Five Steps To Activate Laura Street In Less Than Four Years

Ferris wheels and entertainment centers in stadium parking lots are nice but there’s really no good reason that Downtown Jacksonville should not already have at least one street in the Northbank core that’s just as vibrant as the main streets in many of the smaller cities illustrated in this article. Despite the mistakes and missed opportunities from our redevelopment history, a Laura Street renaissance between the Jacksonville Landing and Hemming Park can happen sooner, rather than later if these five steps are taken.

1. Take Advantage of Existing Development Projects

Enjoy the fact that to activate Laura Street in record time, there’s several major catalyst projects already underway or in the works that will bring life to several areas of the corridor that have long been hostile to the pedestrian environment. These include the conversion of the Barnett National Bank Building and the Laura Street Trio into apartments, a Courtyard by Marriott hotel and retail spaces, an associated parking garage with street level retail space, a mixed use project by Ron Chamblin and VyStar’s purchase of the former SunTrust Tower and Life of the South office buildings. Taking advantage of this critical mass of ongoing projects is as simply as placing a priority on activating the street level spaces and underutilized buildings adjacent to them, creating four continuous blocks of life between the Jacksonville Landing and Hemming Park.

A parking garage featuring street level retail at Laura and Forsyth streets, eliminating the only surface parking lot on Laura Street in downtown will break ground later this year.

The redevelopment of the Barnett National Bank Building at Laura and Adams streets continues.

2. Funnel Hart Bridge Expressway Removal Traffic Down West Bay Street

From a transportation safety perspective, it’s better to leave the elevated Hart Bridge ramps up because it completely removes high speed vehicular traffic from pedestrians and cyclist at ground level. However, to redevelop the area around the stadium, direct visibility and access to as many cars as needed is a requirement, validating the push to remove the elevated structure. However, the current plan pushes the majority of traffic from the Hart Bridge back on elevated ramps, dispersing traffic over multiple streets with the construction of a new ramp at A. Philip Randolph. Well, when it comes to roadway infrastructure improvements, what’s good for Lot J is also good for the actual central business district.

Eliminating a proposed Hart Bridge ramp expressway interchange at A. Philip Randolph Boulevard will result in higher traffic counts along Bay Street between the Sports and Entertainment District and LaVilla, enhancing the Laura Street corridor in the process.

Consider simply closing the rest of the Hart Bridge ramps west of A. Philip Randolph Boulevard and don’t even bother with constructing a new interchange at that location. Instead, take the money saved and use it to enhance Bay Street through the central business district. The increased traffic counts will increase the visibility and market value of properties along the entire Bay Street corridor, including at the intersection of Bay and Laura streets. Also long as we’re right sizing streets and treating all modes with equal importance, we have the opportunity to enhance the market rate prospects of everything along the Bay Street corridor from the Sports and Entertainment District to LaVilla.

3. Focus on Bank of America and Wells Fargo Tower

Despite already containing ground floor businesses and retail spaces, both the Bank of America and Wells Fargo Center office towers create two pedestrian hostile blocks between the Jacksonville Landing and Laura Street Trio. At a minimum, ground floor tenants, which include a coffeehouse and restaurant, should have visible signage and outdoor sidewalk dining. If the City of Jacksonville can lobby to demolish elevated expressways, buyout shopping centers and provide enough incentives to bring life to Berkman Plaza 2, it should be able to work out a deal with office building owners to better integrate their properties with the streets surrounding them.

Bank of America Tower

Wells Fargo Center

4. Issue Request For Proposals (RFP) for City Owned Properties

One could argue that the City of Jacksonville is the biggest slum lord on Laura Street. However, public ownership of several underutilized properties along this corridor also means great opportunity for rapid rebirth and life. If the same tenacity towards the push to take over the Jacksonville Landing was applied to the renovation of Hemming Park, it could easily become one of the most attractive urban parks within the State of Florida. Snyder Memorial Methodist Church has been in the city’s ownership since 1992. What should contain a use that serves as a major destination for the Laura Street corridor instead serves as a visual foundation of a downtown who’s heyday has long past it by.

The long vacant City of Jacksonville owned Snyder Memorial Church

By the same token, two retail spaces in the Jacksonville Public Library remain occupied by uses not conductive to generating pedestrian foot traffic on a consistent basis. Whether Jacksonville deems these properties should be put to use as a civil rights museum, visitors center, theater, restaurants, cafes, food halls or whatever, now is the time to create a RFP to activate an important intersection in the city’s urban landscape and the Laura Street corridor.

Jacksonville Public Library storefronts that should feature outdoor dining remain difficult to lease due to publicly forced restrictions that don’t comply with market rate business needs.

Then there’s the Jacksonville Landing itself. It has been the only anchor destination that attracts people to the Northbank on a regular basis since its opening in 1987. Although there is a desire by city officials to see more green space on this site, that green space needs to be integrated with a mix of uses that can take advantage of its centralized location. In terms of redevelopment timeline and costs, serious consideration should be given to exploring adaptive reuse of ready-to-market commercial space.

A rendering of a smaller Jacksonville Landing featuring more riverfront green space that also allows a new mix of uses to take advantage of existing turnkey commercial space.

**5. Rethink City Hall and JEA Tower **

The City of Jacksonville’s renovations to the St. James and YMCA Buildings at Laura and Duval streets helped get municipal buildings off the riverfront but they also helped kill the potential of pedestrian synergy in the area by replacing street level retail storefronts with first floor offices only open weekdays between the hours of 8am and 5pm. Considering we live in an era where less office space is needed, the time will come where it will make sense for the city to consider carving out space in these buildings for reuse as street level retail storefronts facing Laura Street.

The Jake M. Godbold City Hall Annex building activated the pedestrian environment around it with street level retail during the mid-20th century. (State Archives of Florida)

The Jake M. Godbold City Hall Annex building closed on Sunday, creating a dead block of pedestrian activity along the north boundary of Hemming Park.

JEA currently occupies a number of buildings originally constructed as office and urban retail space at the intersection of Laura and Church streets. With JEA preparing to construct a new headquarters near the Duval County Courthouse, this site has the potential to once again serve as a mixed-use destination for both Laura and Main streets.

Article by Ennis Davis, AICP. Contact Ennis at edavis@moderncities.com