by Bailey White
Staff Writer
Although the new Main Library will not be complete until some time in 2005, some local developers are already eying the Haydon Burns Library on Ocean Street.
The Jacksonville Economic Development Commission has already received three Request for Proposals for the property.
Vestcor Companies, which is developing 11 E. Forsyth and the old Roosevelt Hotel into residential units, would like to use the site for additional downtown housing.
Their plan calls for the City to demolish the library and give them the site as an incentive to build a new mixed-use building.
“The building would be different from surrounding buildings, but would blend with the area,” said Tammy Dockins, development associate for Vestcor.
Vestcor’s plan calls for a 15-story building containing 80 loft condominiums, 9,300 square feet of retail and commercial space and 400 parking spaces.
“There would be a lot of glass and a nice open terrace downstairs,” added Dockins.
Vestcor would anticipate closing on the site six months after the new library opens and figures construction would take an additional 24 months. Total estimated cost for the project is $28 million, and condominium units would likely average $399,500.
The plan submitted by JAX-Metropolitan Group, LLC, calls for the reuse of the existing building for a fine arts and design center. The space would also support a cafe and retail space and the current basement will be converted into parking spaces.
Headed by Mark Rinaman, the project includes a landscaped porch on Forsyth Street and would be called the Metropolitan Design Center.
The Police and Fire Pension Fund submitted a proposal which also calls for the reuse of the existing building for general office use. Though they don’t have any renderings yet, the Fund’s response to the RFP said “the core structure will be largely retained and rehabilitated to conform to a more traditional exterior that is more consistent with the appearance of a general office setting.”
Their plans would also convert the basement into a parking garage. Their current holdings downtown include the parking garage at 2 W. Monroe St. and their office building at 1 W. Adams St.
John Keane, administrator of the Fund, expressed his desire to preserve the glazed-brick murals by Ann Halloway Williams located in the library’s first floor elevator enclosure.
“That’s a link to history that we’re interested in,” said Keane. “We want to preserve her beautiful work.”