by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
On a chamber of commerce day, dozens of downtown planners and developers from around the state took a guided bus tour Friday of downtown’s major redevelopment projects.
Led by Downtown Development Authority managing director Al Battle, about 50 people in town for the Florida Redevelopment Association conference got a first-hand look at several projects in various stages of completion. From Berkman Plaza, where Phase I is complete, to the Strand at St. Johns on the Southbank, which is still very much in the planning stages, FRA participants saw a variety of projects funded by a variety of methods, all of which will contribute to returning downtown to a 24-hour city that local visionaries forecast.
In Berkman Plaza, the group saw a 22-story, 206-unit apartment high rise, accompanying 20 town homes and amenities that is currently the crown jewel of downtown revitalization. Battle told the group the Berkman deal was unique and perhaps the last of its kind.
“The land was free,” he said of the riverfront parcel. “It was part of a land conveyance deal. The property was part of the old jail and county courthouse complex, so it belonged to the City. It was a tough battle and one we might not do in the future.”
Battle explained that the logic behind donating the land to Harbor Companies was based on the fact that the land wasn’t generating taxes while vacant. With 206 units and 20 town homes, the property would be on the county’s tax rolls for decades.
The next stop was the Shipyards and Battle explained the project represented the largest private capital investment in the history of the city. The three-phase, $860 million project is still in its early stages.
In the Parks at Cathedral, the group saw one of downtown’s most interesting projects. A public-private development, the land for the 65 three-story town homes was also donated — by St. Johns Cathedral.
“This was the first residential project we [the DDA] worked on,” said Battle. “It took about 11 years to finalize. These units are all for sale, not rent, and almost all of them have been sold.”
Battle said the town homes come with one the most interesting incentives ever offered.
“Each buyer is eligible for a 75 percent tax rebate for 10 years after they buy,” said Battle. “While Berkman was the high end [for prices] and The Shipyards will be even higher, Parks at Cathedral is for the rank and file. It’s for the downtown office worker, but it fits into what we are doing downtown.”
Of all the projects, the tour spent the most time at Mike Langton’s remodel of the W.A. Knight Building on West Adams Street. The old medical building has achieved historic designation and the top two floors are being converted into 12 loft apartments while the ground floor will become retail space. For all of Berkman’s modernness, Langton’s project has retained historical elements, and even flaws, into each unit. Refinished floors are purposely uneven and nearly ancient structural beams and supports have been exposed and unfinished.
Chris Brown, Langton’s partner, said the project’s biggest issue is parking, but even that has been addressed.
“We have leased spaces in a garage about a block and a half away,” said Brown, adding the building is on the national historic register and will receive historic tax credits for the next 20 years.