What is an Edge City?
Over the Southside’s Blue Cross Blue Shield campus.
The term, Edge City, was popularized in the 1991 book Edge City: Life on the New Frontier by Joel Garreau,</b> who established its current meaning while working as a reporter for the Washington Post. Garreau argues that the edge city has become the standard form of urban growth worldwide, representing a 20th-century urban form unlike that of the 19th-century central downtown.
Edge Cities typically consist of mid-rise office towers surrounded by massive surface parking lots and manicured lawns. Instead of a traditional street grid, their infrastructure networks consist of winding parkways (often lacking sidewalks) that feed into arterial roads and freeway ramps. They develop at or near freeway intersections and airports and they rarely include heavy industry. They are large geographically because they are built at automobile scale.
Edge Cities are impossible without the automobile. In Jacksonville, the Southside’s J. T. Butler Boulevard corridor, respresents the first true example of an Edge City. Because it stands as the region’s only emerging Edge City, we have decided to highlight construction updates on a quarterly basis.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edge_city
Winter 2017 Construction Update
1. Portiva
Construction continues on Portiva, a 260-unit complex that’s going in at A.C. Skinner Parkway and Salisbury Road. There are going to be eight four-story buildings. Landsouth Construction was issued the eight permits totaling $24 million.
2. JTB
JTB is a 350-unit complex being built by Killashee Investments near the southwest quadrant of the Southside/Butler Boulevard intersection. Featuring four five-story buildings at the cost of $50 million, the luxury apartment development is anticipated for completion by 2018.
3. Vistakon Inc.
Jacksonville-based Vistakon recently completed a $4.6 million solvent tank farm at it’s disposable contact lenses manufacturing complex in Deerwood Park. Vistakon is now investing $300 million to expand the manufacturing complex over the next seven years. The expansion project is expected to create 100 high-wage jobs and add 35,000 square feet to the manufacturing complex. The new manufacturing space will include five new production lines, the tank farm, a 3D printing center and a site for medical device laboratory test method development.
4. Gate Parkway Mixed-Use Village
A new mixed use development is planned for an 18.72-acre site at the SW corner of the Gate Parkway and Deerwood Park Boulevard intersection.
As proposed this Mixed-Use facility will blend 25,000 sq. ft. of Office/Medical, 50,000 sq. ft. of Commercial shops and restaurants along with up to a 300 unit Multi-Family complex. Also, proposed on this development might include a maximum 110 unit Hotel/Motel and a gas station on the corner. In planning for this development’s impact to the area, the project is looking to invest approximately $1.4 million in transportation improvements for road, traffic signals and other changes to alleviate congestion in the area. Improvements include, 1) the construction of a third stacking lane extend 100 feet short of the Burnt Mill Rd intersection going north on Gate Parkway turning left onto Deerwood Park Blvd., 2) the creation of a left turn entry from Gate Parkway into the development, 3) the traffic direction change of the current left turn lane, to go straight only allowing more traffic to cross thru the intersection going north and clearing out the existing traffic leaving the area, 4) other improvements to include the elimination of a right-turn-on-red onto Gate Parkway north from Deerwood Park Blvd going west next to the gas station and finally 5) the addition of a new traffic signal on the back-end of the new development onto Deerwood Park Blvd.
For more information: https://www.dannybecton.org/9
5. Lake Lofts at Deerwood
Construction continues on Lake Lofts at Deerwood. The project will add 130 apartment units on an infill site adjacent to Deerwood Lake. Developed by Inland Diversified Real Estate Services, LLC. of Oak Brook, IL, the four story development includes a five-story parking garage.
6. The Point at Town Center
Block One Ventures is in the process of building the Point at Town Center at the intersection of Gate Parkway and Burnt Mill Road. When complete in summer 2018, The Point at Town Center will be a 246-unit luxury apartment complex featuring eight three-story buildings and a clubhouse.
For more information: https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=548692
7. Town Center Promenade
Core Property Capital is in the process of building the Town Center Promenade development on 30-acres near the intersection of Town Center Parkway and River Marsh Drive. When complete, the project will include 350 apartment units, 150 hotel units and 100,000-square feet of restaurant and retail space. Announced tenants include:
ALDI Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers Taco Bell Starbuck’s Coffee Mattress Firm Piada Italian Street Food Aspen Dental Newk’s Eatery Red Robin Gourmet Burgers and Brews Texas de Brazil Churrascaria Brazilian Steakhouse Texas Roadhouse Tru by Hilton Apartments by TriBridge Residential
Town Center Promenade is anticipated for delivery in spring 2017.
