by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
Big things may be in store for the LaVilla Convention Subdistrict.
Wednesday afternoon at City Hall, representatives from Cooper Carry, an Altanta-based consulting firm hired by the City Council, unveiled the vision of what they found to be both necessary and feasible for the 160 acres near the Osborn Center. Findings were based on various studies and surveys conducted by the firm last year.
Al Battle, managing director of the Downtown Development Authority, added that the plan is still in its “preliminary final version.”
Current drafts call for an expansion in the size and scope of the Osborn Center to jump start the development project. Currently, the center allows for 78,000 square feet of contiguous space, not including hallways and unusable areas. Cooper Carry’s plans see a jump to 531,000 square feet at a cost of roughly $60 million.
“Jacksonville is poised to assume a strong convention market,” said City Council member Elaine Brown, who has worked closely on the LaVilla project. “We can do it.”
Other suggested developments include a 500 room hotel — which would work in conjunction with the visitors utilizing the newly enhanced convention center — and a series residential units with “active street fronts.”
“The success to any neighborhood is residential,” said Richard Flierl, who spoke on behalf of Cooper Carry. Additional office and retail space would likely follow to add to the “urban vitality.”
In addition to increased commercial and residential markets, Cooper Carry introduced the “Chassis Plan,” which would primarily serve to connect the subdistrict to neighboring areas, including downtown and Brooklyn. Such connections could be established, in part, via an expanded Skyway.
“We would like to see LaVilla become truly connected to the surrounding districts,” said Flierl, who stressed that, although large in overall scope, the plan is flexible and can be a implemented in phases over time.
“There is no pressure to develop everything at once,” he said.
Battle said Cooper Carry has done their job well.
“I believe that [Cooper Carry] listened well and responded visually,” said Battle, commenting on the plans calling for mixed land use. “There will need to be some massaging, but we have a good product to work with.”
Cooper Carry will take all the feedback gathered at Wednesday’s meeting and return with a final report in about a month.
For now, Battle said that it would be hard to predict what steps would have to be taken after the final report is issued.
“It is always a challenge to turn policy into reality,” he said. “There are a variety of ways to approach this. We have a great landscape and a lot of opportunity. This can function as a pocket space so we need to fill it with something good.”
As far as any potential concerns, Battle said some stakeholders might be intimidated by the scope and density of the project.
“People should understand that we would have to build in stages,” he said. “This is a evolutional development and the structuring will be critical to the success of the project. Some of the findings may have been eye-opening for some people.”