Jax Beaches Developments

[Urban_Legend]

Thanks for posting all these pics, Bos!

Does anyone know if Metropolitan has any ground floor retail and street interaction? I kinda like that building too...

[BosTech]

As far as I know Metropolitan should have retail on first floors.

Also there are more building coming on 3rd street that will be havign retail on first floors and shoudl be friendly for more pedestrian friendly streets.

[bobliocatt]

The Metropolitan will have retail at street level. Its really the first true urban condo development to rise in Jax Beach. Btw, rumors are that the planned mixed-use building, on the corner of 3rd & Beach, is having problems finding tenants. Word on the street, is that it has undesirable floor plans.

[wolfdawg54]

The Metropolitan is in a prime location of the city too. There is a resteraunt next door and the Ocean Club is across the street.

[bobliocatt]

DEVELOPMENT: Firms eye Mayport for condo-retail projects

Recent improvements in area have spurred interest in shrimp district

Both Vestcor and Fletcher Management have set their eyes on developing Mayport's waterfront into a 60-acre retail and condominium project.

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stor..._19834712.shtml

[asonj23]

Awesome news! That area could definitely use some TLC. We can only hope that it is urban minded.

[wolfdawg54]

Well long story short. My dad is a member of the Mayport Redevelopment Commission in Mayport. They are redeveloping the waterfront but they are keeping the architecture similar to the old fishing village. They arent going to tall either. No building will be above 40 feet in the area which will be good to preserve the character. They plan on providing some sort of incentives to keep the fishing fleet there as well. Also, portions of the other bank may be used as well.

[bobliocatt]

Sounds good, however, like the article mentioned, once you start putting in luxury condos and new building types, the character of "old" Mayport will be lost forever. Nevertheless, imo, it will still be better than what's down there today.

[Captain Obvious]

The current character of "old" Mayport is quite frankly not worth preserving, imo. While certain physical infrastructure has tremendous value (there are probably 2 dozen historic buildings, mostly small houses) the current culture could stand for some change.

Aside from the character of the old fishing fleet, Mayport Villiage is essentially an isolated trailer park. Those few blocks between the river and the base are filled with plenty of doublewides and other substandard non-historic housing.

I have mixed feelings on the impact of the Casino boats. On one hand, they're the only reason other than the shrimp boats that anyone ever actually goes there. On the other hand, they're probably largely at fault for the sizeable population of "undesireables" that hang around the area.

[wolfdawg54]

They are currently working in tandem with AB to redevelop it like a small Fernandina. If a happy medium is met, preserving the fishing village and establishing a safe, livable village can work.

[bobliocatt]

Publix & Barnes & Noble coming to Neptune Beach?

[wolfdawg54]

The word is most likely true because this has been floating around for about a year now in AB. It will be interesting to see what actually happens.

[wolfdawg54]

Last modified Wed., October 05, 2005 - 04:06 AM

Originally created Wednesday, October 5, 2005

Atlantic Beach elects Wolfson mayor

By JORDAN RODACK, The Times-Union

Atlantic Beach voters came out in large numbers Tuesday to elect political newcomer Don Wolfson their new mayor.

Wolfson, 58, narrowly avoided a runoff election against City Commissioner Rick Beaver by garnering just over 50 percent of the vote. The other mayoral candidate, Donna Harper, finished last.

Wolfson said he is looking forward to moving on to important issues facing the seaside community.

"We're relieved this is over," he said. "Not being from a political family and this being the first time I've ever run for office, it was very stressful and intense. But I'm looking forward now to going to work for the people of this city."

In the race for City Commission Seat 4, newcomer Jamie Fletcher defeated incumbent Paul Parsons.

"It's definitely an honor to be able to serve the citizens," Fletcher said. "I'm appreciative of them having faith in me to elect me."

Nearly 30 percent of the city's registered voters turned out for the election.

The mayoral candidates all ran on similar platforms. Each candidate supported a charter amendment for a 35-foot building height restriction and all called for preserving the character of the small community.

Wolfson said his success was due to his approach and his ability to get his message out.

"Ultimately the citizens understand my concern about all the issues and they believe I can handle the job," he said.

The race for mayor broke all city records for campaign contributions. But money was not the deciding issue in the race. Harper, who raised the most money, garnered less than 10 percent of the vote.

Beaver, a two-term commissioner, said he was disappointed in the loss but is proud of his service to the community.

"I'm very, very proud of my eight years here," he said. "I look back with a lot of joy at what I accomplished."

Louis "Mike" Borno ran unopposed for commission Seat 5 vacated by Beaver.

The mayor serves a two-year term, and commissioners serve four years.

[wolfdawg54]

Last modified Sat., November 19, 2005 - 01:40 AM

Originally created Saturday, November 19, 2005

Mayport feels effects of Jacksonville crunch

By Drew Dixon, Shorelines staff writer

MAYPORT -- Mayport civic officials said this week their fears that tough financial times at Jacksonville City Hall would affect their projects are coming true.

John Meserve, chairman of the Mayport Waterfront Partnership, said he wants the Jacksonville project manager for the Mayport area to spend more time on taking care of Mayport business.

Ed Lukacovic, the project manager for the Mayport Waterfront Partnership, said during the board's meeting Tuesday he hasn't had time to work on projects for the area in at least two months. He splits his time between the Waterfront Partnership offices in Mayport village and his office in downtown Jacksonville.

With staffing short in the city's Department of Planning and Development, which oversees Lukacovic's position in the long range planning division, and a hiring freeze in effect for the department, Lukacovic said he's been assigned other work.

"They're in a crunch," Lukacovic said, and that means he's been reviewing applications for zoning issues and other assignments. That takes him away from work he could do for the Waterfront Partnership such as coordinating with potential developers who want to build in the historic village or develop plans for revitalization or zoning issues.

"We have to defend our turf," said Meserve, saying the partnership was formed in the 1990s with the specific intent of providing a city employee to help guide revitalization efforts.

Meserve expressed anxiety about Mayport projects getting put on the back burner over the summer during a budget crisis that required some spending cuts. "They have a tendency to obviously get swept to the bottom of the stack. I do realize not every beach project will be on the top of the hit list," Meserve said in June.

Meserve said it's time to lobby Mike Saylor, the city's director of planning and development.

"It's very important ... to get at least [Lukacovic's] time," Meserve said.

Lukacovic said he feels "awkward" about being divided between his downtown duties and his commitments to Mayport. As a city employee, he doesn't want to offend anyone, he said.

"The problem is that you have [Waterfront Partnership] board members, they're all volunteers. It was agreed that the city would fund a position to help with the revitalization efforts. That's why I'm here," Lukacovic said.

But Meserve insisted that if the Waterfront Partnership doesn't get at least some time from Lukacovic to work on Mayport projects, Lukacovic's position could be eliminated.

"It's important to get our oars in the water now rather than later," Meserve said.

Staff writer Drew Dixon can be reached at (904) 249-4947, extension 33, or via e-mail at drew.dixonjacksonville.com.

[Urban_Legend]

I thought this was interesting! It's a much-needed project:

[simms3]

CA has its famous palms, same for south FL, and now maybe we can start to share in the limelight with palm studded streets!