by Bailey White
Staff Writer
With a variety of residential projects within two blocks, West Adams Street promises to be a center of downtown living.
The W.A. Knight Building, Langton Associates’ project at 113 W. Adams, turned a 1920s building into 12 loft apartments with 5,200 square feet of retail space. A block away, The Vestcor Companies is working on the old Roosevelt Hotel, developing the 13-story building into 100 apartment units and 15,000 square feet of commercial space.
Now the Kimmik Corporation, a Jacksonville-based development company, is set to develop the Lerner Shops building at 20 W. Adams St., a 1911 building that was home to the Southern Drug Company and served as the Lerner Shops from the 1940s until the late 1980s.
“We’re trying to do what everyone else is doing downtown,” said Marion Graham, the president of Kimmik Corporation and a Jacksonville native. “We’re trying to make a contribution.”
The building is slated for mixed-use development.
“We’ll devote at least 20,000 square feet to loft apartments,” said Graham. “There will also be commercial office space and we’re looking at putting in a jazz club that could cover both the first and second floors.”
The six-story building offers 6,200 square feet per floor, except the first floor, which is about 5,200 square feet because of an adjacent alley.
And, according to Graham, the building is in excellent shape.
“It’s probably one of the most secure structures in downtown. The constructional integrity of the building far exceeds what anyone would expect,” he said. “There are concrete floors and a sprinkler system that’s completely intact. And on some floors there are exposed brick walls — the others are just covered with wallpaper.”
As for the building’s facade, “our intent is not to change anything about the exterior of the building,” said Graham, who also owns Logistical, a transportation brokerage company.
At the moment, the building is getting a thorough cleaning and Kimmik is trying to decide on a team of architects.
The company also will pursue funding through the Downtown Development Authority. Graham hopes the building’s completion isn’t far away.
“By the first or second quarter of next year, there may well be occupants there,” he said.