Kansas City-based developer plans 275-unit McCoys Landing apartment in LaVilla

A Kansas City, Missouri-based developer’s plan to build McCoys Landing, a seven-story, 275-unit multifamily project in Southwest LaVilla, is headed to the Downtown Development Review Board for preliminary design review.

Garrison Companies intends to demolish the existing building at the 2-acre site at 101 Myrtle Ave. S. near Interstate 95, according to the review board staff report released May 4. 

Duval County property records show the building and land are owned by Safer Bros. LLC of Nashville, Tennessee, and the site previously was the headquarters of Jax Box LLC, a box manufacturing company.

A spokesperson for Jax Box told the Daily Record on May 5 that the company completed a move in January from Jacksonville to Waycross, Georgia, after the company could not reach a purchase agreement for the building. 

The review board is scheduled to vote May 11 on the apartment building design by architect Group 4 Design Inc. 

Plans show a two-story parking garage podium with residential units occupying the top five stories. The multifamily building also includes a pool, business leasing office, bicycle shop and recreation space. 

The board will have to decide whether to approve design code deviations affecting parking, street traffic patterns and the height of the building. which exceeds what is allowed in LaVilla. 

The staff report says the project’s contemporary architecture is more aligned with new development in the Downtown Brooklyn neighborhood than LaVilla, but board staff recommended preliminary approval. 

According to the staff report, the building’s 85-foot height exceeds the 75-foot limit the city’s design guidelines allow in LaVilla but says the scale is “within reason.” 

The project is near the boundary of Brooklyn and LaVilla. The property is bounded by Dennis, Harper and Hanover streets and Myrtle Avenue.

A Florida East Coast Railway line is to the north and the city’s Brooklyn Park under design along McCoys Creek is across Harper Street from the property.

The developer also plans to petition the city to convert Harper, Hanover and Dennis streets from two-way to one-way to form a loop around the project, a design typically frowned on by the city.

“If the road conversion is approved, Staff finds that the street sections should be revised for efficiency: reduce travel lane width; increase Pedestrian Zone width; and possibly add bicycle facilities,” the report says.

A portion of the parking garage would not have screening, which is required by Downtown design guidelines. The developer says it is to promote safety for residents, the staff report says.

Garrison Companies focuses on Low-Income Housing Tax Credit projects and adaptive reuse multifamily projects in the Midwest and Mountain West regions, according to its website.

The developer must obtain a demolition permit to raze the existing industrial building which was built in 1960, according to the Duval County Property Appraiser’s website.