Lakelander
March 23rd, 2004, 04:19 AM
22 March 04
http://www.downtownthisweek.com/articles/03_19_04/1.png
This may be the tallest condo tower outside of South Florida in the state with 10ft high ceilings for residential units and 12ft high ceilings for the Penthouse units. Best of all, its 28 story apartment tower will break ground this summer.
Big on the Southbank
There’s a new stretch of signs lining Riverplace Blvd. that promises big things to come. The word “luxurious” is written across one panel, and several smiling faces fill others.
The signs are hard to miss, but they’re nothing compared to what’s to come. They mark the future site of The Peninsula, a luxury condominium tower planned for the riverfront space between The Chart House and the Riverplace Tower.
The Peninsula is a part of the St. Johns Center project. Miami-based development company American Land Ventures is promising it will be the Southbank’s groundbreaking new residential address. The Center also includes the apartment tower known as The Strand and a proposed office building.
When all is done, that’s 551 new Downtown residential units.
Now that ‘Downtown’ and ‘Housing’ are the buzzwords on everyone’s lips, that doesn’t sound crazy. But three years ago when the development team first spied the parcel of land from an aerial photograph, it was something of a novel idea.
“We didn’t initially know whether or not Jacksonville was going to be ready for this,” said Sandy Brown, vice president of American Land Ventures. “Back then, our intention was to build a rental property, but as time went on we felt the city was ready for condominiums as well as the luxury rental tower.
“It was pretty obvious that this was a great piece of property and very strategically located,” he added. “Historically we [American Land Ventures] have built on water and this had all of the ingredients we look for when doing something like this - the water, the proximity to a tremendous employment base, and within the Downtown area, there was no housing.”
Not only have major strides since been made to Downtown Jacksonville’s residential community, but in the past three years much of the neighborhood’s landmarks have changed.
“The thing that is most significant in our minds is the amount of public infrastructure that’s occurred,” said Brown. “There’s the new baseball stadium, the new arena, the federal courthouse, the library and the planned county courthouse.”
According to Brown, construction on The St. Johns Center could begin within three or four months, beginning with The Strand and its 28 stories.
As for The Peninsula, the sales office opened last week with two VIP receptions and plenty of flair. Now it’s up to the developers to make sure 50 percent of the units are spoken for before they can build.
“By the way sales went the first weekend, we might be moving much faster than we anticipated,” said Brown.
While Brown couldn’t give exact figures, he did say that The Peninsula might spring up from the ground sooner than expected.
Here’s a look at The Peninsula, and what it will offer Downtown.
* At 36 stories high, the Peninsula will be the tallest residential tower in Jacksonville with 256 residences.
* Architects Dorsky Hodgson and Partners have designed the structure which was designed to reflect the feeling of old Downtown with a brick-infused base that houses the first nine floors of the building.
* A two-story lobby will give residents access to a salt-water fish aquarium, a coffee bar, a cyber cafe, business center and retail space.
* Above the lobby is covered and controlled-access garage parking with 24-hour valet parking available.
* The ninth floor will house a pool and sundeck with an outdoor bar, fitness center, health spa and salon featuring a yoga and Pilates studio, massage and treatment rooms, a sauna, steam room and meditation garden.
* Residential units begin on the 10th floor, as will the second phase of the building’s architectural concept. Floors 10 - 26 will be made of green tinted glass allowing for panoramic views of the river and the city.
* The Peninsula will offer one, two and three bedroom residences priced from the mid-$200s to the mid-$800s. They’ll vary in size between 900 and 2,500 square feet and in configurations of one-, two- and three-bedroom units. There are 13 different floor plans.
* Eight penthouse units will start at over $1 million.
* Each unit comes with 10-foot ceilings (12 feet in penthouses), gourmet kitchens featuring Kitchen-Aid Architect Series stainless steel appliances, Italian cabinetry, granite countertops plus master baths including marble floors, wet walls and countertops.
* The top floor of the building will be a private, residents-only rooftop club. There will be another outdoor sun deck, dining area, full service bar, exhibition style kitchen, wine room, bottle storage lockers and large screen TV.
Here's a pick of the site I took a couple of weeks ago.
http://mywebpage.netscape.com/urbanjax7816/Jacksonville/2feb2004/the-strand-fence.jpg
http://www.downtownthisweek.com/articles/03_19_04/1.png
This may be the tallest condo tower outside of South Florida in the state with 10ft high ceilings for residential units and 12ft high ceilings for the Penthouse units. Best of all, its 28 story apartment tower will break ground this summer.
Big on the Southbank
There’s a new stretch of signs lining Riverplace Blvd. that promises big things to come. The word “luxurious” is written across one panel, and several smiling faces fill others.
The signs are hard to miss, but they’re nothing compared to what’s to come. They mark the future site of The Peninsula, a luxury condominium tower planned for the riverfront space between The Chart House and the Riverplace Tower.
The Peninsula is a part of the St. Johns Center project. Miami-based development company American Land Ventures is promising it will be the Southbank’s groundbreaking new residential address. The Center also includes the apartment tower known as The Strand and a proposed office building.
When all is done, that’s 551 new Downtown residential units.
Now that ‘Downtown’ and ‘Housing’ are the buzzwords on everyone’s lips, that doesn’t sound crazy. But three years ago when the development team first spied the parcel of land from an aerial photograph, it was something of a novel idea.
“We didn’t initially know whether or not Jacksonville was going to be ready for this,” said Sandy Brown, vice president of American Land Ventures. “Back then, our intention was to build a rental property, but as time went on we felt the city was ready for condominiums as well as the luxury rental tower.
“It was pretty obvious that this was a great piece of property and very strategically located,” he added. “Historically we [American Land Ventures] have built on water and this had all of the ingredients we look for when doing something like this - the water, the proximity to a tremendous employment base, and within the Downtown area, there was no housing.”
Not only have major strides since been made to Downtown Jacksonville’s residential community, but in the past three years much of the neighborhood’s landmarks have changed.
“The thing that is most significant in our minds is the amount of public infrastructure that’s occurred,” said Brown. “There’s the new baseball stadium, the new arena, the federal courthouse, the library and the planned county courthouse.”
According to Brown, construction on The St. Johns Center could begin within three or four months, beginning with The Strand and its 28 stories.
As for The Peninsula, the sales office opened last week with two VIP receptions and plenty of flair. Now it’s up to the developers to make sure 50 percent of the units are spoken for before they can build.
“By the way sales went the first weekend, we might be moving much faster than we anticipated,” said Brown.
While Brown couldn’t give exact figures, he did say that The Peninsula might spring up from the ground sooner than expected.
Here’s a look at The Peninsula, and what it will offer Downtown.
* At 36 stories high, the Peninsula will be the tallest residential tower in Jacksonville with 256 residences.
* Architects Dorsky Hodgson and Partners have designed the structure which was designed to reflect the feeling of old Downtown with a brick-infused base that houses the first nine floors of the building.
* A two-story lobby will give residents access to a salt-water fish aquarium, a coffee bar, a cyber cafe, business center and retail space.
* Above the lobby is covered and controlled-access garage parking with 24-hour valet parking available.
* The ninth floor will house a pool and sundeck with an outdoor bar, fitness center, health spa and salon featuring a yoga and Pilates studio, massage and treatment rooms, a sauna, steam room and meditation garden.
* Residential units begin on the 10th floor, as will the second phase of the building’s architectural concept. Floors 10 - 26 will be made of green tinted glass allowing for panoramic views of the river and the city.
* The Peninsula will offer one, two and three bedroom residences priced from the mid-$200s to the mid-$800s. They’ll vary in size between 900 and 2,500 square feet and in configurations of one-, two- and three-bedroom units. There are 13 different floor plans.
* Eight penthouse units will start at over $1 million.
* Each unit comes with 10-foot ceilings (12 feet in penthouses), gourmet kitchens featuring Kitchen-Aid Architect Series stainless steel appliances, Italian cabinetry, granite countertops plus master baths including marble floors, wet walls and countertops.
* The top floor of the building will be a private, residents-only rooftop club. There will be another outdoor sun deck, dining area, full service bar, exhibition style kitchen, wine room, bottle storage lockers and large screen TV.
Here's a pick of the site I took a couple of weeks ago.
http://mywebpage.netscape.com/urbanjax7816/Jacksonville/2feb2004/the-strand-fence.jpg