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Economic Trends: Jacksonville homebuyers pay a waterfront premium
July 19-25, 2018
PAGE 3
jaxdailyrecord.com
JACKSONVILLE
Record & Observer Downtown hotel boom looming JACKSONVILLE
Record & Observer At least 700 more rooms might check in on the Northbank and Southbank.
JACKSONVILLE
Record & Observer Courtyard by Marriott Downtown
AC Hotel by Marriott
Hotel Indigo Downtown
Address: Adams and Forsyth streets Rooms: 145 Developer: SouthEast Development Group Project start date: 2019
Address: 801 Broadcast Place Rooms: 200 Developer: Elements Development of Jacksonville LLC Project start date: N/A
Address: 100 W. Bay St. Rooms: 89 Developer: Profit Investment Management LLC Project start date: Summer 2018
Residence Inn by Marriott Brooklyn
Ambassador Hotel
Berkman Plaza II
Address: 404 Julia St. Rooms: 100 Developer: Augustine Development Group Project start date: Fall 2018
Address: 500 E. Bay St. Rooms: N/A Developer: N/A Project start date: N/A
JACKSONVILLE
Record & Observer
Address: Oak, Magnolia, Dora and Forest streets Rooms: 135 Developer: Baywood Hotels Inc. Project start date: Fall 2018/spring 2019
BY DAVID CAWTON STAFF WRITER
S
everal proposed projects could bring at least 700 new hotel rooms to Downtown Jacksonville. “There’s a lot of exuberance there,” said Aundra Wallace, CEO of the Downtown Investment Authority. Those would join the almost
2,400 rooms among eight hotels that already operate Downtown on the Northbank and Southbank of the St. Johns River. Wallace said Downtown needs more hotel rooms and space for large groups, business travelers and tourists. He reacted to recent announcements that signal a change in Downtown’s lodging landscape that includes a plan to transform
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the unfinished, vacant Berkman Plaza II into a hotel. An undisclosed developer purchased the blighted, half-built condominium property Monday with plans to make it a hotel with riverfront entertainment space, according to Mayor Lenny Curry. “I’m glad they finally closed,” Wallace said. Wallace declined to identify the buyer but said he was “look-
ing forward to sitting down and working out the details of their plans.” It’s the first sign of movement for the unfinished structure since Choate Construction Co. acquired the property in 2014. The Berkman Plaza II was designed as a 23-story, 222-unit condominium. Construction stopped at 18 floors in 2007 following the collapse of an adjacent
parking garage. As of Wednesday afternoon, the buyer had not recorded the deed with the Duval County Clerk of Courts. Choate representatives did not respond to calls and emails. The Berkman Plaza II is one of several hotel projects Downtown. Augustine Development Group SEE HOTELS, PAGE 10
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