Khan's Jacksonville Shipyards Plans Revealed

[Keith-N-Jax]

1) I also thought the hot-air balloon was pretty random.

2) I like the palm trees and riverwalk. There aren't enough palm trees in Jacksonville imo. This is Florida; it doesn't have to be South Florida for there to be a bunch of palm trees in one place.

3) I don't really like the architecture but I'm sure that can change.

4) I was hoping for a bigger landmark attraction than just the USS Adams (Ferris wheel, aquarium, etc.) but oh well. Maybe Metro Park will get one.

5) I wish the buildings were taller. Any mention on the number of units/square feet?

6) No mention of the Skyway? It seems like a no-brainer to try to connect it here now.

I didn't love the proposal, but it's nice to see someone do more than just talk.

I like this post!!! I also agree this is FLA and Jax could use a few more palms. The South Fla reference is pretty silly IMO, there's not enough palm trees in the world to make Jax look like South Fla.  Its just a rendering/proposals people, some of you act like you are paying for it. This is good!! Lets hope it happens.

[thelakelander]

The News4Jax article states the aquarium is still planned for "somewhere off Bay Street." Unless they plan on working it into these renders, it sounds like they're gonna boot it from the riverfront.

The aquarium isn't a real project. It's a heavily promoted dream that still needs millions in funding to get on the drawing board, secure property and actually be built. If it progresses to such a level, space can be found.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

re anything other than the financing aspect of the project

[I-10east]

I'm still sticking to what I said about the proposal having so much palms (which Core and Simms agreed with). We might cannot truly be transformed into "South Florida" but we will look like a wannabe stepsister suburb in South Florida which is worst. I still hated when they removed those beautiful oaks at the old library for stupid palm trees. I never said that the proposal shouldn't have ANY palms, just not 95 percent. So far the tally is 3-2 no palm overload. What do you other guys/gals think, too many palms or what??? Of course disagree with me like always MJ...
 

[GatorShane]

I like the palms!!

[I-10east]

^^^Of course you do...(3-3 tally). Then the next person obligatorily will like all of the palms, and the palm landslide will begin since I advocated against them...

[coredumped]

I've always heard palms are NOT native to Jax, which I've always believed, if you go out in the woods or drive through Osceola national forest you don't see any.

Can someone more knowledgeable comment on this?

[Charles Hunter]

No palms.  OK, a few.

[thelakelander]

There are certain species of palms that are native to this area. They just aren't the ones shown in the presentation.

[simms3]

Scrub palmetto and sabal palms are native, I believe.  A few other species can endure a North FL winter.  The kinds of tropical palms rendered will not be the kinds of palms planted at this development, unless they budgeted for a potentially annual replanting.

I like palms and have insisted that my parents move out the beach so that when I "come home" to FL once a year, I can feel like I'm actually somewhere in FL.  We can all dream.

Some palms = good.  I think the rendering used landscaping as a placeholder as well, but I get annoyed when I see renders of North FL proposals complete with Royal Palms and Coconut Palms, etc, knowing it will never look like that.  There is one particular segment of the rendering where there appears to be a palm tree planted every 2 feet.  It seemed a bit over the top.

[Buforddawg]

I love palm trees.  I love the palm tree in my back yard, if it weren't for all of these Oak trees around my yard I'd plant more.  I for one do not equate palm trees with South Florida.  Do you equate oak trees with Savannah?  If I did, I would definitely have an identity crisis - I'd be Rhett Butler in the front yard and Sonny Crockett in the back!  Stop nick picking this thing to death.  It's a vision, it's like a concept car or haute couture.  From that vision will come the ready to wear, marketable and sellable designs.  I am hoping that a lot of the vision stays intact.

I loved the hot air balloon concept as an attraction but not how it was rendered.  When I visited Rome, there was a hot air balloon you could ride up 200 feet or so and look across the city.  The balloon was tethered so you went up and came back down in the same spot.  Great attraction!

I also like the bold design! While I think there is a place for the older architecture in the city, I do believe that introducing this architecture is no different than when the architecture of the 60's era (?) public library and the Barnett Tower (89-90?)  was introduced. Not to mention the old Gulf Life building on the South bank.

But I am also in the camp of I'll believe it when I see the cranes go up.  I'm still waiting on the dang Publix to be built in San Marco Square! 

To paraphrase Bruce Dikenson (Christopher Walken), "I gotta have more palm trees!"

[simms3]

^^^Generally, I equate live oaks with Savannah, Jax, NOLA, Charleston, AL - Steel Magnolias MS, Houston.  Sort of that I-10 corridor up to coastal SC and down into Orlando a bit. I equate palm trees with S Florida and SoCal.  But as someone who hasn't been "Floridian" for a long time, I like SoFL more and more.  I can totally see why heading further south on I-95 where it's warmer and there are more palm trees, especially if you are from a northern climate, is appealing.

I do wish Jax didn't have such severe cold snaps in the winter so that more tropical plants could be planted.  But seeing coconut or royal palms in a render knowing that's quite literally an impossibility turns me off to a degree.  It just seems lazy...maybe it's because there aren't graphics for non-tropical palms for non-tropical places like Jax.  Maybe it's because it's been proven that having tropical palms in your renderings is good for business, even if it's a gross mis-characterization.  Would love to hear straight out of an architect's mouth - Lake?

[Buforddawg]

Well the nice thing about global warming is we can probably have tropical plants in the landscape by the time it's built.  Of course Jax maybe under water (literally) by then.

And I'm sure you meant the I-95 corridor not I-10.  Remember odd number go North and South, even numbers East and West. 

[GatorShane]

OMG I cant even!! You guys are right! Lets just leave that 50 acres as a contaminated parking lot that is used as a giant restroom for our DT vagrants!!  Awesome plan Mr Kahn. Thank you for having the vision and the pockets to think differently than some of our esteemed citizens! I love this city so much and I always said if I had the money I would do great things for this city. Not so much any more because I know that whatever I proposed it would get  dissected, ridiculed, picked apart until a billion dollar project turns into another unrealized potential game breaker.....................sound familiar??

[KenFSU]

Here's a nice overlay graphic, via Twitter:

https://pbs.twimg.com/tweet_video/B-EzHwQIMAI-AZr.mp4