craft brewery.<br />
4. FINN HALL<br />
Houston<br />
Located in the historic JPMorgan<br />
Chase & Co. building in the heart<br />
of downtown Houston, the new<br />
Finn Hall features 20,000 square<br />
feet of space for 10 chef-driven<br />
food concepts, as well as a craft<br />
beer and wine bar and an Art<br />
Deco cocktail lounge.<br />
Sources: U.S. Department of Agriculture food expenditure data; Restaurant Marketing Labs; Cushman & Wakefield, Food Halls of North America 2018 report<br />
JEFF DAVIS<br />
70<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
Unity Plaza, the outdoor gathering place that<br />
has not been given up for dead.<br />
authenticity & food<br />
Trevato Development Group’s concept<br />
of a Brooklyn food hall apparently has been<br />
in development since the Jacksonville firm<br />
bought 301 and 339 Park St., two large old<br />
commercial buildings, in 2016 and progressed<br />
to the design stage a year later. It was<br />
all sub rosa until the plan emerged recently<br />
at a meeting of the International Council of<br />
Shopping Centers.<br />
A spokesperson said that, when renovated<br />
into adaptive reuse, the two buildings,<br />
with a total of 33,000 square feet, will<br />
become “a multi-tenant space focusing on<br />
artisanal foods and products: dining and<br />
retail (and) anchor restaurants, small purveyors<br />
of artisanal foods and products.” That<br />
is, a food hall.<br />
The spokesperson cited as an example<br />
Krog Street Market in Atlanta (krogstreetmarket.com).<br />
TheJaxson.org said the shopping-center<br />
meeting was told the plan is to convert the<br />
buildings “into a sprawling complex with full<br />
service anchor restaurants, indoor food stalls<br />
with communal seating, an outdoor beer<br />
garden/dining courtyard and a flex space for<br />
temporary vendors.”<br />
WHAT IS A FOOD HALL?<br />
Don’t confuse food hall with food court.<br />
The latter is familiar at suburban malls as<br />
the collection of chain fast-food stores,<br />
usually in the middle of the mall, catering to<br />
busy shoppers. In and out fast with cheap<br />
food that is consistent about anywhere in<br />
the country. Combo with fries?<br />
A food hall differs in that it is local,<br />
unique and authentic.<br />
Uptown Urban Market in Dallas defines<br />
itself: “Essentially, a food hall is a clustering<br />
of ‘the best of class’ from local chefs and<br />
restaurateurs in smaller food stalls in more<br />
open spaces … Limited menu offerings,<br />
cutting edge trends, diversity in flavors and<br />
items that are easy to grab on the run, eat<br />
quickly in a community seating environment,<br />
or take back to your apartment,<br />
home or condo. Typically, these food halls<br />
are found in high density urban areas with<br />
strong residential demographics offering<br />
meals, beverages, or bites for all times of the<br />
day, accentuating high quality food at much<br />
lower prices than traditional restaurants<br />
are able to provide in a setting designed for<br />
today’s lifestyle.”<br />
Food halls achieve localness and<br />
uniqueness because of their economics.<br />
The barriers to entry have prevented many<br />
would-be restaurateurs from opening their<br />
brick-and-mortar start-ups — rent, maintenance,<br />
utilities, trash and grease removal,<br />
pest control, etc.<br />
A few years ago, they found they could<br />
overcome much of that with food trucks,<br />
which are self-contained and can move to<br />
the customers.<br />
In a food hall, restaurateurs and other<br />
food retailers can concentrate on their<br />
products and just pay the landlord to handle<br />
the logistics. The collective nature makes it<br />
all much more affordable.<br />
Ennis Davis said it’s the food outgrowth<br />
of the “sharing” economy, best known for<br />
Airbnb, Uber, Lyft and bikeshares.<br />
Food halls have sprung in major cities up<br />
all over the country, and as with food trucks,<br />
Jacksonville is a laggard into the trend.<br />
Barry Sorkin, co-owner of Smoque BBQ<br />
in a Chicago food hall, told Forbes magazine<br />
that food halls need to be very strategic<br />
about where they locate: “Not every location<br />
is right for a food hall, and developers<br />
should be careful. Most people won’t travel<br />
30 or 40 minutes to go to a food hall. The<br />
traffic is what the traffic is. So you have to<br />
be located somewhere with enough traffic<br />
to support however many restaurants are in<br />
the hall.”<br />
THE MILLENNIAL LINK<br />
All those apartments in Brooklyn, as<br />
well as in adjacent Riverside and LaVilla,<br />
are filled with millennials, ages 20 to 40,<br />
most identified with the sharing economy<br />
as well as the future of Downtown.<br />
Last fall’s millennial issue of J suggested<br />
six attributes of millennials, four of which<br />
are consistent with food halls. One is their<br />
inside/outside lifestyle, meaning they<br />
engage in activities outside their homes<br />
that older generations would have done<br />
at home, such as eating and socializing in<br />
common areas, like food halls.<br />
A second attribute is healthiness,<br />
particularly eating right and well. Notice<br />
how many millennials post pictures of<br />
their food on social media before they eat<br />
it? They don’t bother with chain fast food.<br />
Note the food hall emphasis on artisanal<br />
foods.<br />
A third characteristic of millennials is<br />
an aversion to constant reliance on the<br />
automobile. Urban millennials want more<br />
transportation options, like public transit,<br />
bikeshares or walking. Imagine living in<br />
220 or The Brooklyn Riverside and being<br />
able to walk a block or two to a variety of<br />
dining choices in a social, collective setting.<br />
Finally, millennials value authenticity,<br />
a sense of place, as opposed to the<br />
sameness of malls and chain restaurants.<br />
The buildings Trevato proposes to adapt<br />
and reuse are a former Studebaker-Packard<br />
auto dealership built in 1924 and the<br />
former Trophy Center built in 1945. A 2017<br />
site plan showed they could be connected<br />
across or around a lot separating them to<br />
accommodate six anchors plus 16 market<br />
stalls. Trevato also bought 260 Park St.,<br />
cattycorner to the other two buildings, for<br />
possible retail and office space.<br />
WHEN WILL IT OPEN?<br />
No time soon. Trevato has yet even to<br />
make a formal announcement and has submitted<br />
no plans to the city for approval.<br />
“Trevato will begin moving forward with<br />
all necessary reviews and approvals once<br />
the road diet project is underway as that<br />
project (at least from Price to Jackson on<br />
Park) will run right alongside the planned<br />
food hall buildings,” said a spokeswoman.<br />
An important part of Downtown’s master<br />
plan is “road diets” in several places, to<br />
redesign streets configured for maximum<br />
automobile traffic flow into more attractive<br />
streets that narrow traffic and accommodate<br />
walking and bicycling. For a road<br />
diet under construction, see Riverplace<br />
Boulevard on the Southbank, being redesigned<br />
from five lanes to three, with more<br />
landscaping.<br />
In Brooklyn, Park Street is four lanes<br />
without the traffic to justify that, and a<br />
Downtown Investment Authority study recommended<br />
a road diet to make Brooklyn<br />
more friendly for walking and biking.<br />
The city budget includes $2.2 million to<br />
humanize Park Street by reducing to two<br />
lanes of auto traffic and making room for a<br />
two-way bicycle track, street parking, bigger<br />
sidewalks and trees. The project is now<br />
being designed, and construction should<br />
begin in early 2020.<br />
The redesigned Park Street will extend<br />
from Forest Street to the Lee Street viaduct<br />
— providing a multimodal connection<br />
between LaVilla and the new Regional<br />
Transportation Center (and the Skyway) on<br />
the north to Five Points and Riverside on<br />
the south.<br />
And suddenly downtrodden old<br />
Brooklyn becomes a hot link to the new<br />
Downtown.<br />
Frank Denton, retired editor of<br />
The Florida Times-Union, is editor of J.<br />
He lives in Riverside.<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 71
REIMAGINING A<br />
VIBRANT LAVILLA<br />
BY MIKE CLARK<br />
T<br />
he secret to reviving Downtown is to focus on its<br />
strengths, not lingering on all of its weaknesses.<br />
This goes double for LaVilla, razed by an unfortunate<br />
urban renewal program in the 1990s but left with major<br />
strengths that can be used for redevelopment.<br />
A draft redevelopment report by Rummell-Munz consultants<br />
imagines what a revived LaVilla can look like.<br />
But it doesn’t take much imagination to identify<br />
LaVilla’s strengths.<br />
As one of the speakers noted at a public<br />
hearing on the report, “LaVilla’s destruction<br />
left a vacuum between the past and present<br />
and contributed to creating a disconnected<br />
core city, making the overall Downtown<br />
experience less dynamic and arguably less<br />
authentic.”<br />
LAVILLA DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY<br />
72<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
So it’s time to repair that disconnect. Flip<br />
it around, rebuild LaVilla, make a connection<br />
with its past as a cornerstone. A rediscovered<br />
authenticity would be a key to its success.<br />
LaVilla has so many strengths.<br />
The first asset is the fact that much of the<br />
property in LaVilla is owned by the government<br />
so that the first step of redevelopment,<br />
land acquisition, is much simpler. Rather<br />
than cobble together purchases from multiple<br />
landowners, the city can simply deal with<br />
city agencies like the Jacksonville Transportation<br />
Authority.<br />
Speaking of the JTA, the construction of its<br />
Regional Transportation Center means that<br />
LaVilla already has an anchor for redevelopment,<br />
an agency that is gaining attention<br />
nationally and worldwide as technology leads<br />
to driverless vehicles.<br />
The second asset involves the Emerald<br />
Trail proposal of Groundwork Jacksonville<br />
that will encircle greater Downtown and<br />
nearby neighborhoods with trails that invite<br />
walking and bicycling. The first mile of the<br />
trail, 1.3 miles to be exact, will be a model that<br />
will run through LaVilla.<br />
It will pass near a number of historic sites:<br />
n The A. Philip Randolph waiting room at<br />
the former Union Station, now Prime Osborn<br />
Convention Center.<br />
n Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing Park, the<br />
former site of the home of James Weldon and<br />
John Rosamond Johnson, authors of the iconic<br />
hymn. It is now just a vacant city block with<br />
markers, but it deserves to be fully developed.<br />
n The relocated Brewster Hospital, which<br />
once cared for African-Americans, now<br />
houses the North Florida Land Trust, which<br />
includes a room devoted to nurses that can<br />
offer insights into medical care in the past.<br />
A proposal to redevelop LaVilla includes everything<br />
from piano playing to pop-up spoken word<br />
performances at the Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing Park.<br />
n The Clara White Mission contains<br />
mementoes and a history of Jacksonville’s<br />
influential African-American leader, Eartha<br />
M.M. White.<br />
n Old Stanton High School is one of the<br />
few classic structures left standing in LaVilla,<br />
saved from the urban renewal wrecking ball<br />
thanks to its historic importance. Now, finally,<br />
a new use needs to be found that includes a<br />
celebration of its importance to Jacksonville.<br />
n The Ritz Theatre & Museum, which<br />
contains a treasure of African-American<br />
artifacts and regular exhibits as well as an<br />
audio-animatronic display of James Weldon<br />
Johnson. The Ritz has gained both national<br />
and international attraction though exchang-<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 73
es with the National African-American Museum<br />
and South Africa. This cultural appreciation<br />
would extend throughout LaVilla.<br />
n Darnell-Cookman Middle/High School<br />
of the Medical Arts, which in its early incarnation<br />
as the Cookman Institute<br />
included A. Philip Randolph<br />
as the 1907 valedictorian. The<br />
Emerald Trail’s model mile extends<br />
to the current S Line trail<br />
behind UF Health Jacksonville.<br />
The third great asset involves<br />
LaVilla’s proud history. Its sense<br />
of place is ready to be utilized<br />
as an authentic feature of any<br />
redevelopment plan. As Mick<br />
Cornett, the former mayor of<br />
Oklahoma City, wrote, every<br />
city has a story to tell. LaVilla<br />
once was a city, incorporated<br />
in 1866 with 1,100 residents, 70<br />
percent of them African-Americans.<br />
As James Weldon Johnson<br />
wrote in his autobiography<br />
“Along the Way,” long after<br />
Reconstruction, Jacksonville<br />
was known as a good town for<br />
African-Americans, with blacks<br />
occupying important civic positions.<br />
That changed, sadly, with<br />
the rise of Jim Crow policies.<br />
Johnson, by the way, held<br />
various jobs at The Florida<br />
Times-Union, including as assistant<br />
to Editor Charles Jones.<br />
Nevertheless, many cities<br />
have celebrated neighborhoods<br />
far less than LaVilla’s, yet Jacksonville<br />
until now has failed to<br />
promote its history as part of its<br />
civic story. That has contributed<br />
to an identity crisis.<br />
But the story of LaVilla is<br />
so much more. There were the<br />
black former Union soldiers<br />
who were stationed in Jacksonville<br />
and settled here. There<br />
are Chinese settlers who set up<br />
businesses there. And a Cuban<br />
community. And there were<br />
racy elements including a red<br />
light district and the story of<br />
author Stephen Crane and his<br />
paramour Cora Crane. Tours of<br />
James<br />
P. Small<br />
Park<br />
PARK ST.<br />
KINGS ROAD<br />
Florida C.<br />
Dwight<br />
Memorial<br />
Playground<br />
N<br />
95<br />
Brooklyn<br />
Park<br />
RIVERSIDE AVE.<br />
LEE ST.<br />
DAVIS ST.<br />
ACOSTA<br />
BRIDGE<br />
8TH ST.<br />
Darnell-Cookman Middle/<br />
High School of the Medical Arts<br />
Relocated Brewster Hospital<br />
Regional<br />
Transportation<br />
Center<br />
LaVilla with professional storytellers, multimedia<br />
productions for smart phones and<br />
other devices can capitalize on the wonderful<br />
history.<br />
The Rummell-Munz report gets practical<br />
as well. The big driver for any development<br />
involves people living there, not passing<br />
through as commuters. The draft report<br />
notes that living units have sprung up for<br />
low-income residents, supported by governmental<br />
incentives like tax credits, while<br />
on the high end there are residences for<br />
high-income people.<br />
HISTORY VITAL TO LAVILLA’S FUTURE<br />
95<br />
JEFFERSON ST.<br />
Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing Park<br />
McCoys Creek<br />
A. Philip Randolph<br />
waiting room<br />
BROAD ST.<br />
WATER ST.<br />
Hogans Creek<br />
The Ritz Theatre & Museum<br />
Genovar’s Hall<br />
Clara White Mission<br />
Klutho Park<br />
STATE ST.<br />
UNION ST.<br />
BEAVER ST.<br />
Old Stanton<br />
High School<br />
ADAMS ST.<br />
FORSYTH ST.<br />
BAY ST.<br />
St. Johns<br />
River<br />
A way needs to be found to add housing<br />
for what the draft report calls “the missing<br />
middle.” This could mean townhomes. But<br />
some sort of incentives will be needed to<br />
start, perhaps marking down land prices<br />
with a “land trust.” Other residential opportunities<br />
could involve ground-floor retail<br />
with residences on upper floors.<br />
With more residents with money to<br />
spend, more retail will come to serve them.<br />
The Rummell-Munz report doesn’t envision<br />
a major revival of retail, though developments<br />
in nearby Brooklyn are encouraging.<br />
What Downtown’s six<br />
Florida<br />
State<br />
College<br />
Hemming<br />
Park<br />
MAIN ST.<br />
BRIDGE<br />
identifiable neighborhoods<br />
need — Brooklyn, LaVilla, the<br />
Cathedral District, the Central<br />
Business District, the Stadium<br />
District and the Southbank —<br />
are ways to easily connect them<br />
that doesn’t involve parking,<br />
something like a Downtown<br />
trolley.<br />
The Ultimate Urban Circulator<br />
being proposed for Bay<br />
Street would use the Skyway<br />
and driverless vehicles at grade<br />
to make a connection. Someday<br />
they might be traveling throughout<br />
Downtown.<br />
New research finds that<br />
young adults are moving away<br />
from driving. These Downtown<br />
neighborhoods can be among<br />
the first in the nation to use<br />
an innovative mass transit<br />
network.<br />
Turning LaVilla into a<br />
walkable neighborhood also<br />
means narrowing the roads,<br />
called “a road diet.” Currently,<br />
most of the streets in LaVilla<br />
are designed for pass-through<br />
traffic. If a four-lane street has<br />
under 20,000 cars per day, then<br />
it’s a candidate for a diet.<br />
Beaver Street, for instance,<br />
has about 10,000 cars per day.<br />
On Water Street in front of the<br />
Federal Reserve, there is capacity<br />
for 35,000 cars per day, but<br />
just 3,500 cars per day use it.<br />
Another sign of neighborhood<br />
traffic involves fewer<br />
two-way streets. Adams Street<br />
offers an opportunity for a kind<br />
of Main Street area and not<br />
as an extended ramp to the<br />
interstates.<br />
The Rummell-Munz report<br />
sees some office opportunities<br />
there, though the huge Duval<br />
County Courthouse did not spur much<br />
nearby office development.<br />
Mike Field, a two-time citizen member<br />
of the Times-Union’s Editorial Board,<br />
suggests the creation of streetscapes that<br />
are unique to LaVilla. He also suggests<br />
development that gives non-white entrepreneurs<br />
a chance to open new businesses,<br />
JEFF DAVIS<br />
74<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
GROUNDWORK JACKSONVILLE<br />
A proposal to construct a “road diet” on Park Street<br />
as part of the Emerald Trail would create a pedestrian<br />
walkway on the viaduct over McCoys Creek.<br />
thus avoiding the pitfalls of gentrification.<br />
He sees more retail opportunities than the<br />
report.<br />
Brooklyn Station is leased up, and there<br />
are other businesses planned there. In short,<br />
Field says Brooklyn is healthy, so there is no<br />
reason that LaVilla can’t do the same.<br />
Speaking of links, waterways are never<br />
far from anything Downtown. LaVilla would<br />
need links to both a revitalized McCoys<br />
Creek — funding is already committed for<br />
it — and the St. Johns River.<br />
Once devastated by urban renewal,<br />
LaVilla is poised to make a comeback in<br />
grand style.<br />
Mike Clark has been a reporter and editor<br />
for The Florida Times-Union and its predecessors<br />
since 1973 and editorial page editor since 2005.<br />
He lives in Nocatee.<br />
Excellence in motion.<br />
yesterday<br />
Dames Point Bridge<br />
today<br />
Jacksonville Regional Transportation Center at LaVilla<br />
tomorrow<br />
Ultimate Urban Circulator<br />
autonomous vehicle<br />
jtafla.com
TINY HOUSE VILLAGE<br />
WILL BENEFIT VETS<br />
After Eco Relics built the nation’s first LEED-certified tiny house in 2017,<br />
it inspired an idea to create a neighborhood of similar homes for veterans<br />
I<br />
t all began with a door, a wooden one, but<br />
it could become a door to new lives for<br />
some Jacksonville veterans and the historic<br />
LaVilla neighborhood. The idea is still in its<br />
infancy, but to see how the seed has been<br />
planted and is taking root is a lesson in how<br />
BY LILLA ROSS<br />
Downtown development happens.<br />
Michelle Paul, who lives in Marsh Landing, was looking<br />
for a pantry door for her kitchen remodeling project.<br />
She wanted something unusual, so she went to Eco<br />
Relics in Riverside, which sells salvaged and architectural<br />
building supplies.<br />
ASSOCIATED PRESS<br />
76<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
Not only did Paul find something unusual,<br />
she found something unique — the<br />
doors to the old Brewster Hospital, a hospital<br />
for African-Americans founded in<br />
1901. Paul was involved in its restoration<br />
and new life as the home of the North<br />
Florida Land Trust. One of the hospital’s<br />
founders was Eartha White, who also<br />
founded the Clara White Mission, named<br />
for her mother. Paul is a member of the<br />
board.<br />
Paul was interested in buying the<br />
doors and sought out Eco Relics owner<br />
Anna Murphy to negotiate a price. The<br />
women talked; they bonded over veterans.<br />
“I was telling her about Clara White,<br />
and Anna asked me if we did anything for<br />
vets,” said Paul, who quickly filled her in.<br />
Veterans have always been part of<br />
Clara White Mission, founded in 1904 as<br />
Navy veteran Henry Owens lives in a tiny house<br />
village as part of the Veterans Community Project<br />
in Kansas City. The village gives homeless<br />
veterans a place to live.<br />
a soup kitchen. Vets have been both client<br />
and volunteer, and in World War II, they<br />
were residents, living on the upper floors<br />
of the three-story building. They’ve also<br />
been students at the mission’s vocational<br />
training programs and regulars at the<br />
Drop-in Center.<br />
In 2017, the mission dedicated the<br />
Henri Landwirth Beaver Street Veterans<br />
Villas. The $3.8 million project, funded<br />
with government grants, turned the<br />
three-story, century-old building into<br />
transitional housing for veterans.<br />
Sixteen furnished apartments are on<br />
the top two floors, above a VA service center<br />
on the first floor. Supportive services<br />
include mental health and substance<br />
abuse counseling, case management,<br />
medical services, job training, financial<br />
counseling and educational services.<br />
Murphy was impressed. She invited<br />
Paul to step out back and see her vision<br />
for veterans — a tiny house.<br />
M<br />
urphy and her husband,<br />
Michael, have a<br />
passion for sustainable<br />
living. The motto of Eco<br />
Relics is “reuse, recycle,<br />
repurpose,” and within its walls you can<br />
find everything from nuts and bolts to<br />
one-of-a-kind antiques like the doors to<br />
Brewster Hospital.<br />
But, for Murphy, “reuse, recycle, repurpose”<br />
isn’t just about the building materials.<br />
It’s about people, too.<br />
Murphy wants to build affordable,<br />
sustainable housing for veterans who<br />
need to “reuse, recycle, repurpose” their<br />
lives. She thinks it can be done with tiny<br />
houses, defined as a structure less than 400<br />
square feet that can either be on wheels or<br />
a foundation.<br />
Tiny houses are not only affordable,<br />
they can be ideal living space for veterans<br />
with PTSD, who are often more comfortable<br />
in a confined area.<br />
The Murphys built a tiny house, 198<br />
square feet, on wheels in 2017 using<br />
reclaimed building materials and following<br />
the city building code. The house, built in<br />
consultation with the U.S. Green Building<br />
Council, attained the platinum rating for<br />
Leadership in Energy and Environmental<br />
Design (LEED).<br />
“It is the first and greenest registered<br />
tiny house in the world,” Murphy said.<br />
Her dream is to build a village of<br />
solar-powered tiny houses. They would be<br />
built for veterans by veterans. They would<br />
be about 240 square feet, enough for a bedroom,<br />
a tiny kitchen and bathroom with a<br />
small heating and cooling unit.<br />
They might not be the only tiny houses<br />
on Ashley Street. Over in the Cathedral<br />
District, JWB Real Estate Capital wants to<br />
build 18 studio apartments using shipping<br />
containers, each about 320 square feet.<br />
Murphy knew she had a great idea but<br />
didn’t know how to make it happen. “I was<br />
desperate to find someone with connections,”<br />
Murphy said.<br />
And then, she met a woman who wanted<br />
to buy a door.<br />
A<br />
fter seeing Murphy’s<br />
tiny house, Paul shared<br />
the idea with the Clara<br />
White Mission board and<br />
Ju’Coby Pittman, mission<br />
CEO and president and Jacksonville City<br />
Council member.<br />
During Pittman’s 25 years at Clara<br />
White, the mission has grown from a soup<br />
kitchen into a community development<br />
center with vocational training, job placement<br />
and housing.<br />
Its culinary arts school, which has 25<br />
students, trains people for the restaurant<br />
industry. Each Friday, students prepare<br />
and serve lunch at Clara’s at the Cathedral,<br />
a longtime partnership with St. John’s<br />
Cathedral. The mission also has a special<br />
events hall in Riverside, with catering by<br />
the students available.<br />
Some of its food is grown at its White<br />
Harvest Farms on Moncrief Road that recently<br />
received a $1.5 million city grant to<br />
develop a farmers market for the area that<br />
is a food desert.<br />
Twenty students are enrolled in classes<br />
in the janitorial/construction cleanup,<br />
electrical and environmental safety and<br />
agriculture safety programs taught through<br />
the National Center for Construction<br />
Education and Research. With funding<br />
from CITI Foundation, the mission also<br />
is developing a pilot janitorial training<br />
program for at-risk young people and their<br />
parents.<br />
And Clara White continues to feed<br />
people — 500 a day.<br />
With the success of the Veterans Villas,<br />
Pittman said the tiny house community<br />
seems like a good next step to give veterans<br />
in transitional housing an opportunity<br />
to own a home, albeit a tiny one.<br />
Pittman said the mission’s board had<br />
talked about building tiny houses a few<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 77
“We researched [tiny houses]. It has to make financial sense ...<br />
We know there is a gap in affordable housing for veterans.”<br />
Ju’Coby Pittman<br />
Clara White Misson CEO<br />
Consultant Jenni Edwards worked on the entrance to a tiny house built in 2017<br />
by Eco Relics. The 198-square-foot house was the first LEED-certified tiny<br />
house in the nation.<br />
Ju’Coby Pittman, CEO and president of the Clara White Mission, stands in a<br />
doorway of the historically designated Genovar’s Hall, which would be renovated<br />
into a community center with a café, gym, classrooms and meeting space.<br />
years ago but didn’t pursue it.<br />
“We researched it. It has to make financial<br />
sense for the mission. We know there<br />
is a gap in affordable housing for veterans.<br />
And we want to be on the same page with<br />
Downtown,” Pittman said.<br />
This time, the board decided to team up<br />
with Eco Relics and pursue the project.<br />
“When their board approved it,<br />
with the mission’s longstanding history<br />
in Jacksonville, I knew we had a good<br />
chance of getting it built,” Murphy said. “I<br />
can build tiny houses, but the mission has<br />
veterans housing on Beaver Street, they<br />
have VA connections and HUD connections.<br />
And they have land, and that was<br />
the magic word.”<br />
C<br />
lara White has land, a city<br />
block bordered by Ashley,<br />
Jefferson, Church and<br />
Broad streets in LaVilla. But<br />
they don’t have zoning. Tiny<br />
houses are not in the zoning code, or the<br />
building code either.<br />
Paul said they would seek zoning for a<br />
Planned Unit Development (PUD) for the<br />
1.46 acres occupied by a parking lot, owned<br />
by the mission, and Genovar’s Hall and<br />
three wooden houses, owned by the city.<br />
Variances to the building code would be<br />
required.<br />
The plan is to build 15 to 18 houses on<br />
foundations. Each house would be 240<br />
square feet, and equipped with a mini-split<br />
heating and cooling unit and solar panels.<br />
Murphy wants the community to be LEED<br />
certified with a micro solar grid. Murphy<br />
estimates a house would cost between<br />
$65,000 and $75,000, using recycled building<br />
materials.<br />
Murphy said she has contacted Operation<br />
Tiny Homes, a nonprofit in Austin,<br />
Texas, that has built the premiere community<br />
in the country.<br />
[L-R] WILL DICKEY; BOB SELF<br />
78<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
“It’s going to beautiful and eclectic. Each one will have its<br />
own personality. The City Council will not be able to say no.”<br />
ANNA MURPHY<br />
Eco Relics owner<br />
JEFF DAVIS<br />
“Operation Tiny<br />
Home will help us build<br />
the first one, and teach<br />
us as we go,” Murphy<br />
said. “And the U.S. Green<br />
Building Council has a<br />
‘green veteran’ arm so<br />
they would teach them<br />
how to build green.”<br />
The tiny houses would<br />
be built on the parking<br />
LaVilla<br />
School of<br />
lot, and the proposal<br />
the Arts<br />
also calls for renovating<br />
Genovar’s Hall into a<br />
community center that<br />
could have a café, gym,<br />
classrooms and meeting<br />
space.<br />
Originally a grocery<br />
store, it was built in 1895<br />
by Sebastian Genovar. In<br />
the 1920s it became the<br />
Wynn Hotel and Lenape<br />
Tavern, a popular jazz<br />
club that attracted entertainers<br />
like Louis Armstrong,<br />
Dizzie Gillespie<br />
and Billie Holiday and<br />
where Ray Charles got his<br />
start. The hotel closed in the 1980s.<br />
The two-story Genovar’s Hall is now a<br />
brick shell, a candidate for demolition if it<br />
were not for its historic designation. Several<br />
proposals have been made to restore the<br />
8,000-square-foot building but nothing has<br />
ever happened. It will be a daunting and<br />
expensive project.<br />
Although a budget is still being developed,<br />
Pittman estimates that the tiny house<br />
project could cost between $2 million to $3<br />
million. They plan to apply for state grants<br />
available to restore historical structures,<br />
find sponsors and do community fundraising.<br />
Next to Genovar’s facing Jefferson Street<br />
are three wooden shotgun houses, built between<br />
1903 and 1912 on Lee Street. Badly<br />
deteriorated, they are considered historically<br />
significant because they survived the<br />
Great Fire of 1901 and are the last examples<br />
of shotgun-style architecture, once a staple<br />
of LaVilla.<br />
“They are in really bad shape,” Murphy<br />
said. “Genovar’s is one thing. At least it’s<br />
A TINY HOUSE VILLAGE FOR LAVILLA<br />
Three wooden<br />
shotgun houses<br />
Genovar’s Hall<br />
JEFFERSON ST.<br />
Operation Tiny HomeS<br />
A village of tiny houses for homeless vets<br />
• 15 to 18 houses on foundations<br />
• 240 square feet each<br />
• Equipped with a mini-split heating<br />
and cooling unit and solar panels<br />
• Built with recycled materials<br />
• Each house would cost between<br />
$65,000 and $75,000<br />
Clara White Mission<br />
BROAD ST.<br />
Old Stanton<br />
High School<br />
Duval County<br />
Courthouse<br />
brick and has some structure. The row<br />
houses, it’s going to take a lot to get them<br />
usable. I wouldn’t walk on the floors.”<br />
For the past eight months,<br />
while Clara White and Eco<br />
Relics have been talking about<br />
tiny houses, the Downtown<br />
Investment Authority and<br />
Jacksonville Transportation<br />
Authority were working on a development<br />
plan for LaVilla, which was released in<br />
April.<br />
The goal of the LaVilla Neighborhood<br />
Development Strategy is to restore LaVilla<br />
as a residential neighborhood with a strong<br />
cultural component honoring its rich African-American<br />
history. The plan includes a<br />
Heritage Trail and a park named Lift Ev’ry<br />
Voice and Sing, the hymn written by brothers<br />
John Rosamond and James Weldon<br />
Johnson. The district already is known for<br />
the Ritz Theatre and Museum and LaVilla<br />
School of the Arts.<br />
Clara White Mission would have a place<br />
BEAVER ST.<br />
ASHLEY ST.<br />
CHURCH ST.<br />
DUVAL ST.<br />
N<br />
on the Heritage Trail. It’s<br />
not only a community<br />
development center, on<br />
the second floor Eartha<br />
White’s bedroom and<br />
other artifacts from the<br />
early days are preserved<br />
in a museum.<br />
Pittman, who grew up<br />
in Jacksonville, remembers<br />
when “Ashley Street<br />
was the place to be,” and<br />
she thinks it can be again.<br />
“A tiny house community<br />
would be a great<br />
asset,” Pittman said.<br />
They are working on<br />
a budget and renderings<br />
for a presentation to the<br />
city. When they present<br />
to the council, Murphy<br />
said they will bring along<br />
their tiny house to show<br />
the members first-hand<br />
how much living can be<br />
done in a tiny house.<br />
Murphy hopes the city<br />
will support the project.<br />
“It’s going to beautiful<br />
and eclectic,” Murphy said. “Each one will<br />
have its own personality. The City Council<br />
will not be able to say no. It’s definitely a<br />
better use of the property. Right now it’s a<br />
parking lot with four abandoned buildings.”<br />
The city needs to take a serious look at<br />
the proposal. It fits nicely with the city’s<br />
new strategic plan for the district. It’s a<br />
creative way to help veterans become<br />
homeowners in a supportive community.<br />
The renovation of Genovar’s Hall<br />
and the houses will preserve part of the<br />
historic legacy of LaVilla. And Clara White<br />
Mission has proved itself as a steadfast<br />
provider of services to the community for<br />
115 years.<br />
Furthermore, a community of<br />
LEED-certified solar-powered tiny<br />
houses built from recycled materials<br />
will put Jacksonville on the map as an<br />
environmental leader.<br />
Lilla Ross is a freelance writer.<br />
She lives in San Marco.<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 79
The Downtown Urban Rest Stop on the campus of the Sulzbacher Center provides the homeless with a safe place to relax, get a shower, wash clothes and get a meal.<br />
‘REST STOP’<br />
SERVING THE<br />
DOWNTOWN<br />
HOMELESS<br />
I<br />
BY<br />
80<br />
n an interview with the Times-Union Editorial Board<br />
several weeks before the Urban Rest Stop complex opened<br />
in February inside the campus of the Sulzbacher Center —<br />
Northeast Florida’s largest service provider for the homeless<br />
— Sulzbacher CEO Cindy Funkhouser laid out the two<br />
main early goals for the new daytime resource center for<br />
Jacksonville’s transient population.<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong><br />
ROGER BROWN<br />
The goals were simultaneously simple<br />
yet bold:<br />
• To provide a “nice, welcoming<br />
place’’ for the area’s homeless<br />
citizens during the daytime hours<br />
— a departure from aimlessly<br />
spending the afternoon hours in<br />
marginalized droves on gray concrete-slab<br />
benches in the grungy,<br />
congested Main Street Park across<br />
from the Downtown Library.<br />
• To represent a “win for the<br />
people who are on Jacksonville’s<br />
streets.”<br />
Those were the two primary goals in<br />
Funkhouser’s eyes.<br />
But in reality, here was another goal —<br />
if one that was largely whispered, if spoken<br />
aloud at all: Most people in Jacksonville<br />
hoped the Urban Rest Stop would begin<br />
reducing the visual and social effects<br />
of having large numbers of transients,<br />
including a notable segment of aggressive<br />
panhandlers, on the city’s Downtown<br />
BOB SELF
Main Street Park became a gathering place for the<br />
homeless after efforts were put in place to get them<br />
to leave Hemming Park a block away.<br />
BOB SELF<br />
streets during the daytime hours.<br />
And have those goals have been<br />
achieved in the four-plus months since the<br />
Urban Rest Stop opened its doors?<br />
By all objective standards, the answer<br />
appears to be “yes.”<br />
“It has been working very smoothly and<br />
efficiently from our perspective,” Funkhouser<br />
says now regarding the Urban Rest<br />
Stop.<br />
“We’re still early in the process, but<br />
the results have been very exciting and<br />
promising.”<br />
During the month of April, these were<br />
some of the Urban Rest Stop’s activity<br />
statistics as compiled by the Mental Health<br />
Resource Center, which has 16 staffers providing<br />
counseling and other daily services<br />
in the daytime facility:<br />
• An average of 75 people visited the<br />
facility each day (it’s open from 7:30 a.m. to<br />
6 p.m. Monday to Friday).<br />
• More than 1,000 services were provided<br />
to clients.<br />
• A total of 454 people used the Urban<br />
Rest Stop’s shower facilities.<br />
• An average of six people per day used<br />
the rest stop’s laundry facilities to wash and<br />
dry their clothes.<br />
• Nearly 40 people went through the<br />
Urban Rest Stop’s mental health screening<br />
process, which is offered to visitors on a<br />
strictly voluntary basis.<br />
And that was just one month’s worth<br />
of positive impact by a daytime resource<br />
created out of vacated space in Sulzbacher<br />
when the nonprofit moved its female and<br />
family residents to the new Sulzbacher<br />
Village.<br />
Among other services, the Urban Rest<br />
Stop offers:<br />
• Access to laundry and shower facilities.<br />
• Access to warm meals during the<br />
daytime hours.<br />
• Access to mental health counseling.<br />
• Access to the Sulzbacher’s extensive<br />
and highly regarded medical services.<br />
• Access to job-training and job-placement<br />
possibilities (enhanced by the Urban<br />
Rest Stop’s partnership with Goodwill Industries,<br />
which has a “Job Junction” office<br />
on site).<br />
• Access to applying for housing or signing<br />
up for other needs like food stamps, bus<br />
passes and mail service.<br />
• Access to computers, books and an<br />
open social room with features like a giant<br />
chessboard and a big-screen television.<br />
• A sense of empowerment and dignity<br />
for those who come through its doors.<br />
And it is that last attribute — that final<br />
quality — that particularly strikes a chord<br />
with Daniel Dopson, who says he has practically<br />
been a daily visitor to the Urban Rest<br />
Stop since its opening.<br />
“It’s been great to have this — it’s a really<br />
good place to come to,” Dopson says as he<br />
sits in the Urban Rest Stop’s social room.<br />
“I’ve been able to get showers here, do my<br />
laundry here, get glasses here,” Dopson<br />
adds. “It’s helping me get back on my feet,<br />
and that means a lot.”<br />
And that, says Mental Health Resource<br />
Center Vice President Debbie O’Neal, is<br />
exactly the reason for the Urban Rest Stop’s<br />
very existence.<br />
“It’s proving to be a great resource for<br />
not only providing people with services<br />
they can take advantage of today, but also<br />
educating them on how they can start to<br />
access the services that can help them have<br />
better, more stable futures,” O’Neal said.<br />
The Mental Health Resource Center is<br />
staffing the daytime resource center as part<br />
of a collaboration with the Sulzbacher Center,<br />
the City of Jacksonville, the Jacksonville<br />
Sheriff’s Office and many other partners<br />
committed to making sure the Urban Rest<br />
Stop plays a successful and sustainable<br />
role in helping local homeless residents on<br />
the path to eventually transition from the<br />
streets to stability.<br />
And hopefully the Urban Rest Stop will<br />
represent the most successful and sustainable<br />
attempt by our city to provide Jacksonville’s<br />
homeless population with a daytime<br />
resource that truly makes a difference for<br />
the homeless.<br />
No, the Urban Rest<br />
Stop is not the first<br />
effort to take the city’s<br />
transient population off<br />
the streets during the<br />
daytime hours by having<br />
a fixed alternative Downtown location that<br />
could offer the homeless both productive<br />
resources and a more receptive atmosphere<br />
— neither of which is in ample supply when<br />
they’re outside on benches, sidewalks and<br />
stoops, largely invisible to or ignored by the<br />
multitude of other Downtowners who walk<br />
by them day after day.<br />
In the early 2000s, the Emergency Services<br />
and Homeless Coalition pushed for the<br />
city to establish a daytime resource center<br />
for the Jacksonville’s homeless population.<br />
In its 2004 report “A Blueprint for the Future:<br />
Ending Homelessness in Jacksonville,”<br />
the coalition included this recommendation<br />
among several strategies to address the city’s<br />
homeless issue: “Establish one or more<br />
drop-in centers with day time hours, including<br />
weekends, providing showers, restrooms,<br />
phones, seating, assessment and referral.”<br />
But in reality, the recommendation got<br />
little traction in Jacksonville’s city government.<br />
Years later ICARE, an influential nonprofit,<br />
powerfully took up the baton to advocate<br />
for a daytime resource center for the<br />
area homeless, making it one of its perennial<br />
topics in its annual list of issues that it said<br />
demanded immediate and real action from<br />
Jacksonville’s powerful decision makers.<br />
ICARE’s vocal, passionate efforts played<br />
a huge role in pushing former Mayor<br />
Alvin Brown to open the Jacksonville Day<br />
Resource Center at the City Rescue Mission<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 81
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“[It] is going to come down to having more affordable<br />
housing that offers the homeless the stable housing<br />
they need to help build paths out of homelessness.”<br />
Cindy Funkhouser<br />
Sulzbacher Center CEO<br />
on State Street in July 2013. The center,<br />
however, was largely propped up by funding<br />
provided through a pilot program; it lacked<br />
the steady stream of significant dollars that<br />
could truly support a daytime center over<br />
the long haul and ultimately couldn’t live up<br />
to its early hype.<br />
It was no surprise, then, that after Mayor<br />
Lenny Curry took office in 2015, the Day Resource<br />
Center was closed a few months later.<br />
Curry went on to form a major task force<br />
on homelessness in 2017, as well as appoint<br />
Dawn Lockhart, the highly respected longtime<br />
former CEO of the Family Foundations,<br />
to work directly with the nonprofit community<br />
as his administration’s director of<br />
strategic partnerships.<br />
Those two moves — along with the<br />
active involvement of current City Council<br />
President Aaron Bowman — were key in<br />
setting the groundwork for the city to agree<br />
to provide the Sulzbacher Center with<br />
$120,000 to refurbish vacated space into<br />
the Urban Rest Stop and partner with the<br />
Mental Health Resource Center to deliver<br />
counseling and other support services.<br />
In addition, partners ranging from the<br />
JSO (which assigns an off-duty officer as a<br />
security presence) to CSX (which donated<br />
office cubicles for the Mental Health Resource<br />
Center staff) were brought in to further<br />
bolster the Urban Rest Stop’s resources.<br />
Bowman, who says he became passionate<br />
about the issue of homelessness<br />
as someone who has spent years working<br />
Downtown every day as a JAX Chamber<br />
executive, credits the Curry administration<br />
for showing the commitment to devote the<br />
adequate funding and support needed to<br />
give a homeless daytime resource center<br />
a realistic chance to succeed and sustain<br />
itself.<br />
“Over the years, we just hadn’t done<br />
enough to really address the issue of homelessness,”<br />
Bowman says.<br />
“But the Urban Rest Stop has been<br />
working extremely well. It has the potential<br />
to help a lot of those who are homeless,<br />
and to me, it really shows that we’re doing<br />
everything we can to support them.”<br />
Of course, the<br />
Urban Rest Stop’s<br />
much-needed arrival<br />
doesn’t mean challenges<br />
don’t remain.<br />
Now that the city<br />
has temporarily closed the Main Street<br />
Park — a shabby, unsightly area that had<br />
nonetheless become a daily gathering<br />
place for many transients after nearby<br />
Hemming Park changed its policies to<br />
discourage vagrancy — the demands on<br />
the Urban Rest Stop will likely grow to<br />
meet the growing number of people who<br />
will turn to it.<br />
And Funkhouser is the first to say that a<br />
daytime resource center for the homeless<br />
— even one as well conceived and effective<br />
as the Urban Rest Stop clearly seems to<br />
be — will never be a panacea for ending<br />
homelessness in Jacksonville.<br />
“The answer for that is going to come<br />
down to having more affordable housing<br />
that offers the homeless the stable housing<br />
they need to help build paths out of homelessness,”<br />
Funkhouser says.<br />
“You can’t stuff 10 pounds of sugar into<br />
a five-pound bag and expect the bag to<br />
withstand that forever,” she says. “It’s the<br />
same philosophy with homelessness: We<br />
can’t keep feeding more and more people<br />
into shelters and other services as the only<br />
answer — we need to have a steady flow of<br />
people coming out on the other end and<br />
into stable housing.”<br />
And that task will remain a complex<br />
one, because providing housing for homeless<br />
citizens who mainly have economic<br />
barriers is a different challenge from securing<br />
it for those who face substance abuse or<br />
mental health issues — also a substantial<br />
part of the transient problem.<br />
But it is beyond debate that the Urban<br />
Rest Stop clearly represents a promising<br />
step forward — while also providing people<br />
like Daniel Dopson encouragement that<br />
they can move forward.<br />
“I’m grateful,” Dopson says, “that it’s<br />
here.”<br />
Roger Brown is a Times-Union editorial<br />
writer and member of the editorial board.<br />
He lives Downtown.<br />
BOB SELF<br />
Signs point the way to the recently opened Urban<br />
Rest Stop on the Sulzbacher Center campus at 611<br />
E. Adams St,<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 83
Reporting the truth for more than 150 years.<br />
#truthmatters
Day Break<br />
Continued from page 19<br />
works from the MOCA Permanent Collection,<br />
“Invisible Cities: Paintings by Nathan Lewis”<br />
in the UNF Gallery, and “Micro-Macro,” an<br />
exhibition of works by Andrew Sendor and Ali<br />
Banisadr. The fifth floor displayed works by<br />
children who attend MOCA Art Camp during<br />
the summer, winter and spring breaks in<br />
classrooms surrounding that gallery. The fifth<br />
floor also houses<br />
GIVING BACK<br />
My daughter and I started our<br />
recent Downtown excursion<br />
with a Hogans Creek cleanup<br />
organized by Groundwork<br />
Jacksonville. We met the group<br />
behind Maxwell House, next<br />
to the old Casket Factory,<br />
now owned by the Jacksonville<br />
Historical Society. We scoured<br />
the banks of the creek for<br />
plastic containers, beer bottles,<br />
soda cans, and much more for<br />
about two hours. Groundwork<br />
Jacksonville meets every third<br />
Saturday to clean a different<br />
section of the St. Johns River<br />
tributary. Learn more about<br />
volunteering by visiting<br />
Groundwork Jacksonville’s<br />
Facebook page (facebook.<br />
com/groundworkjax).<br />
— DENISE M. REAGAN<br />
the ArtExplorium<br />
Loft, a hands-on,<br />
interactive area for<br />
families in serious<br />
need of an update.<br />
Outside, Hemming<br />
Park was a<br />
ghost town, except<br />
for a family whose<br />
boys played in the<br />
Kids Zone. We<br />
glimpsed a young<br />
couple dressed for<br />
prom posing for<br />
photographs in the<br />
park and in front<br />
of MOCA Jacksonville.<br />
However, the<br />
following Saturday<br />
we attended Jax<br />
Poetry Fest, which<br />
was packed full of fans of spoken word with<br />
performances by Ebony Payne-English, Love<br />
Reigns, Matthew Cuban Hernandez, Kia Flow,<br />
and Al Letson. Throughout the year, the Skyway<br />
is available whenever Hemming Park is holding<br />
a Saturday event.<br />
Hemming Park (hemmingpark.org) has also<br />
launched several regular events, such as walking<br />
tours of various Downtown locations at 11:30<br />
a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, a Tuesday Market<br />
with Berry Good Farms (berrygoodfarms.org)<br />
and 3 p.m. Sunday yoga in the park.<br />
We continued our Downtown visit at Sweet<br />
Pete’s Candy which has transformed a bit. It<br />
has shared the historic building across from City<br />
Hall and Hemming Park with MLG, an upscale<br />
restaurant owned by Marcus Lemonis which<br />
recently closed. Lemonis also owns the building<br />
itself, historically the Seminole Club, and has<br />
put it on the market. But Sweet Pete’s continues<br />
with apparel and souvenirs on the first floor; a<br />
second floor stuffed with candy, chocolate, and<br />
ice cream; and a third-floor circus-themed toy<br />
store. More people were in Sweet Pete’s than in<br />
the rest of Downtown.<br />
We ended our trek with a short walking tour<br />
8 DAYTIME<br />
IDEAS TO<br />
IMPROVE<br />
Downtown<br />
» Florida species<br />
attraction: An aquarium<br />
or bird sanctuary that specializes<br />
in native Florida species would<br />
differentiate it from other<br />
attractions and provide the<br />
needed audience, both residents<br />
and visitors, to support it.<br />
» 1901 Fire: Imagine a virtual<br />
reality experience based on the<br />
1901 fire that destroyed most of<br />
Jacksonville that educates while<br />
it entertains.<br />
» Historic LaVilla: Build<br />
recreations of the home of<br />
James Weldon Johnson and John<br />
Rosamond Johnson and other<br />
important buildings from that<br />
era in the style of Michigan’s<br />
Greenfield Village (bit.ly/<br />
GreenfieldVillage), a collection of<br />
historic buildings that recreate<br />
the sights, sounds, and sensations<br />
of America’s formation.<br />
» Performance bus<br />
tours: The streets of<br />
Jacksonville become the stage<br />
for comedic improvisation<br />
performers who create historical<br />
reenactments of Jacksonville<br />
history with an attitude, all<br />
aboard a moving theater, inspired<br />
by New York City’s The Ride (bit.<br />
ly/NYCTheRide).<br />
» Movie theater: Design<br />
a movie theater that combines<br />
historic features with new<br />
technology and plush amenities<br />
to create a one-of-a-kind<br />
attraction.<br />
» Bowling alley:<br />
Combine a retro bowling alley<br />
atmosphere with high-tech<br />
scoring and a kitchen that serves<br />
new twists on classic fair.<br />
» Escape room: Take<br />
advantage of this intriguing new<br />
pastime by incorporating historic<br />
architecture into the game.<br />
» Refreshing retreats:<br />
Downtown needs coffee, ice<br />
cream, popsicles, and other<br />
shops that will draw families.<br />
Combine the treats with arcades,<br />
art, or other activities.<br />
— DENISE M. REAGAN<br />
of public art. The Cultural Council of Greater<br />
Jacksonville and the Downtown Investment<br />
Authority collaborated on the Urban Arts<br />
Project along the Hogan Street area, where<br />
you can find 17 painted Skyway columns and<br />
several sculptural pieces. Dozens of murals<br />
dot Downtown. Some are individual projects,<br />
such as Shaun Thurston’s work on Chamblin’s<br />
Uptown, the side of the 5 & Dime building, and<br />
behind Burrito Gallery. Some are the result<br />
of Art Republic, which invited artists to create<br />
murals on buildings throughout Downtown in<br />
2016-18. You can download and print a map to<br />
take with you (bit.ly/ArtRepublicMap).<br />
Although we couldn’t fit it all in one day,<br />
you’ll find several other family-friendly activities<br />
in the Downtown core.<br />
The Museum of Science and History (themosh.org)<br />
features three levels of interactive<br />
exhibits, a nature center of Northeast Florida<br />
native animals, and a planetarium. In March,<br />
MOSH announced an ambitious plan to increase<br />
the museum’s total space from 77,000 to 120,000<br />
square feet, expand exhibitions and programming,<br />
reorient its public entry toward the St. Johns<br />
River, and add new and emerging technology.<br />
Outside of MOSH is Friendship Park with<br />
a refreshing fountain overlooking the river.<br />
As you stroll down the Southbank Riverwalk<br />
underneath the Main Street Bridge, you’ll find<br />
“Mirrored River,” a gleaming mosaic mural that<br />
reflects the water and sunlight.<br />
A short walk over the Main Street Bridge<br />
takes you to the Northbank Riverwalk, which<br />
stretches to the Riverside Arts Market. Along<br />
the way, you’ll find a new outdoor gym called<br />
the Corkscrew, with a climbing sculpture and<br />
several fitness stations. Or you can catch the St.<br />
Johns River Taxi (jaxrivertaxi.com) at one of<br />
five stops along the river.<br />
Catch a Sunday matinee at The 5 & Dime, A<br />
Theatre Company (the5anddime.org) or at the<br />
Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts<br />
(timesunioncenter.com). Check to see if the<br />
show is appropriate for children. The Florida<br />
Theatre occasionally books performances for<br />
kids, such as “Peppa Pig Live” (Oct. 1) and “The<br />
Very Hungry Caterpillar Show” (Dec. 8).<br />
That’s about the extent of Downtown Jacksonville’s<br />
family entertainment offerings. Is it<br />
enough for an emerging metropolis trying to<br />
attract current residents, newly arrived families,<br />
and tourists?<br />
Jacksonville has much more to offer, but it<br />
will only work if the greater metropolitan area<br />
supports it. And that is the nut Downtown<br />
needs to crack.<br />
Denise M. Reagan is senior manager of culture<br />
and engagement at Brunet-García Advertising, a former<br />
editor at The Florida Times-Union, and longtime<br />
Downtown enthusiast. She lives in Arlington.<br />
86<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
Good Evening<br />
Continued from page 21<br />
of the Bank of America building on Bay<br />
and Laura Streets is a bit cramped but has<br />
all anyone needs to get in a good workout.<br />
It’s being remodeled and refitted with new<br />
equipment this summer.<br />
Anytime Fitness is just that — a 24-hour<br />
gym. It’s spacious with free weights, weight<br />
machines and several cardio options from<br />
treadmills to rowing machines. It’s located<br />
above Bellwether restaurant on the corner of<br />
Forsyth and Laura Streets.<br />
An advantage of joining a gym is that<br />
after a sticky summer’s day, a refreshing<br />
shower awaits members who want to<br />
change clothes and get into a relaxed state<br />
of mind. During lunch, refresh with a quick<br />
shower that puts the afternoon in a new<br />
perspective.<br />
The Landing<br />
and Hemming<br />
There was a time when finding a meal<br />
Downtown would have been next to<br />
impossible short of a sub sandwich. These<br />
days, there are many more options and<br />
price points. Some even have pre-show<br />
menus targeted to allow for a bite before an<br />
event without being rushed.<br />
City leadership seems intent on demolishing<br />
the Jacksonville Landing without<br />
knowing — or having public support for<br />
— what should replace it, hopefully not<br />
merely a passive park. While the Landing<br />
is overdue for a total makeover, the facility<br />
did provide riverfront dining. A food hall<br />
concept, complete with a mix of chain and<br />
locally owned quality restaurants, entertainment<br />
options and some space dedicated<br />
to children and teens, would seem like a<br />
better idea.<br />
Unless that Downtown space is programmed<br />
like Hemming Park, passive<br />
parks attract transients. The Main Street<br />
Park between Duval and Monroe Streets,<br />
across from the back of the Main Library,<br />
has served as a crystal ball foretelling the<br />
future of the Landing space if it is not commercially<br />
developed.<br />
Hemming Park is the home of the successful<br />
Art Walk, held the first Wednesday<br />
of each month. It features art, music and<br />
crafts throughout the park that spills out<br />
onto neighboring streets. Most days, there<br />
are other events in the park. The calendar<br />
on the Friends of Hemming Park website<br />
is worth bookmarking and checking when<br />
looking for some after-work activities.<br />
Serious business<br />
There are more creative ways to spend<br />
a few after-work hours. The Jacksonville<br />
City Council meets on the second and<br />
fourth Tuesdays of the month beginning at<br />
5 p.m. There’s no need to be there for the<br />
beginning, as the first 45 minutes or so are<br />
spent recognizing deserving citizens who<br />
are making important contributions to Duval<br />
County. But once council members get<br />
started on the agenda, it is both informative<br />
and somewhat entertaining to watch<br />
how laws are made and tax money is spent.<br />
The middle of the meeting is devoted<br />
to public comment. Here, citizens have<br />
three minutes to voice their concerns, no<br />
matter the topic. It’s a good way to engage<br />
with what is happening in other parts of<br />
the county. (City Council takes the first two<br />
weeks of July off as its summer holiday.<br />
Council meetings resume on July 23.)<br />
After staring at a computer screen most<br />
of the day, enjoying art and literature may<br />
be in order. The Cummer Museum of Art<br />
and Gardens is free and open until 9 p.m.<br />
every Tuesday. During Artwalk, MOCA,<br />
the Museum of Contemporary Art across<br />
from Hemming Park, is open until 9 p.m.<br />
Next door, the Main Library is open until<br />
7 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays . Across<br />
the river, the Museum of Science and History<br />
is open until 8 p.m. Fridays.<br />
Gustatory endeavors<br />
These days we are all conscious of the<br />
responsibility that comes with the consumption<br />
of alcohol. However, responsible<br />
drinking need not lead to a DUI. Happy<br />
hour remains an after-work choice for those<br />
who can keep their wits about them. There’s<br />
no need to gulp shooters or bucket-sized<br />
cocktails. A leisurely beer, glass of wine or<br />
an after-work cocktail will allow you to unwind<br />
and let the traffic disperse until you’re<br />
ready to leave Downtown.<br />
Conscientious and careful sorts may<br />
want to plan ahead for your happy hour.<br />
Take public transportation to work (there’s<br />
a new adventure for many), and call a taxi<br />
or ride-sharing service for the ride home.<br />
The Elbow, the entertainment district<br />
on Bay, Ocean and Forsyth streets, offers<br />
several after-work options. Along Bay<br />
Street, there’s The Element restaurant and<br />
bar, Justice Pub, Bold City Brewery and<br />
Bay Street Bar & Grill. Along Ocean Street,<br />
there’s 1904 Music Bar and Spiff’s and the<br />
Island Girl Cigar Bar.<br />
Island Girl is a beautiful example of<br />
incorporating existing structures and embracing<br />
old Jacksonville. It features a huge<br />
exposed brick wall behind the bar, with several<br />
leather chairs (and televisions). Its high<br />
ceiling and ventilation system leave not a<br />
trace of smoke in the air. Island Girl serves<br />
beer, wine and wine cocktails. Later this<br />
summer it will open a private club upstairs:<br />
Membership in The Swisher Suite will offer<br />
discounts on beverages as well as bulk cigar<br />
purchases.<br />
Around the corner on Forsyth, Dos<br />
Gatos will mark its 10th anniversary in<br />
October. It was one of the first upscale<br />
lounges Downtown. Specializing in craft<br />
cocktails, it too has exposed brick behind<br />
the bar. Located directly across from the<br />
Florida Theatre, Dos Gatos is a before- and<br />
after-show gathering spot.<br />
“I’d like to think we brought a more cosmopolitan<br />
vibe,” said J. Albertelli, owner of<br />
Dos Gatos. “Over the last 10 years the food<br />
and beverage business in Downtown is very<br />
different. It feels like this is a good time to<br />
be investing more into Downtown.”<br />
On Adams Street, what looks like an old<br />
time post office is actually the false front of<br />
the speakeasy The Volstead. It’s named after<br />
Congressman Andrew Volstead, whose<br />
Volstead Act started Prohibition. It’s a dark<br />
space with silent motion pictures projected<br />
on the wall. It also specializes in craft cocktails<br />
with an impressive wall of spirits on the<br />
back of the square bar. Don’t be surprised<br />
to see Jacksonville movers and shakers as<br />
well as City Hall staffers unwinding here.<br />
Toward the Sports Complex, Intuition<br />
Ale Works not only serves its own craft<br />
brews but also has a fun bar and food<br />
menu. Its covered rooftop area provides a<br />
space to be outside that is shaded from the<br />
summer heat.<br />
And for the family<br />
Downtown is restaurant- and bar-centric.<br />
There’s not much in the way of family<br />
activity. It’s unfortunate that the proposed<br />
“family entertainment center” at the<br />
Berkman II fell through. It may not serve as<br />
a tourist destination, but a Downtown play<br />
area in that space has some potential.<br />
One family-oriented venue is also an affordable<br />
night out. The Jumbo Shrimp AA<br />
baseball team is in full swing. A homestand<br />
is not to be missed. With tickets starting<br />
at $5 and traditional concessions like hot<br />
dogs costing $2, a family of four can enjoy<br />
a baseball game for around $50, said Ken<br />
Babby, team owner.<br />
There is plenty going on at the games<br />
besides baseball. If the youngsters don’t<br />
want to sit, they can play in the Wolfson<br />
Children’s Hospital Fun Zone. On Sundays,<br />
the kids can run the bases after the<br />
game. Post-game fireworks will be featured<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 87
Night Moves<br />
at a third of the games. Special promotions Chad Johnson, senior vice president of<br />
theme every home game.<br />
sales and service and chief content officer<br />
“In our business, we like to say you<br />
for Daily’s Place and the stadium, said<br />
88 J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong><br />
had so much fun you’ll leave and not even<br />
know the score,” Babby said.<br />
Downtown’s primary venues work in a<br />
cooperative spirit. While a few events may be<br />
Continued from page 23<br />
The major venues<br />
going on the same night, the same sort of act on Ocean Street, you’ll find two of the<br />
isn’t performing at the Florida Theatre and indispensable components of the city’s<br />
Time was that Jacksonville was a oneshow<br />
town. If a musical act was at the<br />
Florida Theatre, the VyStar Veterans Memorial<br />
Arena would be quiet, or vice versa.<br />
Today, it’s common that a show could be<br />
at the Florida Theatre, a Broadway play or<br />
symphony at the Times-Union Center and<br />
major headliners could be performing at<br />
the arena or at<br />
Daily’s Place, when avoidable.<br />
Also, because Duval is a consolidated<br />
city-county, the city isn’t competing with<br />
other municipalities in the area, other than<br />
the Beaches and the St. Augustine Amphitheatre.<br />
“Jacksonville comes together unlike<br />
many other markets. In Jacksonville, we can<br />
make your big<br />
after-hours scene, 1904 Music Hall and<br />
Spliff’s Gastropub. The Music Hall is the<br />
hub for independent music Downtown,<br />
a place to see rising stars and veteran<br />
icons of the business in a fairly intimate<br />
setting. The bands you may see at 1904 this<br />
weekend may be at the Florida Theatre a<br />
couple years from now. The club shares<br />
a back patio space with Spliff’s, which<br />
Daily’s Place.<br />
events take over serves some of the very best food in town,<br />
Besides being<br />
Planning<br />
the entire city,” well into the night. Next door to that is the<br />
home to the<br />
AN EVENING Johnson said. Island Girl Cigar Bar, a more upscale,<br />
Jaguars, TIAA<br />
The success two story nightspot that puts the emphasis<br />
Downtown<br />
Bank Field will<br />
of the Lynyrd on fancy cigars. (Appropriately, it’s right<br />
» The best way to check out<br />
host the Rolling<br />
Skynyrd farewell next to space that was, for many years, a<br />
the options is Downtown<br />
Stones later this<br />
Vision’s calendar: bit.ly/2JloiUa concert, which tobacco shop.)<br />
year.<br />
included Kid<br />
Most of the after-hours spots Downtown<br />
The growth<br />
in stage performances is noteworthy, said<br />
Kevin Stone, vice president of programming<br />
at the Florida Theatre. Five years ago, there<br />
were 40 shows at the theater, and this year<br />
there may be as many as 115.<br />
“We are not just booking shows to fill a<br />
date,” he said. “We are trying to find 110 to<br />
115 pieces of product that mean something<br />
to the community. We try spreading it<br />
around to suit everyone.”<br />
That means that with a capacity of<br />
around 1,900, depending on the type of<br />
show, the Florida Theatre is the right size<br />
for up-and-coming acts as well as former<br />
hitmakers playing to longtime fans. Niche<br />
acts also have a place at the Florida Theatre.<br />
“We win some and lose some,” Stone<br />
said of the diversity of acts. “But if we don’t<br />
lose some, that means we aren’t trying.”<br />
Those open to experimental and<br />
thought-provoking stage performances<br />
should check out The 5 & Dime Theater<br />
Company at 112 East Adams St. The theater<br />
holds 85 people, and tickets go for $20-$30.<br />
Beginning June 14, the musical Falsettos<br />
debuts, and in August, Silence! The Musical,<br />
a parody of Silence of the Lambs, will be<br />
performed.<br />
The newest venue is Daily’s Place. The<br />
amphitheater, part of the stadium, seats<br />
between 5,500 and 6,000. The facility is<br />
Rock and Jason<br />
Aldean, paved the way for the Rolling<br />
Stones concert, Johnson said, adding that<br />
the Rolling Stones producers reached out<br />
to Jacksonville to play host to the stadium<br />
concert. That was unheard of in the past.<br />
SMG has been responsible for booking<br />
most shows in the city, as it operates<br />
the Times-Union Center for the Performing<br />
Arts, VyStar Memorial Arena, the<br />
Baseball Grounds and the Ritz Theatre.<br />
Keeping these facilities active with a variety<br />
of events is a driver for the city, said<br />
Bill McConnell, general manager of SMG.<br />
“The more activity we have in our venues<br />
spurs activity in Downtown in general,”<br />
he said.<br />
One area of downtown that is of concern<br />
is in the LaVilla area. New residential<br />
space there and in Brooklyn may answer<br />
the question of the chicken and the egg.<br />
It has been reported that a food hall,<br />
with several restaurants as well as a beer<br />
garden, is being planned for the 300 block<br />
of Park Street in Brooklyn.<br />
Hopefully the city can work with new<br />
developers to revamp the failed Unity<br />
Plaza in Brooklyn. The programming set<br />
for that open space never materialized.<br />
McConnell also would like the intimate<br />
Ritz Theatre to become more active in the<br />
coming years.<br />
boast expansive liquor bars. Bold<br />
City does not, but that was never the point<br />
for a company that made craft beer an<br />
actual thing in Jacksonville. The flagship<br />
brewery (on Rosselle Street in Riverside)<br />
was supplemented with a second location<br />
on Bay Street that stays open kinda late on<br />
weekends.<br />
The Elbow ends with Bay Street Bar<br />
and Grill, which serves food past midnight<br />
and has a full bar as well.<br />
Technically, the strip ends at the corner<br />
with Liberty Street, right before the police<br />
station. This block has the highest concentration<br />
of nightlife activity Downtown on<br />
most weekends, and certainly during the<br />
week.<br />
If you like dance music, there’s Myth<br />
Nightclub and Element Bistro. Justice<br />
Pub carries a massive array of craft beer, and<br />
their live music roster (with its emphasis<br />
on hip hop) is probably the strongest in the<br />
area, other than 1904, of course.<br />
If you’re feeling sporty, you can walk a<br />
few blocks further, past the police station<br />
and the Maxwell House building, toward the<br />
Stadium District, which is poised to become<br />
the next big thing in Downtown development.<br />
Manifest Distillery and Intuition Ale<br />
Works basically share a block. The former<br />
has a variety of locally distilled spirits (start<br />
built so that the farthest seat is only 135<br />
with the gin). The latter has excellent food<br />
feet from the front of the stage. The facility Dan Macdonald was a music and<br />
(produced in-house by the Black Sheep<br />
was constructed to allow for the use of entertainment writer for the Florida Times-Union crew, which also runs Bellwether, a fine<br />
stadium concessions as well as restroom<br />
facilities. It also has its own concourse for a<br />
variety of concessions and drinks.<br />
and Jacksonville Journal in 1984-1996 and the<br />
Times-Union food editor in 1997-2007.<br />
He lives in Jacksonville Beach.<br />
new restaurant over on Forsyth Street), a<br />
veritable plethora of craft beers brewed<br />
on-site and a warehouse that doubles as a
BOB SELF (2)<br />
performance space.<br />
Just a block away, right next to the<br />
VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on<br />
A. Philip Randolph Boulevard, sits That<br />
Bar — yes, that’s the name. It draws the<br />
bulk of foot traffic from people leaving the<br />
Arena, Daily’s Place or TIAA Bank Field,<br />
and it hosts open-mic jam sessions every<br />
Tuesday.<br />
While Bay Street is the undisputed<br />
commercial core for Downtown nightlife,<br />
the one block of Adams Street between<br />
Laura and Hogan (right around the corner<br />
from Chamblin’s Uptown) carries a<br />
disproportionate share of load, in terms of<br />
foot traffic.<br />
That block is home to perhaps the city’s<br />
premier jazz club, Breezy, just a couple<br />
doors down from the iconic speakeasy-themed<br />
bar The Volstead, which has<br />
helped drive the resurgence of nightlife in<br />
the section of Adams Street that for many<br />
years was the epicenter of live music in the<br />
urban core. Both of these clubs have live<br />
music every weekend and often during the<br />
week, especially for Art Walk.<br />
Right across the street sits De Real<br />
Ting, a Jamaican restaurant and reggae/<br />
dancehall club that is one of the city’s truly<br />
unique cultural experiences.<br />
If you’ve never been Downtown<br />
after-hours, the best way to start would be<br />
at Art Walk. Most of the eateries and retail<br />
spaces stay open past business hours for<br />
the heavy foot traffic, while all the bars and<br />
clubs open a bit earlier with happy hour<br />
specials of different kinds.<br />
Hemming Park is at full capacity,<br />
augmented by food trucks that come in<br />
from other parts of the city. Artists, media,<br />
politicians and other residents network.<br />
Civic institutions like the Museum of Contemporary<br />
Art and the main branch of the<br />
Jacksonville Public Library are side-byside<br />
across from the park.<br />
If you’re looking for a slight change of<br />
pace, with refined settings without the<br />
noise of a typical bar or club, consider<br />
checking out one of the assorted hotel<br />
bars. Downtown, the Omni and the Hyatt<br />
both have hotel bars that stay open fairly<br />
late, as do several of the hotels right across<br />
the river on the Southbank, easily accessible<br />
via the Main Street Bridge. Both banks,<br />
in fact, have riverwalks that certainly merit<br />
the occasional romantic moonlight stroll.<br />
We all know that parking Downtown<br />
can be a challenge when there’s something<br />
going on, whether it’s Art Walk,<br />
Florida-Georgia, the 4th of July, the Jazz<br />
Festival or Welcome to Rockville. There<br />
are few such issues in most after-hours settings.<br />
If there are big shows at the Florida<br />
Theatre, the Times-Union Center, Daily’s<br />
Place and/or the arena, most of the street<br />
parking is clear no later than 11 or 11:30,<br />
and any of the bars and clubs you might<br />
visit are likely to have open spaces within<br />
a block of their front door, or two blocks at<br />
worst.<br />
Residents of nearby neighborhoods<br />
may even choose not to drive. Public<br />
transportation is a non-starter after early<br />
evening, but walking is easy if you’re close<br />
enough. From Riverside, you can walk<br />
there via the Northbank Riverwalk. San<br />
Marco residents can cross the Main Street<br />
Bridge, and Main Street is a straight shot<br />
down from Springfield. That’s a 20- to<br />
30-minute walk in either direction, and it’s<br />
TOP: Sylvia Luddnyo takes a selfie as she has drinks<br />
with friends at the Volstead on West Adams Street.<br />
BOTTOM: Members of the Lets Ride Brass Band<br />
perform on Laura Street during Art Walk.<br />
generally safe, though walking in groups<br />
at night is always a good idea anywhere in<br />
Florida these days.<br />
And there are always taxis or rideshares<br />
for about the cost of a single craft<br />
cocktail. Worth every penny, especially if<br />
you’ve been drinking — and honestly, if<br />
you’re running around Downtown after<br />
dark, you may have had a few.<br />
Shelton Hull has written for Folio Weekly<br />
for 22 years. He also appears regularly on WJCT.<br />
He lives in Riverside.<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 89
Hunger Games<br />
Continued from page 25<br />
are about to open with no grocery store, nowhere to eat after 5 p.m.,<br />
and you can’t walk two steps without getting asked for change.”<br />
He cites safety as a concern. “At night there are zero eyes on the<br />
street and zero feet on the ground patrol-wise for safety. There is no<br />
revitalization until there are people in the urban core 24 hours a day<br />
— living, working, shopping, eating, drinking and partying.<br />
“Operating a small business Downtown has often proven more<br />
challenging than it should be,” Hashem added. “The policies and the<br />
actions being taken to overregulate Downtown business are dissuading<br />
growth. I plan on having restaurants all over the city, and I hope<br />
that Downtown can be a thriving part of The Happy Grilled Cheese’s<br />
future. As a Jacksonville native, I plan on doing business and living in<br />
Jacksonville for the rest of my life.”<br />
Then there’s density, or lack of it. If Downtown had closely<br />
clustered pockets of noteworthy restaurants, bars, office and retail<br />
— bonafide entertainment districts with their own monikers — we<br />
would thrive. Our limited options are spread well beyond a casual<br />
walk and not well connected, especially for those unfamiliar with<br />
Downtown.<br />
Every good Downtown has a walkable street that’s lined — on<br />
both sides — with bars and restaurants. For those wanting to attend a<br />
concert and grab dinner or drinks at, say, Cowford Chophouse, it’s a<br />
secluded walk afterward to the venue. Florida Theatre and Times-<br />
Union Center, maybe. Daily’s Place, no. No one is going to hoof it in<br />
STRIVING FOR SOMETHING<br />
The NEW Teen Center and Swimming Pool<br />
at the Johnson Family YMCA<br />
LEARN MORE AT<br />
FCYMCA.org<br />
business attire from drinks at Morton’s The Steakhouse at the Hyatt<br />
to dinner at BurgerFi. Same goes for drinks at Dos Gatos and dinner<br />
at Ruth’s Chris.<br />
Jacksonville would benefit greatly from a cluster of restaurants and<br />
bars located together within a two- or three-block radius. Restaurants<br />
meshed with retail shops also help to keep visitors moving along<br />
a corridor. A 30-foot area without retail can cause a visitor to turn<br />
around.<br />
And those hot pockets need pathways to hopscotch between<br />
them — a dose of connectivity. Recently I experienced this as I was<br />
escorting an out-of-town guest for a weeknight happy hour after dark.<br />
As we migrated from Cowford Chophouse to Bellwether, my guest<br />
mentioned how abandoned and ‘scary’ it seemed. “Shouldn’t we just<br />
drive?” she implored.<br />
As we crossed Main Street at Bay, I explained that it would be<br />
okay to walk but quickly saw her point as we dissolved into dimly lit<br />
streets hugged by echo-y parking deck after parking deck devoid of<br />
street-level activity. All of this while encountering an unsavory character<br />
asking for handouts along the way.<br />
All of this to say: We can do better, and need more to fill the many<br />
gaps.<br />
Where we are<br />
doing okay:<br />
These three syndromes aren’t all consuming of the body<br />
Downtown. The area has notched several victories that should be<br />
acknowledged.<br />
Over the past 10 years, we’ve seen a dilapidated, vacant building<br />
at Ocean and Bay transform brick-by-brick into a three-story<br />
fine-dining experience in Cowford Chophouse. Offering one floor<br />
with white tablecloth service, another with a more casual bar, plus<br />
a rooftop bar with the full menu, Cowford has been a welcome<br />
addition to the Downtown dining landscape.<br />
Nearby Bellwether, the fourth installment from popular local<br />
restaurateur Jonathan Insetta, opened in the 100 North Laura<br />
building in spring 2017. Sister restaurants, Restaurant Orsay in<br />
Avondale and Black Sheep in Five Points, are consistently two of<br />
Jacksonville’s best. (Former Insetta darling, Chew, was nearby for<br />
five years on Adams Street and houses Kazu Sushi Burrito these<br />
days.) Bellwether offers lunch on weekdays — with an order, pay<br />
and sit, or full-service option — and dinner and full bar Wednesday<br />
through Saturday with a limited Tuesday menu. A walk-up<br />
counter serving local Bold Bean coffee is a little-advertised option<br />
for caffeine seekers.<br />
Nola MOCA inside the Museum of Contemporary Art is a<br />
gorgeous weekday respite from the office for lunch with its massive<br />
windows and natural light. The menu is diverse and portions generous.<br />
Dinner service is sadly limited to Thursday.<br />
Morton’s The Steakhouse relocated from the Southbank to the<br />
ground floor of the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront Hotel,<br />
but that’s off the beaten path for those wanting to grab dinner and<br />
then head out to most other venues.<br />
Gili’s Kitchen, occupying the former Adams Street Deli, is a<br />
gem. It has quickly become my go-to lunch option. Its chef-driven<br />
items are made fresh and the menu accommodates kosher, gluten-free,<br />
vegetarian and vegan diners easily. It is the only restaurant<br />
on the block open until 8 p.m. for dinner.<br />
Nearby Zodiac Grill offers an affordable, expansive Mediterranean<br />
lunch buffet. Other casual lunch options include Olio, Spliff’s<br />
Gastropub, Akel’s Deli, The Happy Grilled Cheese, Magnificat<br />
Café, Super Food and Brew, Chamblin’s Uptown café, TossGreen,<br />
Desert Rider Café and Urban Grind. There’s also Burrito Gallery,<br />
90<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
which in my opinion has gone downhill<br />
over the years, and old standby Indochine<br />
upstairs for good sit-down Thai cuisine.<br />
Where we can<br />
DO BETTER:<br />
With the Florida Theatre, Times-<br />
Union Center for the Performing Arts<br />
and Daily’s Place bringing more acts<br />
Downtown, eateries have followed, but we<br />
still seem to be pressed for variety:<br />
The urban core continues to miss out<br />
on barbecue, a staple in most every other<br />
far-flung corner of Duuuval. Longtime<br />
fixture Jenkins Quality Barbecue is on the<br />
edge of Downtown, but not walkable or<br />
near anything else.<br />
Soul food is absent, as is sushi. We have<br />
fast-casual Kazu Sushi Burrito, which is<br />
sometimes crowded at lunch, but barren<br />
after 5. Outside of that, there is not a<br />
Japanese or sushi restaurant in the core<br />
otherwise.<br />
There’s no French restaurant that serves<br />
dinner, and we aren’t even blessed with a<br />
bakery of any sort.<br />
Homemade pasta and sit-down Italian<br />
are non-existent dinner options. Casual<br />
spot, Chicago Pizza, at the Jacksonville<br />
Landing recently closed after nearly 10<br />
years in business. Casa Dora is open<br />
most evenings but isn’t a Downtown<br />
destination — it’s more of a simple, quick<br />
solution to dinner before a Florida Theatre<br />
show. Longtime full-service Downtown<br />
Italian restaurant La Cena pulled out<br />
awhile back from Laura Street, relocating<br />
to a non-descript Murray Hill location.<br />
And oddly enough, often on the busiest<br />
of nights Downtown like One Spark and<br />
First Wednesday Art Walk, its owner would<br />
close the restaurant for the evening.<br />
Forget Indian food, unless you count<br />
award-winning mobile food truck Fusion,<br />
which only parks Downtown once or twice<br />
weekly for lunch.<br />
You can think of variety in terms of<br />
cuisine and its availability in the form of<br />
more evening and weekend hours. Restaurateurs<br />
will go there once round-the-clock<br />
activity attracts their hungry target market<br />
and makes it economically viable.<br />
There’s virtually no outdoor dining now<br />
that The Jacksonville Landing awaits its<br />
demise. The only true outdoor dining in<br />
the urban core is the rooftop at Cowford<br />
Chophouse and a series of umbrella-shaded<br />
picnic tables at the Court Urban Food<br />
Truck Park on Hogan Street. Honorable<br />
mentions go out to the hidden area at<br />
Urban Grind Coffee Shop, a few seats<br />
outside of Super Food and Brew, and a<br />
handful of outside tables at Bellwether,<br />
and Burrito Gallery’s small outdoor patio.<br />
For guests staying Downtown on weekends,<br />
walkable brunch options are beyond<br />
scarce. The Omni Jacksonville and Hyatt<br />
hotels own the Northbank market, short<br />
of hailing an Uber or rental car to nosh at<br />
hotspots in San Marco or Riverside. Even<br />
First Watch and bb’s are too far by foot,<br />
especially as the temperatures rise.<br />
Putting it all<br />
together<br />
While we have not yet made Downtown<br />
a dining destination, the ingredients may<br />
be lining up. Consider new residential<br />
units and national-flag hotels open and in<br />
the works, educational institutions UNF, JU<br />
and FSCJ growing their urban campuses,<br />
blooming adaptive reuse (The Barnett,<br />
Laura Street Trio) and ground-up (JEA)<br />
projects, a flourish in LaVilla and infusions<br />
of new workers (VyStar).<br />
All of these residents, workers, students,<br />
tourists and sports fans will need to eat<br />
somewhere.<br />
Once Downtown finds its swagger, its<br />
culinary pot of cool may start simmering.<br />
But a lot of people will need to take turns<br />
stirring.<br />
“I think residential population density<br />
is our bigger problem,” said Insetta. “Also<br />
getting guests to come Downtown when<br />
it’s a non-event night. We have seen steadier<br />
numbers at night on non-event nights,<br />
but we have some great restaurants Downtown<br />
and I would love to see Downtown<br />
busy at night. I think a student population<br />
or just more residents in general would be<br />
huge for Downtown.<br />
“We need vitality outside of business<br />
hours — we have an amazing Downtown<br />
and it just needs to be brought to life,” he<br />
added.<br />
Matthew Clark, a commercial real estate<br />
broker with Prime Realty, has helped<br />
usher businesses Downtown. “When I<br />
started in commercial real estate, I had a<br />
passion for Downtown Jacksonville retail.<br />
I quickly realized it was going to take more<br />
people Downtown to bring a retail vibe to<br />
fruition. Although we had some success<br />
over the past few years bringing retail to<br />
the core — Bellwether, Jimmy Johns,<br />
Wolf & Cub, TossGreen and Anytime<br />
Fitness to name a few — it will take a<br />
dense residential component to continue<br />
to move the initiative forward. Many retailers<br />
not only want to see a strong daytime<br />
population, but nighttime as well.”<br />
This is true for William Morgan, owner<br />
of Vagabond Coffee on Hogan Street,<br />
which initially got its start as a mobile unit<br />
in nearby Hemming Park. It has expansion<br />
plans Downtown for its locally roasted<br />
beans: Laura Street inside the Barnett<br />
Bank Building.<br />
“There is no other specialty coffee in<br />
the center city,” said Morgan. “We provide<br />
an option for people who enjoy a higher<br />
level of coffee and grab and go. We are<br />
beyond excited to be opening soon in<br />
the Barnett Bank Building, furthering our<br />
commitment to be in the heart of Jacksonville.”<br />
From mobile unit to a location in Murray<br />
Hill to Hogan Street and this new venture,<br />
Morgan notes, “It has been hard —<br />
really hard at times — and we are excited<br />
to continue to grow in Downtown, but we<br />
need the support of everyone Downtown.”<br />
When asked what’s missing from<br />
Downtown’s landscape, Morgan smiles<br />
and says, “I mean this in all love, but everything.<br />
There are very much the embers of a<br />
great awakening in Downtown Jax, but we<br />
need many, many more to join us in our<br />
pursuit of greatness for our city center.”<br />
Nearby local boutique Wolf & Club<br />
has been Downtown almost three years.<br />
Its success also hasn’t come without its<br />
struggles and hard work.<br />
Its owner, Emily Moody-Rosete, would<br />
love to see more retail and restaurants<br />
“take a risk” and move Downtown, but<br />
says, “Unfortunately there isn’t a lot to<br />
attract and encourage small businesses to<br />
open here, and that’s a big missed opportunity<br />
for the city.”<br />
She and husband Varick Rosete chose<br />
Downtown for the brick-and-mortar<br />
location of Wolf & Cub because they are<br />
passionate about helping contribute to<br />
building Downtown into “a vibrant district<br />
full of interesting shops, eateries and<br />
activities.”<br />
“Although underutilized and underappreciated,<br />
we really do have a beautiful<br />
Downtown,” she adds. “Even though there<br />
is still not as much to offer as other more<br />
established Jacksonville neighborhoods,<br />
Downtown should be proud of the quality<br />
of businesses, cultural institutions and<br />
public programming it does have.”<br />
Insetta agrees. “We see the potential in<br />
this city and also the importance of having<br />
a vibrant productive urban core,” he said.<br />
“It has such good bones and potential,<br />
and we would like to be a positive force for<br />
change for growth Downtown.”<br />
Caron Streibich works for Regency Centers and<br />
is a Florida Times-Union bi-weekly food writer. She lives<br />
on the Southbank.<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 91
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS<br />
By Mike Clark & Roger Brown<br />
A voice for<br />
Hemming<br />
‘Jacksonville residents deserve<br />
beautiful things, beautiful places’<br />
hristina Parrish Stone is managing director<br />
of Friends of Hemming Park, the<br />
C<br />
nonprofit contracted to manage Jacksonville’s<br />
most historic public space.<br />
She sees tremendous potential in Downtown Jacksonville,<br />
but has a clear view<br />
of its challenges. Having<br />
CHRISTINA<br />
PARRISH<br />
STONE<br />
WORK:<br />
Managing Director of<br />
Friends of Hemming Park.<br />
FROM:<br />
Chatham, N.J.<br />
LIVES IN:<br />
Springfield<br />
visited every state and<br />
about 40 foreign nations,<br />
she has images<br />
of successful<br />
town squares<br />
in mind. In<br />
the following<br />
interview,<br />
she speaks<br />
about what she<br />
believes are<br />
strengths, weaknesses<br />
and misconceptions about Downtown.<br />
She was interviewed by Times-Union<br />
Editorial Page Editor Mike Clark and Editorial<br />
Writer Roger Brown. Comments were edited for<br />
space and clarity.<br />
Parrish Stone was born in Atlanta. When<br />
she was young, her family moved to Chatham,<br />
N.J., while her father worked as an engineer for<br />
AT&T in Manhattan, primarily on the Longlines<br />
cable ship. Her mother was an artist, a writer and<br />
a musician. Her parents loved music, and as a<br />
result so did Parrish Stone, who studied piano from<br />
early childhood. She remembers the “wonderful school<br />
system” in New Jersey. She is passionate about public<br />
education and, in particular, arts education today.<br />
Parrish has vivid memories of driving into New York City<br />
with her father when the city was an exciting but sometimes<br />
uncomfortable place to visit. “We’d drive through the Holland<br />
WILL DICKEY<br />
92<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
70 PORTS<br />
23 STATES<br />
1 HOMETOWN<br />
CSX is proud to be part of a diverse and innovative business community.<br />
We’re working hard to make a difference in Jacksonville and beyond.
“This was<br />
about 1986.<br />
The Landing<br />
was the most<br />
exciting thing<br />
happening,<br />
but its<br />
development<br />
was badly<br />
timed.<br />
Downtown<br />
was more<br />
crowded then<br />
than it is<br />
now, at least<br />
in terms of<br />
traffic, but<br />
you could<br />
clearly see it<br />
was starting<br />
to die.<br />
Hemming<br />
was, frankly,<br />
awful.”<br />
Tunnel to have dinner in Chinatown; such an<br />
exotic experience for an elementary school<br />
student! But the city at that time had a lot of the<br />
same worries we have in Jacksonville: crumbling<br />
infrastructure, vacant storefronts, a large<br />
transient population, concerns about crime and<br />
safety. I remember Times Square when it was<br />
full of X-rated movie places; I was pick-pocketed<br />
at Bloomingdales. The transformation from then<br />
until now is incredible! New York has instituted<br />
a number of policies that could benefit Jacksonville<br />
— police officers on foot greeting tourists<br />
who now feel safe in a formerly scary place, for<br />
example.”<br />
Her father was overseas much of the time,<br />
visiting dozens of countries and sending postcards<br />
or bringing home treasures that inspired<br />
Parrish Stone’s lifelong love of travel and interest<br />
in tourism. The constant travel was exhausting;<br />
he changed gears and returned to Atlanta and<br />
Georgia Tech to earn a Ph.D., eventually becoming<br />
a professor at Georgia Southern University.<br />
“He later became dean of the business school<br />
at Savannah State College, an historically black<br />
college. Most of his students and colleagues,<br />
many who became close family friends, were<br />
people of color. This was in the very early 1980s,<br />
and it was an experience that changed me in<br />
a lot of positive ways and opened my eyes to<br />
some of the issues we are exploring more closely<br />
today, like institutional racism and respect for<br />
cultural differences.”<br />
For a variety of reasons, at the age of 16 she<br />
left home to be on her own. She worked three<br />
jobs during her last year of high school, serving<br />
as a cashier at Winn-Dixie, a clerk at a local<br />
insurance company and a bookkeeper for a<br />
downtown hardware store that was adjacent to<br />
a central city park similar in many ways to Hemming.<br />
She earned her undergraduate degree at<br />
Georgia Southern and, at the age of 19, moved to<br />
Savannah and worked there for Savannah Bank<br />
and Trust.<br />
“Savannah was sleepier than it is now, but it<br />
was a wonderful city to live in, beautiful, celebrating<br />
its architecture and history, with just the<br />
right amount of tourism. It wasn’t too crowded<br />
but thanks to all of the visitors, there were great<br />
restaurants and other attractions. Savannah took<br />
care of its downtown spaces. As a brand new<br />
banker, I couldn’t afford a space in a parking<br />
garage, so I parked more than a mile from my<br />
office, and every morning and afternoon I had<br />
the privilege of walking through Savannah’s<br />
beautiful city squares. Hemming Park reminds<br />
me a lot of those spaces.”<br />
“It’s part of what drives me today, my memories<br />
of those daily walks through those gorgeous<br />
little parks.”<br />
When First Union took over Savannah Bank<br />
and Trust, Parrish had an opportunity to move<br />
to Jacksonville with what felt like a big promotion<br />
and the possibility of an exciting new<br />
adventure in a big city in her early 20s.<br />
Moving HERE when<br />
the Landing was hot<br />
“I thought I was moving on up from a small<br />
town to a big city, and in terms of sheer size and<br />
overall population, that was true, but it was the<br />
opposite in terms of the experiences you could<br />
have in Jacksonville at the time. The places to go<br />
out to eat and enjoy activities appealing to a single<br />
20-something professional were very limited.<br />
I soon felt I had made a terrible mistake.<br />
“This was about 1986. The Landing was the<br />
most exciting thing happening but its development<br />
was badly timed. Downtown was more<br />
crowded then than it is now, at least in terms of<br />
traffic, but you could clearly see it was starting to<br />
die. Hemming was, frankly, awful. The beautiful<br />
St. James Building was a mess, still occupied by<br />
May Cohens but with no merchandise someone<br />
my age would want to buy. There were still a few<br />
great hole-in-the wall restaurants, and some<br />
interesting long-time businesses were still hanging<br />
on. But almost immediately after I arrived<br />
in Jacksonville, the decline of Downtown began<br />
to accelerate. Banks and insurance companies<br />
were consolidating and moving employees to<br />
Southpoint, or to other cities. At the same time,<br />
scores of beautiful historic buildings were being<br />
demolished and replaced by soon-to-be-unnecessary<br />
parking lots and garages, thanks to the<br />
concurrent loss of jobs Downtown.”<br />
“When the city began demolishing LaVilla, I<br />
don’t remember a significant amount of concern<br />
expressed about the destruction of this incredible<br />
historic neighborhood, a neighborhood that<br />
should have been celebrated, protected and leveraged<br />
to bring visitors to the city. The envisioned<br />
redevelopment — office towers lining the streets<br />
from I-95 to the center city — of course never<br />
happened, thanks to the real estate Downturn<br />
and flight to the suburbs. That period is a truly<br />
tragic part of our history.”<br />
From banking to law<br />
“During the real estate crisis of the late 1980s,<br />
I worked with a lot of attorneys, an experience<br />
that led me to law school at the University of Florida.<br />
I loved all of the classes and seminars related<br />
to property — land use, historic preservation.<br />
After graduation I spent a year at the State Attorney’s<br />
Office because I thought trial experience<br />
would be good for me; I was a terrible trial lawyer<br />
thanks to a tremendous fear of public speaking,<br />
but the things I learned and the relationships I<br />
developed there have been invaluable. I went to<br />
work as a real estate and bond lawyer at Foley &<br />
Lardner, and later worked for a residential developer<br />
and for Rayonier.”<br />
With four children, divorced and a single<br />
mom, she left Rayonier and started her own<br />
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J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
law firm in Springfield. She fell in love with that<br />
neighborhood and its potential, first working as<br />
a volunteer on community projects ranging from<br />
the Hogans Creek Greenway to the Springfield<br />
Disc Golf Course and finally as a founder of<br />
Jacksonville PorchFest. She chaired the steering<br />
committee that brought Groundwork to Jacksonville<br />
and eventually became a part-time executive<br />
director for Springfield Preservation. She served<br />
on the Historical Society board, where she got to<br />
know historian Wayne Wood.<br />
That led to her involvement with Hemming<br />
Park.<br />
Friends of Hemming’s<br />
rocky early years<br />
“Selecting a nonprofit to manage Hemming<br />
Park was absolutely the right solution for the<br />
challenges the city was facing there six years ago,<br />
and the group of people who founded and staffed<br />
Friends of Hemming Park had brilliant ideas and<br />
did amazing things to change the atmosphere<br />
and create a buzz about Downtown. In retrospect,<br />
I think we all would agree that the contract<br />
with the city in some ways forced that group to<br />
focus too much on big events and not enough on<br />
some of the critical challenges facing the park.<br />
Security was not a priority, and goals were related<br />
to the number of visitors and number of events<br />
and not so much on making the park a place that<br />
is attractive and comfortable and safe for the<br />
general public seven days a week. The Friends<br />
of Hemming Park hosted fabulous events, which<br />
I regularly attended, and the park would look<br />
great because it was full of people and activity,<br />
but during the week the long-time problems<br />
with illegal and nuisance activity, inadequate<br />
maintenance, outdated furnishings and facilities<br />
continued.”<br />
“That led to the well-publicized problems with<br />
the city. City Council members and the mayoral<br />
administration saw a park that still had significant<br />
issues related to crime and maintenance. There<br />
was a feeling that business people, visitors and<br />
families were only comfortable in the park during<br />
the big events. Council members began questioning<br />
how funds were being spent. The future did<br />
not look bright for the park or the nonprofit that<br />
managed it.”<br />
Righting the ship<br />
“Bill Prescott and the rest of the board of directors<br />
saved Friends of Hemming Park. Bill transitioned<br />
from the board to an unpaid position as<br />
CEO, and he preserved funding (at a significantly<br />
reduced but adequate level), negotiated contract<br />
changes and oversaw the addition of security<br />
and improvements to the ambassador program.<br />
Perhaps most importantly, he reestablished trust<br />
with the city administration. Bill continues to<br />
work hard for the organization as board chair.<br />
Damien Robinson, the only staff member who<br />
“By the time<br />
I arrived (as<br />
the managing<br />
director of<br />
Friends of<br />
Hemming<br />
Park),<br />
the hardest<br />
work had<br />
been done.<br />
I was able<br />
to focus on<br />
events and<br />
programming.<br />
I started with<br />
two things<br />
that were<br />
easy for me:<br />
an expanded<br />
lineup of<br />
musicians<br />
and food<br />
trucks.”<br />
has been with the organization almost from the<br />
beginning, was a big part of the progress made in<br />
the past couple of years. The staff and board did<br />
a great job of managing a difficult process, and of<br />
making changes that were sometimes criticized.<br />
The current administration has been supportive<br />
as well, and I think that relationship will continue<br />
to improve. The nonprofit and the city won’t<br />
always agree on actions that need to be taken, but<br />
I think we’ve achieved a good balance.<br />
“I had the good fortune to join the group<br />
after security was established and other changes<br />
— some that I didn’t understand at the time<br />
— had been made. I was one of the people who<br />
questioned the removal of seating and wondered<br />
what was wrong with allowing people to sit on the<br />
edge of the fountains and other ledges. You really<br />
have to be in the park every day to understand<br />
why those steps were necessary. The change to<br />
movable seating has been extremely helpful in<br />
connection with events and to make adjustments<br />
to accommodate the wide variety of visitors to<br />
the park. With the moveable seating, we can<br />
host large concerts or more intimate gatherings<br />
(sometimes both at the same time). We can try<br />
to accommodate smokers in an area that doesn’t<br />
interfere with others’ enjoyment of our dining<br />
areas or the kids zone. The fountains weren’t<br />
designed for people sitting on the edges; we are<br />
still working to repair damage to the tile. We do<br />
hope to add permanent seating in portions of the<br />
park soon.<br />
“By the time I arrived, the hardest work had<br />
been done. I was able to focus on events and<br />
programming. I started with two things that were<br />
easy for me: an expanded lineup of musicians and<br />
food trucks. I love good food, and I used to own a<br />
music store, booked bands and know a lot of musicians<br />
and vendors because of that experience<br />
and four years of organizing Jacksonville Porch-<br />
Fest. Big events were more challenging — there<br />
had been no full-time programming staff for quite<br />
a while when I arrived, so not even one event was<br />
on the calendar for the next year. The great thing<br />
about that was that I could, within the limits of<br />
our contract, experiment with a lot of different<br />
things. I wanted events that were inclusive and<br />
celebrated Jacksonville’s history and the culture of<br />
this diverse city.<br />
“We started with a Hanukkah party after a<br />
friend told me how much she missed the public<br />
menorah lighting and celebration she had attended<br />
every year in Boston. We added events for<br />
Black History Month, Women’s History Month,<br />
a Hispanic Heritage celebration and a Bluegrass,<br />
Beer and Barbecue festival. Our Fall and Spring<br />
Family Days have been a huge hit (complete<br />
with a Parks and Rec-inspired miniature horse),<br />
and we just finished a full month of activities to<br />
celebrate National Poetry Month, thanks to a<br />
partnership with nonprofits Hope at Hand and<br />
the Performers Academy. The closing celebration<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 95
was phenomenal, and it was wonderful to see<br />
how strongly people are impacted by the written<br />
and spoken word.<br />
“We’ve really<br />
gotten to a<br />
good place,<br />
but we still<br />
have much<br />
work to do<br />
to change<br />
perceptions.<br />
There<br />
are many<br />
people who<br />
still think<br />
Downtown<br />
and Hemming<br />
Park are<br />
dangerous,<br />
that there is<br />
nothing to do,<br />
nothing to see<br />
or no parking,<br />
which is<br />
absolutely<br />
not true.”<br />
Plans for the future<br />
“We continue to work to make the park more<br />
beautiful. That’s very important to me; Hemming<br />
Park should be a place that is visually appealing to<br />
all of our visitors. We are the front door to City Hall,<br />
to treasures like MOCA and our magnificent Main<br />
Library. It’s challenging — our design dates back<br />
almost 50 years, and the park is due for more than<br />
a facelift. It’s time to focus on that, with the help<br />
of well qualified experts in landscape architecture<br />
and park design. I hope that before I leave this<br />
position the city government will approve funding<br />
that will allow us to make Hemming Park the<br />
world-class space that it should be. We need input<br />
from people much more skilled than I am. What<br />
elements should this park include? What events<br />
and activities should we focus on? We constantly<br />
hear from people who advocate primarily for more<br />
grass; I was one of those people two years ago, but<br />
now I’m not so sure. We need more green in the<br />
park, but most successful small city squares are<br />
paved, and for a good reason. City squares should<br />
be active places, and grass is hard to maintain.<br />
The Confederate memorial is a continuing topic of<br />
conversation that needs to be addressed but that<br />
will not easily be resolved. The ultimate decisions<br />
about that rest with City Council and the Mayor’s<br />
Office.<br />
“Until we find the funding for a major park<br />
restoration, we work hard with what we have.<br />
When I started in late 2017, all the small beds<br />
were empty, just dirt, and the city had no money<br />
set aside for landscaping. I asked businesses<br />
to become beautification sponsors so we could<br />
plant flowers. That small change has made a huge<br />
difference, and this year the city has been able to<br />
fund some additional landscape improvements.<br />
We have done several public art projects, including<br />
a hands-on mosaic project with Roux Art during<br />
last year’s Public Art Week. Next up is a significant<br />
sculpture project with UNF that will be unveiled<br />
in June and provides several UNF students an<br />
opportunity to navigate the public art process and<br />
create a large-scale sculpture, funded by Hemming<br />
Park, that the students will own but will exhibit in<br />
the park for a year.<br />
“We continue to add weekday and weekend<br />
programming. This year we started our Hemming<br />
Park Walking Club, which provides a free onehour<br />
walking tour at 11:30 on Tuesdays. Every<br />
week we visit a different part of Downtown Jacksonville<br />
that has historical significance or features<br />
public art. We’ve visited the Clara White museum,<br />
St. John’s Cathedral, the Morocco Temple, the Florida<br />
Theatre and about a dozen other Downtown<br />
spaces. We have at least 15 to 20 people who join<br />
us regularly for these walks. We added yoga classes<br />
on Sundays and a growing market, featuring produce<br />
from Berry Good Farms, on the first, third<br />
and fifth Tuesday of each month. These activities<br />
are getting a tremendous positive response.<br />
“Our staff is tiny, so we rely on partnerships<br />
to do bigger events. We’re engaging with the<br />
wonderful institutions located around the park;<br />
we meet with the Library, MOCA and other<br />
downtown stakeholders frequently to align our<br />
programming so that we can leverage our resources.<br />
We have found that, when we co-produce<br />
or coordinate events, we have better attendance.<br />
Families can visit Downtown and find enough<br />
activities to entertain them for an entire day.<br />
“We’ve really gotten to a good place, but we<br />
still have much work to do to change perceptions.<br />
There are many people who still think Downtown<br />
and Hemming Park are dangerous, that there<br />
is nothing to do, nothing to see or no parking,<br />
which is absolutely not true. I can’t remember the<br />
last time we had an incident in the park that was<br />
particularly challenging from a safety perspective.<br />
We have private security in the park from sun up<br />
to sun down, seven days a week. We have programming<br />
seven days a week and are surrounded<br />
by interesting places. If you come to Hemming<br />
Park, you can cross one street and gain access to a<br />
world-class art museum, MOCA. You can admire<br />
the incredible architecture of Henry Klutho’s St.<br />
James Building, and visit one of the coolest candy<br />
stores in the United States at Sweet Pete’s. MOSH<br />
is a short Skyway ride away and the Main Library,<br />
with its maker space and outstanding Florida collection,<br />
is next door. It’s safe, it’s fun, and yes, it’s<br />
pretty! And there is plenty of parking Downtown<br />
— the library garage is one block away.<br />
Emphasizing the positive<br />
“I’m working at Hemming Park because I care<br />
deeply about Downtown Jacksonville and how<br />
Jacksonville is perceived by people from other<br />
places. I see the tremendous potential in Jacksonville.<br />
But I’m often frustrated. Somehow, in<br />
spite of the efforts and good intentions of many,<br />
we’ve done a really poor job of sharing all the good<br />
things we have here with the rest of the world.<br />
People don’t know about our history. They don’t<br />
know about our natural and other assets.<br />
“Our walking tours illustrate that. We have participants<br />
who are visitors from other cities, other<br />
countries, but also from other parts of Jacksonville.<br />
Many had never been to MOCA before our<br />
tour. They had never seen the Main Library’s map<br />
collection; they had never been to a show at the<br />
Florida Theatre. They had concerns about safety<br />
or parking, but now, after walking with us twice a<br />
week for the past four months, they’ve changed<br />
their opinions. We need to create more of these<br />
experiences for visitors.<br />
“We should brand and promote our original,<br />
historic Downtown. If you’re driving north on I-95,<br />
the only sign that points you to Downtown says<br />
‘Jacksonville Landing.’ The Landing will be gone<br />
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J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
soon. Why not promote our ‘Downtown Historic<br />
District’?<br />
“Let’s start talking about the positive things that<br />
are already here and talk less about what we don’t<br />
have Downtown; let’s change the conversation.<br />
“When I first moved to Springfield, I fell in love<br />
with Klutho Park and its potential. Klutho Park<br />
needs a lot of work, but it is still beautiful. I would<br />
invite practically everyone I met to visit the park<br />
with me, and every single person who accepted<br />
could immediately see what a tremendous asset<br />
we have, neglected but amazing. Groundwork<br />
Jacksonville is changing perceptions about Klutho<br />
and Hogans Creek. People were afraid to go to<br />
Springfield when I moved there in 2010. Residents<br />
of Springfield worked hard to organize events and<br />
change the conversation. Now the neighborhood<br />
is booming.<br />
“Downtown is already awesome in so many<br />
ways. We need to celebrate what we’ve got, change<br />
our messaging.<br />
Three secrets to<br />
Downtown success<br />
“We need to change perceptions about parking,<br />
safety and the transient population.<br />
“I want Downtown — not just Hemming<br />
Park — to become a destination for Jacksonville<br />
residents and visitors to the city. Parking is the<br />
No. 1 one concern of many of our visitors. Let’s<br />
make parking easier for them and expand the use<br />
of public transportation. I’m excited about a new<br />
partnership we’ve developed with JTA: Through<br />
the end of this year, the skyway will run on one<br />
Saturday every month, a Saturday when several<br />
events are happening at Hemming and with our<br />
partners. We hope to activate the Skyway stations<br />
and platforms, and create a really wonderful experience<br />
for riders. It will be possible to park at a JTA<br />
lot and spend the entire day visiting Downtown<br />
attractions in a fun, family friendly way with minimal<br />
stress. We hope this will be so successful that<br />
JTA will continue and expand the program next<br />
year. Let’s start building ridership now. Let’s make<br />
Downtown Jacksonville a seven-day-a-week place.<br />
“Downtown is one of the safest parts of Jacksonville,<br />
but visitors don’t feel that way. JSO needs<br />
to do what New York did with police officers, on<br />
foot, interacting in a positive way with visitors 24/7<br />
in locations around Downtown. It would be well<br />
worth the investment.<br />
“Like most urban areas, we have a Downtown<br />
homeless population. The city has started providing<br />
additional resources to assist that homeless<br />
population, which is fantastic. The Urban Rest<br />
Stop is a huge step in the right direction. Meanwhile,<br />
one change that could help perceptions<br />
about the size of the homeless population is a<br />
change in hours for the Main Library. The library<br />
provides significant resources for residents,<br />
including much needed access to computers.<br />
Because the opening hours vary from day to day,<br />
“Downtown<br />
is one of the<br />
safest parts of<br />
Jacksonville,<br />
but visitors<br />
don’t feel<br />
that way.<br />
JSO needs<br />
to do what<br />
New York did<br />
with police<br />
officers,<br />
on foot,<br />
interacting<br />
in a positive<br />
way with<br />
visitors 24/7<br />
in locations<br />
around<br />
Downtown.<br />
It would<br />
be well<br />
worth the<br />
investment.”<br />
we end up with a large group of people waiting<br />
to access the library in the mornings, sometimes<br />
sitting outside for several hours. A consistent 9<br />
a.m. opening time would help everyone. I am not<br />
suggesting that the library should take the place<br />
of an appropriately sized resource center, but<br />
until that exists this is a relatively simple change<br />
that, if funded, could improve perceptions about<br />
Downtown.<br />
If she were in charge<br />
of all of Downtown<br />
“Since I am never going to run for political<br />
office, I can say this: We need a dedicated funding<br />
source for parks and historic preservation, and<br />
that means new taxes. It is unacceptable that<br />
architectural treasures like Snyder Memorial<br />
Church and the Armory are crumbling. These<br />
places played a significant role in our city’s<br />
history. Both of those buildings are going to be<br />
challenging to renovate, and I think we need to<br />
stop waiting for a private company to bail us out<br />
on those. Let’s do the work that needs to be done<br />
to save them now, before it’s too late. We have<br />
an incredible parks system, one of the largest by<br />
acreage in the country. And it’s a tragedy that our<br />
per-capita spending on our parks is one of the<br />
lowest in the country. Our parks department does<br />
a lot with what they have, but they need funding<br />
to activate and maintain those parks. They need<br />
additional staff. Jacksonville residents deserve<br />
beautiful things, beautiful places.<br />
”Why do — or should — people want to visit<br />
Jacksonville? We focus too much on sports and<br />
not on our other assets. I’m a huge sports fan,<br />
and I travel to see sporting events. But when I<br />
compare cities to decide which one I want to visit<br />
to see my team play, or attend a golf tournament,<br />
I look for other interesting activities. I want to<br />
learn about a place’s history and see historic<br />
sights, experience art and culture. I want to<br />
participate in outdoor activities myself, not just<br />
watch others compete.<br />
“Let’s preserve our history and share it with<br />
the rest of the world. Let’s leverage our resources<br />
and improve and program our parks. Improve<br />
quality of life for the people who already live here<br />
and provide an irresistible vacation opportunity<br />
for those who don’t. We don’t need to wait until<br />
Downtown has 10,000 residents — if we showcase<br />
our existing assets and overcome negative<br />
perceptions, the residents and visitors will come.<br />
It may not always be easier here, but some of the<br />
solutions are not that hard.<br />
Mike Clark has been a reporter and editor<br />
for The Florida Times-Union and its predecessors<br />
since 1973 and editorial page editor since 2005.<br />
He lives in Nocatee.<br />
Roger Brown is a Times-Union editorial<br />
writer and member of the editorial board.<br />
He lives Downtown.<br />
SUMMER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 97
THE FINAL WORD<br />
A case for saving<br />
our Downtown’s<br />
historic buildings<br />
WAYNE<br />
WOOD<br />
EMAIL<br />
wayne@<br />
jaxhistory.com<br />
n May 3, 1901, most of Downtown<br />
O Jacksonville was destroyed by one of<br />
the greatest urban fires in American<br />
history. The rebuilding of the city was remarkable,<br />
not only for the speed of its recovery,<br />
but also because of the quality of buildings<br />
that were constructed in the new Jacksonville.<br />
Architects and investors came from across the<br />
country to claim a piece of the renaissance.<br />
The latest architectural styles and the newest<br />
construction techniques made this one of the<br />
most modern mid-size cities in the nation.<br />
Probably as much as 75 percent of those new<br />
buildings constructed following the Great Fire have<br />
now been demolished. In a few cases, they have been<br />
replaced with outstanding modern buildings, but sadly,<br />
in most cases they have been replaced with parking lots<br />
and garages, as well as bland commercial buildings that<br />
contribute nothing of beauty. This makes the preservation<br />
of those surviving Downtown historic landmarks<br />
all the more important.<br />
In trying to create a vibrant and viable Downtown<br />
for the future, there is much we can learn from these<br />
remaining old buildings in our urban core:<br />
Most of them are beautiful. There are architectural<br />
details on the first floors that are inviting and respect<br />
the human scale. They interact with passersby at the<br />
pedestrian level. Their entrances are clearly delineated,<br />
often by breaking the plane of the façade, and are<br />
embellished with ornamentation. These early commercial<br />
buildings reflected the quality and pride of their<br />
owners.<br />
They were distinctive but interconnected. In the<br />
heyday of Downtown, each block was filled with a<br />
continuous row of businesses. The activity in one<br />
enhanced the vibrance of the next. People don’t like to<br />
walk past empty lots and vacant structures. Streets lined<br />
with buildings that have uninterrupted walls (like the<br />
Monroe Street side of our Downtown Main Library) are<br />
foreboding and unfriendly. A thriving Downtown must<br />
be pedestrian-friendly, safe and welcoming.<br />
Our vintage buildings give us sense of place and<br />
historic identity. They connect us with our uniqueness<br />
as a city and make us stand apart from other dull metropolises.<br />
Early 20th century architects like Henry John<br />
Klutho gave Jacksonville the finest architecture of their<br />
time. We should value and preserve these treasures.<br />
Saving our historic buildings is not just an exercise<br />
in sentimentality — it makes economic sense. To allow<br />
many of these structures to remain empty or to demolish<br />
them is a waste of investments that have already<br />
been made, both financial and cultural.<br />
Look at the successful areas of Downtown where<br />
business is thriving and where people are gathering,<br />
and you will see concentrations of historic buildings.<br />
Look at the major construction activity Downtown<br />
today, and you will see historic buildings being restored<br />
and preserved, with a dozen significant projects recently<br />
completed or currently underway.<br />
The big news here is that there are amazing financial<br />
incentives to restore and preserve our landmark structures.<br />
The majority of the Downtown core has recently<br />
been listed in the National Register of Historic Places as<br />
a certified historic district. Renovation of contributing<br />
structures within this district is eligible for 20 percent<br />
federal income tax credits. That is a significant incentive<br />
to investment! These buildings are also eligible for<br />
local ad valorem tax deductions. And finally, there is<br />
a Downtown Historic Preservation and Revitalization<br />
Trust Fund that is available for qualified projects. (For<br />
more information, contact the Jacksonville Historic<br />
Preservation Commission at 904-255-7800.)<br />
Our historic structures also teach us another important<br />
lesson. Every new building that we build in our<br />
Downtown should be beautiful and should be the finest<br />
architecture of our time. The buildings of our future will<br />
tell as much about this city as those historic buildings<br />
that we preserve. When spaces for new construction<br />
come available (such as that of the recently demolished<br />
city hall and courthouse, as well as the potential<br />
removal of the Landing), we must fill those voids with<br />
great buildings, which will become iconic symbols of<br />
our magnificent river city to the world.<br />
These new buildings don’t necessarily have to be<br />
stunning architectural landmarks like the Sydney Opera<br />
House ... but on the other hand, WHY NOT?<br />
Optometrist Wayne Wood is the author of numerous<br />
books on Jacksonville, including Jacksonville’s Architectural<br />
Heritage: Landmarks for the Future. He is also the founder of<br />
Riverside Avondale Preservation and the Riverside Arts Market.<br />
He lives in Riverside.<br />
99<br />
J MAGAZINE | SUMMER <strong>2019</strong>
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