by Kent Jennings Brockwell
Staff Writer
Over the past year, the old Riverside Theater building on Park Street in Five Points has undergone a number of changes thanks to an ongoing renovation project.
The unsightly stucco facade has been removed and the original brick underneath now shows brightly. The interior walls and carpets have been removed and are being prepped for new framing and drywall. All of the windows have been replaced as well.
So it should be no surprise that 5 Points Theater Building, LLC, the investment group behind the renovations, recently made another big change.
Though the construction workers have been continually banging away inside for the past year, a decision was made a few weeks ago to change the floor plans, said 5 Points Theater Building project coordinator Jack Shad.
Shad said the original plans were drawn up to turn the once abandoned building into a mixed-use building, which was to include retail, office and residential spaces. Now, plans have been changed to include just office and retail space with no apartments.
Shad said the residential use plans were scrubbed for a variety of reasons, market demand being at the top of the list.
“We feel like there is an unmet demand for small offices in the Five Points area,” Shad said. “(Five Points) has the features that people are looking for in downtown (Jacksonville).
“It is close to downtown, it has better access to the interstates, there is plenty of parking and there are more restaurants than downtown. It has all of the things that people want for their office.”
Shad said the ground floor is reserved for retail shops and restaurants but the top three floors of the four-story building will be built out into approximately 24 offices ranging from 300 to more than 1,200 square-feet each. Tenants looking for larger office space will be able to have their space customized, but Shad said there will also be a good number of small ready-to-go offices.
“About half of the offices will be little, one-room suites that are already built out so all they have to do is move their stuff in, turn on the lights and begin working,” he said.
Though most of the upper floors of the building are being set up for smaller tenants, Shad said the investors have met with a few potential businesses including multi-person firms, a spa and an art gallery.
As for the retail space on the ground floor, Shad is hoping for maybe a restaurant or two and some retail shops, but said he is really looking forward to finding a suitable tenant for the theater space that made the building renowned.
“We are looking for a restaurant possibility with an entertainment component,” Shad said. “The theater space has the potential to be the most interesting space in town. We have been talking to a lot of different people about it and we hope to have somebody signed up before too long.”
Though there was some skepticism from area residents and store owners before the construction began, Shad said he thinks locals seem happy that the building is about to become operational again.
“People seem excited,” he said. “I have gotten some good feedback from merchants I have talked to. They seem to think that the offices will have more impact than the residential spaces would have.”
Lee Hamby, co-owner of Roost, an artsy interior design store across the street from the 5 Points Theater Building, said he is glad the building will be all offices and retail. Hamby said office workers are a mainstay of the retail shops in Five Points.
“The office people are all of the ones that bring us the most business,” he said, “especially during lunch.”
Hamby said he thought the part-residential plan was a bad idea to begin with considering the number of late night bars and restaurants on the street.
“When I heard that it was going to be residential, I thought it was odd because it was an odd street to live on,” said Hamby.
Shad said the offices should be finished by January 2006 but said the retail spaces should be ready and hopefully filled by November.