JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Developers proposing a 30-acre development on Jacksonville's Southbank have released more specifics about the types of residential units on the site. They also revealed plans to extend the existing Riverwalk and connect to a marina and a nature trail.
The District Jacksonville is proposed as healthy lifestyle development on land just east of the Duval County School Board building that was once the site of the JEA's Southside Generating Station.
"When a community is designed to go beyond the requisite bike paths and fitness centers and instead integrates the natural and virtual environments with a focus on design to support healthy living, positive results are sure to emerge – for both the individual and the development in general," the developer's promotional material reads.
The developers said the plan includes "city homes," or townhouses, along with with condominiums and apartments, a hotel, restaurants, a movie theater and, potentially, office buildings.
“These townhomes were really an “ah-ha” moment with our architect where we thought about how we could bring the apartment type living that a lot of millennials are looking for with the condo living that a lot of older folks are looking to downsize their houses,” Munz said. "You could see somebody that is living in East Arlington or Mandarin thinking they want to be closer to town, but they don’t want an apartment or a condo, they want something in between."
The plan also calls for a four-acre park close to the river that could be used for art exhibitions or other events, like viewing Fourth of July fireworks or the boat parade.
Munz said that a major benefit they have is the Overland Bridge Project, which he said will give much easier access to The District, from both the north and south via Interstate 95.
“It will actually be easier, in our opinion, to get into this site than it will be maybe even getting into the Town Center with the transportation issues they have out there,” Munz said.
The new master plan will be presented to the Downtown Review Board this summer, and then to City Council for final approval this fall," Munz said. He hopes construction will be underway by the end of the year and the first buildings could be completed within two years.
The development initially was given the working title of HealthyTown, but after about 1,000 online entries were made to name the project, the development team changed the name to "The District - Life Well Lived - Jacksonville."
“Five years from now, when you want to meet someone after work, you are going to say, ‘Let’s just go to The District,’” Peter Rummell, chairman of RummellMunz> and a partner in The District project, told News4Jax last year.
RummellMunz was the successful bidder during JEA's 2014 request for proposal process. The cost of this proposal was not released.
For more information on the development community, log onto its website: TheDistictJax.com