Daily Record FINANCIAL NEWS &
TUESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2018
VOL. 105, NO. 032 • ONE SECTION
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
18 TRENDS TO FOLLOW, PEOPLE TO WATCH IN
2018
A
By the Daily Record Staff
lot happened in Northeast Florida in 2017. Long-awaited stores, like Ikea and Wawa, arrived. The St. Johns Town Center area continued to boom. Countless apartment communities were sold and started. Long-dormant projects, like
the Laura Street Trio and Barnett Bank Building, started moving. Amazon added thousands of jobs and CSX Corp. saw two changes in leadership. Now it’s time to look ahead at 18 trends and people that will shape the news for the next year:
Jacksonville Riverfront activity increases; Shipyards details due
Urban core development keeps moving; JEA ponders future
LaVilla’s resurgence continues with apartments, construction
Activity on Downtown Jacksonville’s riverfront will increase as major development projects break ground and access to the river improves. An economic development agreement for The District on the Southbank is expected to move through the Downtown Investment Authority and City Council in January ahead of a possible midto late 2018 groundbreaking. Meanwhile, more information and a term sheet for Shad Khan’s 70-acre Northbank Shipyards development is expected by spring. Vacant buildings along East Bay Street should be demolished ahead of projects, including the old City Hall and Courthouse Annex buildings. Berkman Plaza II remains an opportunity. Lawsuits may impede the Jacksonville Landing’s redevelopment, but adjacent property known as the Sister Cities Parcel is being considered for a new boutique hotel. Finally, City Council Member Lori Boyer expects to make headway on what she calls “riverfront nodes” on either side of the St. Johns River, providing public interactive river access.
Construction will continue at the longvacant Barnett Bank and Laura Street Trio Buildings Downtown. Developer Steve Atkins and partners took nearly a decade to get the $90 million historic redevelopment project going, securing $9.8 million in state and local incentives in 2017. Work continues at The Barnett, with the Trio construction set to commence in mid-2018. The Trio will become a Marriott-flagged hotel, restaurant and urban grocery store. A mix of retail, office and apartments is planned for The Barnett. Around the corner at 20 W. Adams St., Florida State College at Jacksonville should finish redeveloping the Lerner Building into dormitories and a ground floor restaurant for its culinary program. Meanwhile, JEA is seeking a new Downtown headquarters, specifically a site across from the Duval County Courthouse. A land swap with the city could mean the demolition of its existing 21 W. Church St. headquarters, built in 1962.
The LaVilla section of Downtown, near the Prime Osborn Convention Center and the Duval County Courthouse, will continue to be an urban construction and residential development story in 2018. On the residential side, the Vestcor Co.’s 130unit Lofts at LaVilla was completed late last year. It was fully leased when it opened and the nearby 108-unit Lofts at Monroe, also a Vestcor project, broke ground in November and is scheduled to be ready in 12 months. Also under construction is Houston Street Manor, 72 units of rental housing for seniors. On the commercial side, the Jacksonville Transportation Authority scheduled a ribbon cutting in March for the new Intercity Bus Terminal, the first phase of the $33 million Regional Transportation Center. Scheduled for completion in 2020, the final phase will comprise JTA administrative offices and a new local mass transit terminal.
1
PUBLIC
LEGAL NOTICES BEGIN ON PAGE
9
2
PUBLISHED
3
18
FOR
27,352
FOR
18
CONTINUED ON
PAGE 2
CONSECUTIVE BUSINESS DAYS