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firemick Hamlet

firemick

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I was just kidding as i am a big Gator fan and i support them through thick and thin. I was just being facecious. We have two more games that are gonna be toss ups if we win or not. Georgia and FSU. BTW I live part of the time in Orlando and partly in Gainesville. You see me post in Orlando all the time but i am curious to see Gainesville grow into something more than a college with a little burg attached to it. I am excited about the 12 story condos going in dt. I am probably going to be moving back to Gainesville full time as i can afford to buy up there as the Orlando housing market has gone up 38% in the last year. Anyhoo....Its great to be a florida gator!!! :whistling: say its great to be a florida gator :whistling:

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Dale City

Dale

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I remember a while back, someone proposed building some twin towers in Gainesville 20+ each. I think this was voted down or something in order to preserve the character of the downtown.

Panicked city officials enacted a height cap (15 stories ?) so that no more evil skyscrapers could be built. Then, shortly thereafter, the very project that had thrown them into a panic went belly-up.

Ironic, ain't it ?

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DavePaulk Whistle-Stop

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University corners is making progress. Maui teriyaki, a local establishment that had previously been giving the project some trouble, has closed down its location on the building site. I have heard nothing else (not much talk of that sort of thing in this town, i'm from Jacksonville) but I am guessing that the closing of the restaurant bodes well for the developers.

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logybogy Unincorporated Area

logybogy

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Clark Butler sold off Bulter Plaza and his other properties in Gainesville to Florida Southeast Development Corp. for $300 Million and they are planning $600 million worth of additional development.

Article published Feb 17, 2006

Buyers share Butler's vision for plaza

Plans for more than 130 acres of vacant land near Archer Road promise a mix of upscale condominiums, restaurants and retail under the glow of gas lamps around a park and amphitheater.

A string of big box superstores would be located nearby, filling out the back end of Butler Plaza and drawing customers to the shopping center from areas beyond the Alachua County lines.

It is, in many respects, Clark Butler's vision for the final stage of development of the plaza that bears his name. But it will be the Tampa-based Florida Southeast Development Corp. that carries the project to completion.

This week, Butler signed the papers that will turn some of his most recognizable properties over to Florida Southeast for about $300 million. The deal is for 250 acres, including Butler Plaza, the 235-unit Windmeadows Apartments behind the shopping center, the 12-story Lakeshore Towers on SW 13th Street and a swath of undeveloped land behind the plaza.

The company is not expected to close on the properties for up to three months, and the specific details of many of its plans are still on the drawing board, said Florida Southeast President Kenneth Mamula. But major developments, with a price tag of up to $600 million to build, are in store for a city Mamula said has been under-appreciated by developers for years.

In the immediate future, the company plans a full renovation designed to convert both Lakeshore and Windmeadows into condominiums, Mamula said.

In addition, engineers are working on a proposal to build a second 12-story tower and a three-story building next to Lakeshore that would also contain condos, he said.

Proposals for the renovation and expansion of Lakeshore could be filed by the end of the year, Mamula said.

But some of the largest-scale developments would be in the areas behind Butler Plaza, which had been the site of a mobile home park until 2002 when Butler closed it to make way for a new expansion to Butler Plaza.

Mamula's proposal is contingent on the expansion of SW 24th Avenue to four lanes. The county has rejected four-laning the road in the past. The proposal also includes several phases and styles of development.

A lifestyle center would place jewelry, boutique and other high-end shops and outdoor cafes around a park and man-made lake set to the north of Butler Plaza, Mamula said. The development would be designed with brick-paved sidewalks and other aesthetic amenities and would include condominiums designed to attract both professionals and University of Florida students, he said.

In addition, the company would build more traditional stores for big box retailers close to Butler Plaza and cap off the project with a renovation of the exterior of the shopping center.

While the plans call for a dramatic increase in the amount of retail in the area, Mamula said he's not looking to build just another strip mall.

"You can make these look like a beautiful center," Mamula said. "It doesn't have to be just a hodgepodge of stores."

Getting government approval and designing the project would take at least three years, Mamula said.

Enthusiasm abounds

Development and business professionals in Gainesville said the new projects could provide a welcome boost to the area and showed a growing respect for the city's market.

Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce President Brent Christensen said Florida Southeast has a track record of strong developments in Tampa and throughout the state. The company's involvement in the further development of Butler Plaza could provide momentum for the project, he said.

"Hopefully, they'll have the patience and the resources to see that project through to its completion," Christensen said. "It's something we've been excited about for a number of years and hopefully this new developer will have the resources to make it happen."

Thomas McIntosh, owner/broker of ERA Trend Realty, said the company's interest in condo conversions followed a trend in the area and showed a maturing market.

"Gainesville's hitting the radar of a lot of the national investors and even the regional investors," McIntosh said. "We knew they were coming, this is just the first shot.

"Is this going to change the market? Sure it is," he said. "But it's going to be better for consumers because they'll have more choices."

Opportunity knocks

Mamula said though he has been bringing his family to Gainesville for 15 years to watch the Gators, he didn't really look at developing in the area until his daughter started school at UF. Shortly after she enrolled, Florida Southeast bought and converted The Greens from apartments into condos, which sold out in six months.

Looking for other opportunities in the area, Mamula said he approached Butler about buying Lakeshore Towers, with the intention of converting it into luxury condos. But during negotiations, which began about four months ago, Mamula said Butler began showing off his other properties, starting with Windmeadows and ending with Butler Plaza.

Butler said he spent several months making sure he was comfortable with Florida Southeast before choosing them. And Mamula said once Butler Plaza was on the table, it seemed to be a unique opportunity.

"I don't know where in the state of Florida you can match this opportunity," Mamula said. "One million square feet of retail with 130 acres behind it for a lifestyle center."

Butler said he chose to sell to Florida Southeast, after turning down more than a dozen other offers in recent years, because he believes the company will bring quality development to the properties and carry out the vision established by him and his daughter, Deborah.

"They're capable and financially able to it with the quality that Deborah and I would do it," he said.

Jeff Adelson can be reached at 352-374-5095 or [email protected]

Edited by logybogy
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jweisbrot Crossroads

jweisbrot

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What happened to the Gville projects that were being discussed?

Did they all FLOP.... again?

As far as I know, the majority of the projects that have been discussed in this thread are still in the works. The only project that seems questionable is the University Corners project. Not alot has been released regarding the status of the project, but they still seem to be having some issues; here is a recent article:

http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...40340/1078/news

There hasn't been any news regarding the downtown Hampton Inn, but given the developer's track record and the project's solid financials, it should happen.

The only other major project is the 10-story mixed-use development called Gainesville Greens (which happens to be my firm's project). Everything is progressing smoothly and we are firmly in the site planning process. We are also gearing up our marketing campaign to sell the residential units. We just launched a teaser website at: http://www.gainesvillegreens.com/. The full site with floor plans, level plans, and a 3D animation will be up in the next couple of weeks.

-Jason

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jweisbrot Crossroads

jweisbrot

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When will the Gainesville Greens project start construction?

It looks really nice. Is there three buildings in the model pic?

What is the estimated completion date?

Dgreen,

As we are still in the final design stage, the start of construction is still fluid. However, we are expecting it to occur in April of next year. Each section of the project will be contained in one main structure. The estimated completion date is January 2009.

Thanks for your interest,

Jason

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Justiceham Hamlet

Justiceham

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Gainesville does have some kind of a height restriction on buildings (not sure why or what the exact limit is). Some former students stay in Gainesville but there is limited work outside the university and service sector that supports it.

I think part of Gainesville's 'problem' with development has been the university's location away from downtown (13 blocks). This divide has caused there to be a "no man's land" between the immediate university area and downtown. Further, I-75 was located a good 5+ miles away from downtown, causing development to sprawl away from the main city onto the abundant cheap land. There has been some success keeping downtown alive, but certainly Gainesville's development has been dominated by commercial sprawl, low-rise apartment complexes and single family homes.

We have the same problem here in Murfreesboro, TN. The interstate is a good four miles from downtown, which almost eliminates any real height to be located downtown or acceptable visibility of downtown from the interstate. The city has mostly ignored any development downtown and continues to sprawl with retail, commercial, high density apts., townhomes, and condos away from the core. We have one highrise and many lowrises downtown, but that's about it for a city of 100,000+.

Edited by Justiceham
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jweisbrot Crossroads

jweisbrot

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Since there hasn't been a whole lot mentioned on Gainesville in the past couple months, I thought I would at least update everyone about my firm's project, Gainesville Greens.

For those of you who don't know, Gainesville Greens is a 11-story mixed-use retail and residential building with 144 units. It will be a LEED-certified Green building and will reduce energy consumption by 30%. The project is a full city block located at SW 2nd Ave and SW 1st Street, diagonally across from the county court house.

We are currently in the process of finishing out our sales center, located on site. Our grand opening will be early April; however, we are currently taking reservations and will start taking contracts once the sales center has opened. We should break ground on the project by the end of the summer.

For more information including an elevation, floor plans, pricing, and a short video animation (coming soon), please visit our website at:

http://www.GainesvilleGreens.com

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JRadeker Crossroads

JRadeker

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Been quite awhile since I've been on this forum... great update on Gainesville Greens.

Anyone care to weigh in on the Springhill issues?

-jr-

Since there hasn't been a whole lot mentioned on Gainesville in the past couple months, I thought I would at least update everyone about my firm's project, Gainesville Greens.

For those of you who don't know, Gainesville Greens is a 11-story mixed-use retail and residential building with 144 units. It will be a LEED-certified Green building and will reduce energy consumption by 30%. The project is a full city block located at SW 2nd Ave and SW 1st Street, diagonally across from the county court house.

We are currently in the process of finishing out our sales center, located on site. Our grand opening will be early April; however, we are currently taking reservations and will start taking contracts once the sales center has opened. We should break ground on the project by the end of the summer.

For more information including an elevation, floor plans, pricing, and a short video animation (coming soon), please visit our website at:

http://www.GainesvilleGreens.com

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