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Another Article of Kuhn's plans for downtown

bobliocatt

By bobliocatt
in Jacksonville

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bobliocatt City

bobliocatt

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This article has a little more information regarding Cameron Kuhn's plans for downtown. Some interesting news bits include:

1. The Dyal-Upchurch and Life of the South buildings on Bay Street are under contract

2. The Barnett's $16 million conversion into lofts and first-floor office condos will begin in two weeks.

3. Sales at the SunTrust Tower have been brisk. He made $17 million from office condo buyers the day he purchased the tower. Since then presales have bought in another $20 million in closing and another $30 million under contract.

4. He doesn't plan on asking for economic incentives, but hopes the city will cooperate with permitting.

5. He's been in discussions with city officials for 8 months.

6. He's also negotiating for property in Tampa, Charlotte, Nashville and Atlanta.

http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/jackso.../24/story3.html

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vicupstate Metropolitan Area

vicupstate

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I especially liked this quote from the article:

Kuhn has been well received largely because of his sensitivity to how a building's ground floor relates to the rest of a downtown and the unique and independent retail tenants he chooses, Billingsley said.

Understanding how his developments fit into Orlando's more than $2 billion downtown revival hasn't hurt Kuhn, either.

I wonder what he plans with Life of the South building. Will he just go condo with it, or tear it down and put in a high-rise?

He will soon own that entire block.

I do find it somewhat 'telling' that no one locally saw the potential of downtown to the degree that this guy did.

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RiversideGator Burg

RiversideGator

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Wow. He just bought SunTrust for $37 million and has already closed or has under contract condo sales of $50 million. $13 million is not a bad lick for owning the property for a few days. :)

My favorite quote from the article is this:

"Jacksonville is everything Orlando wants to be," Kuhn said. "It has the water, performing arts, a football team, a tremendous business base. And it's part of the trend of getting back to the urban core. I'm following that trend."

As for no one seeing the potential of downtown, some of us on here did. We just didnt have the money to do this. :lol:

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asonj23 Hamlet

asonj23

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2. The Barnett's $16 million conversion into lofts and first-floor office condos will begin in two weeks.
This is amazing. Within weeks of purchase the hard hats will at it. Wake up LandMar!!

3. Sales at the SunTrust Tower have been brisk. He made $17 million from office condo buyers the day he purchased the tower. Since then presales have bought in another $20 million in closing and another $30 million under contract.

This goes to show that the downtown office space market is underbuilt. Why have developers been focusing so much on the suburbs?? The cash cow is DT!! I'm glad Kuhn found it and is making a killing. Maybe this will awaken a buisness boom to match the residential boom downtown.

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Florida Megalopolis

Florida

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You people are speaking the God honest truth in this thread. Why do developers continue to follow the old 1960s trend of building out in suburbia!? What's more, how difficult is it to realize your downtown needs a little shake-me-up! I applaud this Kuhn for his willingness to gamble, and win.

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vicupstate Metropolitan Area

vicupstate

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By the way, I was surprised by the apparent sale of the Life Of The South Bldg also. I didnt realize it was for sale even. Are they (Life) planning on moving? Does Kuhn want to incorporate this into the 33 story highrise? Or does he just want to control the whole block? This is an interesting purchase.

I don't think it was for sale, nor the Dyal-Upchurch building either. Both were listed in the commercial real estate website site as "For Lease only". Of course, for the right price, ANYTHING is for sale. That is often how these mega-deep pocket guys operate.

The rendering of the new building clearly shows that the Life of the South building is not required to build it. Existing leases probably prevent him from doing anything with the LOTS bldg immediately anyway. Only about 10% of the LOTS bldg is vacant, per the website. The LOTS building might be a 'phase 2' to the Sun Trust purchase. Or maybe he just wants to control the entire block.

If there is so much money to be made in office condos, why didn't Capital Partners (the previous SUn Trust building owners) take the building condo themselves? They paid about half of what Kuhn paid for the building. I bet they are kicking themselves now.

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TheUrbanCore Whistle-Stop

TheUrbanCore

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If there is so much money to be made in office condos, why didn't Capital Partners (the previous SUn Trust building owners) take the building condo themselves? They paid about half of what Kuhn paid for the building. I bet they are kicking themselves now.

They are kicking themselves with piles of money. Bought for 14mil sold for 37 in a year and a half. Condos aren't their model. Humana, now there is someone kicking themselves. :sick:

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Captain Obvious Hamlet

Captain Obvious

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Nothing's really exciting about the Dyal-Upchurch or the Life of the South. Both buildings were already rehabbed and leased - so that's just a paper investment that won't create any physical changes.

However, the Barnett situation is truly amazing. After sitting in a holding pattern for years upon years, it's wonderful to see someone come in, buy it, and start rehab, all within a month!

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asonj23 Hamlet

asonj23

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The project, called River Watch at City Centre, is slated to begin December 2006 and will take 18 months to build. Kuhn has also bought the former Barnett Building at 112 W. Adams St. for $4.95 million and has plans to take immediate action. The upper floors of that building will have work/live lofts and the lower four floors will have office condos.

"Work-Live" lofts. What a great concept! Will this be a first for DT Jax?

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Captain Obvious Hamlet

Captain Obvious

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"Work-Live" lofts. What a great concept! Will this be a first for DT Jax?

Technically no, since I think anything with a CBD or CRO zoning could theoretically be live-work.

However, I think this would indeed be the first time anyone specifically marketed units as such. Maybe the Home Street Lofts on the Southbank did, but I'm not sure?

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asonj23 Hamlet

asonj23

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Technically no, since I think anything with a CBD or CRO zoning could theoretically be live-work.

However, I think this would indeed be the first time anyone specifically marketed units as such. Maybe the Home Street Lofts on the Southbank did, but I'm not sure?

I was understanding these lofts to be a single unit incorporating a residence into an office suite. Am I misunderstanding the concept?

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vicupstate Metropolitan Area

vicupstate

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The article mentions the delay on the courthouse. Is it expected to be resolved over the next few months ?

Here's the latest on the Courthouse: Excert from the Daily Record:

After a last-minute scramble to find a new guest speaker, Pickert said City Council President Kevin Hyde graciously accepted the invitation.

Hyde mainly spoke about the issues revolving around Cecil Field but briefly spoke about the plans for the new courthouse. Hyde said he has been working with the Chief Judge and the administration to try to

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vladittude0583 Whistle-Stop

vladittude0583

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What do you think guys is the possibility of River Watch or whatever it is called being higher than 33 stories as time gets closer to actual consruction?

I just figured, since the Suntrust Tower is selling rapidly fast, then perhaps it'll make Kuhn reconsider about adding more floors to River Watch or so.

That would be cool I think for it to be higher than 33 floors and it sure would definitely fit the bill of being another "signature tower" @ DT Jax if it were to happen.

Btw, is the Strand actually 27, 28, or 32 floors? I've heard 32 floors before while the Peninsula is actually 38 floors but listed @ 37 floors? What's the actual stats?

Thanks.

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