2. Limited Retail
In 2017, Walgreens opened a 6,400 square foot location in a Downtown Orlando building that was originally constructed for the First National Bank and Trust Company in the late 1930s.
While downtown may not have significant residential density, retail is actually taking off in the area because of its centralized location and easy access to Interstates 95 and 10. These factors make the area’s true retail trade area significantly larger than conventional wisdom suggests. Over 181,426 residents with an average household income of $53,293 live within a five mile radius. Considering the retail trade area in its true context, nearby Brooklyn has become a popular destination for retail expansion since the opening of Brooklyn Station.
Retail comes in all shapes and sizes. Just because traditional mall oriented retailers and chains ultimately failed does not mean that other types of retail uses can’t be successful within the Downtown Jacksonville market. From this perspective, there are certain types of retailers that aren’t present in the downtown market that could be attracted to consuming some limited space at the Landing site as a part of the right redevelopment project. Certain types of businesses such as CVS or Walgreens could easily set up shop in 6,000 to 15,000 square feet of space, similar to what they have done in cities such as Orlando in recent years.
CVS Pharmacy was one of the first retailers to open a new location in a rapidly revitalizing Downtown Detroit.
1. Craft brewery
Over the last decade, Jacksonville’s craft brewery scene has rapidly developed, helping revitalize many neighborhoods, commercial district and corridors in the process. Placing high value on community and sustainability, most craft brewers tend to bring new life and purpose in older spaces that are considered obsolete and derelict by most residents.
Across the nation, craft breweries have revamped banks, bus stations, fire stations, churches and banks. In Jacksonville, they’ve reshaped abandoned ice plants, chemical factories, warehouses and retail storefronts. A look into sites like the Landing reveals characteristics that fall in line with the building needs of a craft microbrewery or brewpub. This includes larger building spaces with entryways and ceiling heights that accommodate brewery equipment.
In Houston, the Saint Arnold Brewing Company’s new restaurant, tap room, gift shop and bier garden occupies a space similar to the Landing’s construction. Envisioning a beer garden where patrons would be protected from the sun and an interior space paying homage to the brewery’s namesake, Natalye Appel + Associates Architects assisted in the design of a “dissolving metal building” that also gives way to a covered outdoor section and open sky. Inside, the industrial look transforms into a retail and dining space designed in the form of an ancient cathedral featuring a rendering of Saint Arnold himself.
In addition, between 1999 and 2005, a small brewpup called the Southend Brewing Company operated in the waterfront space currently occupied by Fionn MacCool’s Irish Pub and Restaurant. Considering the continued growth of local craft breweries throughout Northeast Florida, space in the Landing could be considered as a potential location for a new brewery or an existing one in need of expansion.
What Should Come Next?
Faces that ended up on the wrong side of history from an economic development and sense-of-place standpoint.
Thirty years ago, the St. James Building was called derelict and many dreamed of its demolition. During that era, many Art Deco structures were labeled the same thing in Miami Beach. Ultimately, the St. James Building and Miami Beach’s Art Deco Historic District were saved. The St. James Building now serves as Jacksonville’s city hall, while the Art Deco district has become one of the most visited cosmopolitan urban districts in the country.
Miami Beach’s Art Deco Historic District today.
One we move passed our personal opinions and views towards the architecture, management or past retail fortunes of a building, what’s left is a space that, when creativity and imagination are allowed to be a part of the visioning process, can be adaptively reused and reshaped to accommodate many things. Given this reality, it would not hurt to truly evaluate the possibility of adaptively reusing all or parts of the ready-to-market retail and restaurant spaces housed within the Jacksonville Landing prior to demolition, which would require recreating similar spaces from the ground up.
From the perspective of economics and reducing the redevelopment timeline, the property already has built-in infrastructure like dumpsters, loading dock facilities, sewer hookups, grease traps, hoods, ADA-compliant restrooms and HVAC systems in place. To lay waste to existing turnkey commercial space reduces downtown’s ability to take advantage of the economic reality that it takes more time and money to fund and build new development from the ground up. These strictures adversely impact and limit the wide range of possible redevelopment concepts that could be included in a plan to incorporate additional green space along the riverfront.
A rendering illustrated a partially demolished Landing site that combines mixed-use space with open green space.
The purpose of this Request for Proposal is to select a highly-qualified developer to remodel an existing, recently-retired 8,276 square foot fire station on approximately 1 acre into a first-class manufacturing microbrewery, micro-winery or micro-distillery with food, retail, entertainment and outdoor amenities. The caliber of this development, as envisioned, will create consumer and private sector development interest in creating a limited amount of additional retail or office space and medium density residential development over the remainder of this vacant city-owned 3-acre site.
As illustrated in the example above, the Request for Proposal (RFP) process involves the city advertising a potential sale or lease to the public, in order to allow interested parties the opportunity to make an offer. Prior to moving forward with complete demolition, which immediately reduces the site’s economic redevelopment options, a formal RFP should be issued by the Downtown Investment Authority (DIA) for the Landing and the East Lot (currently a waterfront surface parking lot). This RFP should seek qualified parties interested in the development of a mixed-use concept that includes additional green space.
Instead of hastily making a permanent decision that may not align with the market, leave it up to these parties to prepare responses that may include reuse, partial demolition or complete demolition of the Landing’s structures. The RFP could also be created to resolve concerns about programming and building liabilities expressed by various council leaders, the mayor’s office and the DIA, considering the same issues will have to be addressed for proposed development at TIAA Bank Field and other public owned sites.
Article by Ennis Davis, AICP. Contact Ennis at edavis@moderncities.com