THURSDAY June 21-27, 2018
Mathis Report: Their business wants to ‘float away’ your stress PAGE 4
jaxdailyrecord.com • 35 cents
Public
legal notices begin on page 1B
Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
Curry’s Northbank focus
Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
With The District on the Southbank moving forward, projects along the St. Johns River Northbank from the Jacksonville Landing to TIAA Bank Field are moving to the redevelopment forefront. FOUR NORTHBANK PROJECTS
Daily Record Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
JACKSONVILLE
The Landing
Berkman Plaza II
New convention center
Developing Lot J
Last Thursday, Mayor Lenny Curry’s team unveiled to the Daily Record an early concept to replace the Downtown riverfront Jacksonville Landing with a large urban park and private development toward the back of the property. Curry called the concept “the beginning of the discussion.” He said he’s confident city attorneys will prevail in two pending lawsuits against the Landing’s operators.
The Berkman Plaza II project along East Bay Street remains unfinished a decade after construction came to a halt. Curry said the “eyesore” and “blemish to Downtown” is close to being redeveloped. He said the city has advised the owner, Choate Construction Co., that the city is prepared to act, “whatever that looks like,” if a deal is not reached soon.
Environmental Holdings Group LLC scored the highest among the Request for Proposal bids unsealed Wednesday for the demolition of the old City Hall and courthouse annex buildings along East Bay Street. Curry said those bids, along with another RFP for both demolition and redevelopment, coming due in August show a “sense of urgency” by his team. “We have options,” he said. Curry said his team will go with whatever option can result in action the fastest.
In April, the Jacksonville Jaguars showcased plans to develop the parking lots on the west side of TIAA Bank Field, as the first phase of a larger $2.5 billion project to activate the Northbank. Curry disagrees with criticism that building an entertainment complex near the stadium rather than the urban core will dilute Downtown redevelopment. “People that are big believers will experience the entirety of downtown as it catches fire,” Curry said.
BY DAVID CAWTON STAFF WRITER
A
s Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry heads into the final year of his first term in office, he says he’s firmly focused on turning around the Downtown Northbank. “It’s been three years since I’ve been in office,” he said. “Down-
town has been a focus, and we’ve taken significant bites out of the apple, but that’s not enough.” Curry spoke with Jacksonville Daily Record/Record & Observer reporters Wednesday about what he envisions for Downtown, specifically along the Northbank of the St. Johns River. Unlike the Southbank, with residential and office towers and ground-level retail and housing
development, the Northbank and urban core remain a challenge for new investment. Curry said he can spend more energy there now that reforms to the city pension system and children’s programs are behind him. “We finally have a budget that can handle not only our basic services but invest in projects because of the pension reforms,” he said.
Curry’s team wants to turn around the Jacksonville Landing, a landmark structure that opened 31 years ago and finds itself featured on postcards, TV shots and murals that depict Downtown. The riverfront mall is tangled in two lawsuits between the city, which owns the dirt underneath it, and the building’s owners, a Sleiman Enterprises company called Jacksonville Landing
Investments Inc. “The Landing is the front door. It’s our front porch, the entrée to the core of Downtown,” Curry said. “It’s been mismanaged.” Although both lawsuits began under his watch, Curry said Toney Sleiman’s companies battled with previous administrations since they purchased the buildings SEE CURRY, PAGE 10
Job market shows no signs of cooling Construction leading employment surge in Northeast Florida. PAGE 3 VOLUME 105, NO. 148 • TWO SECTIONS