The Downtown Investment Authority is a step closer to finding the group it wants to redesign the Jacksonville Landing.
Authority CEO Aundra Wallace and board member Doris Goldstein sifted through 14 responses that came from throughout the country. The three companies that will be interviewed are:
• Cooper Carry, based in Atlanta. The firm specializes in architecture, environmental graphic design, interior design, planning, sustainable design and landscape architecture, and has offices in New York and Washington, D.C. Its portfolio includes mixed-use, corporate, hospitality and retail projects.
• Eskew+Dumez+Ripple, based in New Orleans. The group’s specialties in architecture, interior environments and urban strategies and projects include those in cultural, civic, educational and office and commercial fields.
• Wakefield Beasley & Associates, based in Atlanta but with a full-service office in Ponte Vedra Beach. The group practices architecture and interior design and has a portfolio of projects in areas of corporate, education, financial, civic and hospitality.
The authority put out the call in January, seeking companies that specialize in waterfront design and incorporating public space. The bid opening was in mid-February and Wallace and Goldstein have been evaluating the response in recent weeks.
“All applicants were excellent, but these three firms distinguished themselves,” said Goldstein. “It was a clear decision from Aundra (Wallace) and me.”
She said the proposals offer a way for the DIA to work with a design firm at the front end of a project to ensure the best possible public space along the riverfront.
Landing co-owner Toney Sleiman pitched proposals last year, effectively tearing the building down and starting anew as a mixed-use concept. Later in the year, Mayor Alvin Brown included $11.8 million in taxpayer money to go toward the project.
The Jacksonville Civic Council came out against the Sleiman plan in August, saying it needed a more open design process.
The DIA then started talking about seeking design firms that emphasize waterfront and public space. Goals will be to open a view corridor from Laura Street to the river, provide an open space as part of the Riverwalk, better connect the site to adjacent properties and engage the public in a visually interesting project, among others.
“I firmly believe that we are going to come out of this with a concept that excites all of us — the DIA, Toney (Sleiman)and the people of Jacksonville — and that will help shape our city for generations to come,” Goldstein said.
The Professional Services Evaluation Subcommittee consisting of Goldstein, Wallace and city Procurement Chief Greg Pease will interview the three groups, tentatively scheduled at 1 p.m., 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. March 27.
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