After hearing criticism of conceptual designs for the proposed Lofts at Southbank mixed-use development, the project’s developers are returning with revised architectural renderings as they seek final approval from the Downtown Development Review Board.
During a July meeting in which DDRB granted conceptual approval to the project, board members and speakers called for such improvements as more and larger windows, fewer blank exterior wall spaces and balconies on residential floors.
On Sept. 12, the DDRB is scheduled to consider final approval based on an altered design. The revised renderings can be found in the DDRB meeting agenda packet here.
City documents list the developer as Jacksonville-based Vestcor through Lofts at Southbank Ltd.
DDRB staff recommends approval of the design for the 10-story project. The design calls for ground-floor retail, office and restaurant space, self-storage units on the third through sixth floors and apartments on the seventh through 10th floors.
The project, at 1004 Hendricks Ave. at Hendricks Avenue and Prudential Drive, has drawn opposition from several Southbank and San Marco residents since it first emerged in 2022 as a self-storage-only development.
Residents noted that self-storage was not a permitted use of the property in the Downtown Zoning Overlay, a customized set of zoning regulations that apply to Downtown.
After plans were altered to include apartments, including a portion designated as affordable housing, the Jacksonville City Council approved rezoning the site to Planned Unit Development on April 23 to allow for the project’s construction. It also approved a $6 million interest-only loan for the affordable housing part of the project.
Also that month, the DDRB voted to recommend the rezoning but deferred a request for conceptual design approval of the development after members and speakers criticized its aesthetics.
Member Trevor Lee, a Jacksonville architect, likened the designs at that time to “a 10-story CubeSmart with windows at the top.”
In July, the DDRB granted conceptual approval on a redesigned version of the project on a 5-2 vote, with Lee and member Ennis Davis opposed.
The DDRB, which acts as a planning commission for Downtown, has final authority on the project’s design. City Council approval is not needed.
The Sept. 12 board meeting is scheduled for 2 p.m. in the Don Davis Room at City Hall.
