by Max Marbut, Staff Writer
A new design for the Riverside Park residential development near downtown Jacksonville was granted conceptual approval last month, a design dubbed by one member of the approving board as a "huge improvement."
The Downtown Development Review Board, part of the City Office of Economic Development, granted conceptual approval April 5, 2012, for a "carriage house" design for the project, but the design submitted last month lacks such a feature. The new design represents a different site plan and design for the three- and four-story buildings in the downtown development.
The design moves the buildings to the property lines along the street and increases the number of units from 283 to 310.
It will be a major apartment area because the adjacent 220 Riverside development, which is now under construction, will have over 300 apartments.
Architect Jason Shepard, principal of Atlanta-based Dwell Design Studio, said the new concept presents a "more urban design."
"This is a huge improvement. The carriage houses were a compromise," said board member Chris Flagg.
Michael Blair, managing director of Pollack Shores Real Estate Group, the property manager, said the new design fits the needs of the development's target market.
"Our renters are Generation Y. They were born since 1980," he said.
"What we saw today is very exciting," said board chairman Tim Miller.
Riverside Park includes a 65,000-square-foot commercial retail element, which was presented by J.J. Connors, president of Chestnut Hill Investments, representing Fuqua Development, also based in Atlanta. Fuqua is the developer of the retail component of the project.
Connors said the site plan was developed for a national-chain grocer and drug store and restaurants with outdoor dining and drive-thru lanes.
When board members Flagg and Andy Sikes objected to the number of parking spaces in the design and their proximity to Riverside Avenue, Greer Scoggins, Fuqua director of construction, said the prospective grocery-store tenant requires parking because the brand will attract customers not only from the residential units adjacent to the retail center, but also from surrounding areas.
"To us, this is about the only plan that works," he said. "We can't change the constraints of a national grocer's requirements."
The board approved the conceptual design of the retail component with the condition that additional design information is presented at the board's next meeting, when application will be made for zoning variances to allow the drive-thru lanes.