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??
You don't frequent development boards, do you. A *VERY* public/impactful project such as this needs to be publicly dissected. This project is nothing less than a spectacle for Jax. It's do or die. This project would literally be up for public vote in San Francisco. The public would vote yay or nay on whether they like it. Someone might put something on the ballot in conjunction with a Yes/No that forces a new direction for the site, in terms of use, height, open space, % affordable housing, etc.
Jax doesn't really put its projects through a rigorous test like some cities do, and we know how we all feel about the DRC and other organizations, so it's up to more or less informed citizens to put out their opinions whenever the other team makes a play - in this case the development team made a big play with PR, video, renderings, PR to all the news sites. Now it's up for the public to provide feedback.
And another thing - this isn't a single apartment building or suburban office building or hospital. This is a game changing site. Khan is a big boy and knows going in that he will expect vocal public feedback, opposing efforts, etc. If he's smart, he'll welcome all the feedback he can get. This will only be as successful as the market allows it to be, so it's got to play to that [small] market perfectly.
Part of the reason there are still successful and amazing developments going up in cities generally regarded as "world-class" here in America, and even other major cities such as Atlanta, is because there are smart firms that listen to the public, try to understand the public, and deliver what the public wants. But on the flip side, in these cities you have a very entrenched public that is acutely aware of EVERYTHING going on in their city and/or their neighborhood.
Part of Jacksonville's long term problem is a disconnect between public/private, public citizenry/public officials, public officials/private businesses. And a lot of people who just don't mind maintaining that status quo.
An absentee public citizenry in this process will not really help Khan, may result in something atrocious being built or misuse of tax dollars, etc.
There's my counter-argument to yours.
