The Downtown Development Review Board granted conceptual design approval July 11 for The Lofts at Southbank apartment and storage unit project, but members and speakers said that the architecture needs improvement before final approval can be granted.
The $38.8 million project led by Jacksonville-based Vestcor is at southwest Prudential Drive and Hendricks Avenue at the site of a closed restaurant at 1004 Hendricks Ave.
The proposed 10-story mixed-use development comprises four floors of personal property self-storage with five floors for 100 apartments and 136,000 square feet reserved for retail, restaurants and offices on the ground floor.
The project architect is Group 4 Design Inc. Linck Landscape Architecture LLC is designing the streetscape around the building. Eisman & Russo Inc. is the civil engineer and Summit Contracting Group Inc. will build the steel and concrete structure.
The design includes raising the ground floor of the building about 3 feet above street level to mitigate possible flooding, said Karie Kovakocy, Group 4 architectural design principal.
She said the design creates more space for pedestrians along the Prudential Drive and Hendricks Avenue sides of the building and that the trees on the site will be protected during construction.
“We're bringing the Riverwalk pedestrian and streetscape standards further into San Marco,” Kovakocy said.
During public comment, Scenic Jacksonville Executive Director Nancy Powell said she objects to having four stories of blank walls on the self-storage floors of the building, She also said the windows are too small on the residential floors and the apartments should have balconies.
“You need to go back to the drawing board,” Powell said.
“This is an improvement from the previous designs, but the building needs more windows,” board Secretary Gary Monahan said.
At 10 stories, the building will be about 120 feet tall.
Board member Trevor Lee said the design presented makes the building “feel even taller.” He said the facades need to make the structure look shorter and more windows should be added.
“There are too many blank spaces on the building. I support the project, but not the architecture,” Lee said.
Conceptual approval was granted in a 5-2 vote. Board Chair Matt Brockelman, Linzee Ott, Joana Berling, Carl Dawson Jr. and Monahan voted in favor. Board members Ennis Davis and Lee voted against conceptual approval. Board member Joe Loretta was excused from the meeting.
Brockelman said the input from the board and public will help the designers improve the look of the building.
“You’ve done a good job so far but there need to be changes for final (approval),” he said.
The Lofts at Southbank is advancing despite objections from numerous nearby residents,
On April 23, the Jacksonville City Council approved rezoning the site to Planned Unit Development to allow for its construction. It also approved a $6 million interest-only loan for the affordable housing part of the project.
The project first emerged in 2022 as a self-storage-only development. That proposal stalled after the Council withdrew a bill that would have amended the Downtown zoning overlay to permit self-storage facilities on the Northbank and Southbank.
The proposal was approved after Vestcor became involved and added below-market-rate multifamily housing to the project.
To qualify for the interest-only loan, 75 units will be reserved for households making at or below 60% of area median income and five units will be reserved for households making at or below 120% of the area median income, with the remaining 20 units to be offered at market rate.