First Coast

Business Brief: Mayor Seeks $2.25 Million For Jacksonville Landing Architecture, Site Work

WJCT News | By Mike Mendenhall - Jacksonville Daily Record

Published August 9, 2019 at 1:58 PM EDT

This rendering is from a 2015 plan that was proposed to redevelop the Landing. The old plan is getting a fresh look as the city considers what to do next with the property after the current structure is demolished.

Mayor Lenny Curry is asking the City Council to approve $2.25 million in initial funding for redevelopment of The Jacksonville Landing as part of his proposed 2019-20 Capital Improvement Plan.

Along with that could come an opportunity for public comment.

City Chief Administrative Officer Brian Hughes told WJCT News partner the Jacksonville Daily RecordThursday the allocation will start a 2 to 2½-year redevelopment process.

“If we can do it faster, we will. But it’s sort of an acknowledgment that about a two-year plan is what we’ll see executed,” Hughes said.

Identified for a “Riverfront Plaza” project, the first $225,000 proposed in the 2019-20 CIP would be used for a market analysis of the Landing property. The city would work with the Downtown Investment Authority to complete the study of the property at 2 Independent Drive W.

The analysis would help determine the proper proportions of public space versus private development on the riverfront property, Hughes said.

The analysis would work from a plan created as a result of a 2015 public charrette led by Wakefield Beasley & Associates and Urban Design Associates of Atlanta.

An expanded version of this story is at JaxDailyRecord.com and for a look back at the 2015 plan for the Jacksonville Landing, see this WJCT News story.