by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
In consideration of concerns over safety for people and security for court documents, a pedestrian bridge proposed for the Duval County Unified Courthouse Facility was approved yesterday by the Downtown Development Review Board of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission.
The elevated walkway will connect the State Attorney’s Office in the former Federal Courthouse with the new County Courthouse. It will be built over Pearl Street which is currently closed, but that will change, said City engineer Dave Schneider, project manager for the Better Jacksonville Plan.
Before Schneider began the presentation, Assistant General Counsel Jason Teal advised the board that “pedestrian bridges are usually prohibited unless they are essential to the use of the building.” He also said no approval was necessary for a pedestrian bridge that isn’t built over a roadway.
Schneider said that while Pearl Street is currently closed, the City plans to reopen it after the Courthouse is finished and was seeking approval from DDRB on that basis.
“We want to re-establish the Downtown traffic grid,” he explained.
Schneider said the bridge has already received approval from the Courthouse Review Committee and from the Florida Division of Historical Resources, which has granted conceptual approval for the appearance of the bridge.
After he presented the design specifications, Schneider was questioned as to the reason behind building the elevated walkway.
“You didn’t mention in the presentation why the bridge is important. Is it for safety or for convenience?” said board member Tim Miller.
“We want a secure passageway so prosecutors can stay off the street. That will eliminate encounters with those they are prosecuting,” Schneider replied.
He also pointed out that the State Attorney’s Office will not require all the space in the former Federal Courthouse, so other court functions will probably be located in the building in the future and having the pedestrian bridge would make it part of the new courthouse.
The board voted to approve the conceptual design and Schneider said the bridge would be on the February DDRB agenda for final approval since modifications to the Courthouse design to accommodate the bridge must be completed by March to avoid delaying the project.
The board also heard a presentation by Hallmark Partners, the developer seeking to revive its 200 Riverside project.
A mixed-use plan for a seven-acre site on Riverside Avenue near Forest Street was approved by DDRB at its January 2007 meeting, but the project didn’t move forward due to changes in market conditions.
“The original design included a substantial residential component,” said Hallmark Partners Senior Vice President Coen Purvis before the meeting was called to order. “We’re still bullish on the site.”
The 2007 plan also included a four-story office building which has been retained in the new design for the development.
The revised plan has no residential element and a limited service hotel has taken its place, said Jason Faulkner of Rink Design Partnership, Inc. It will be four stories high with 130 rooms facing the pond and park that also remain in the site plan.
Miller said putting a hotel next to an office building, “is just wrong architecturally.” He said the only way he could approve the concept would be if the hotel “doesn’t look like the hotels on Baymeadows Road.”
Faulkner said that a dozen hospitality providers had been approached as candidates for the project and the developers are aware of the challenges involved in locating a hotel next to an office building.
“Finding a boutique hotel vendor who is willing to build a new prototype was like finding a needle in a haystack, particularly in this economic environment,” said Faulkner.
However, he added, an agreement has been reached with a company that currently operates 300 hotel properties and is developing its first urban prototype for the 200 Riverside project. Faulkner declined to identify the vendor but did say the company is currently operating hotels in North Florida.
In addition to the office building in the first plan, another office building with retail and restaurant space on the ground floor has been added. Faulkner said the restaurant will serve the commercial tenants as well as people who use the park and amphitheater which was also retained in the new site plan.
Conceptual approval for the amended plan was granted with a unanimous vote.
The final item on the agenda was the election of a new chair for the board. Jonathon Garza was elected and immediately succeeded landscape architect Chris Flagg.
Garza will serve for the remainder of the fiscal year. His first act as chair was to appoint Miller and Andy Sikes to determine nominations for DDRB vice chair and secretary.
As he switched seats with Garza, Flagg said, “I want to thank the board and the JEDC staff for all of their contributions. I have fun doing this every month and it’s great to be a part of it.”
The next meeting of the DDRB is scheduled for Feb. 25 at 2 p.m. in the JEDC board room at the Police and Fire Pension Fund Building on West Adams Street.
356-2466