The city has started its review of the proposed Fleet Landing residential tower that would be the tallest building in the fast-growing Brooklyn neighborhood and one of the highest anywhere in downtown.
The Downtown Development Review Board is scheduled to vote March 12 on conceptual approval of the 500,000 square foot development called Fleet Landing Riverside on the former site of the Haskell headquarters.
The Downtown Development Review Board staff is recommending approval of the concept. The staff report says the conceptual site plan would provide a view corridor from Riverside Avenue to the St. Johns River. The plan would preserve that corridor with a public plaza and walkway from Riverside Avenue to the riverwalk.
Fleet Landing, based in Atlantic Beach, caters to older adults seeking a retirement community lifestyle. Along with young adults, empty-nesters are one of the biggest drivers of residential development in downtowns across the country.
Fleet Landing Riverside would contain 239 residential units, 40 licensed care units, dining venues, a performing arts center, fitness and wellness facilities, a resort-style spa, and a swimming pool, according to information presented to the Downtown Development Review Board for the conceptual review.
The residential development would go on a portion of the property where the building that once housed Haskell runs parallel to the riverfront. Fleet Landing Riverside would be perpendicular to the river and go up toward Riverside Avenue.
Fleet Landing Riverside would be next to the One Riverside development comprised of apartment buildings and a Whole Foods store.
Fleet Landing describes the residential tower as the first phase of what it wants to do on the site.
“Fleet Landing Riverside is designed to contribute to its neighborhood, not simply occupy it,” the developer says in its overview of the proposal. “A river-facing performing arts center and publicly accessible ground-floor dining venue and wellness spaces activate the view corridor between the street and the riverwalk, generating foot traffic and cultural programming that serve residents and neighbors alike.”
Fleet Landing previously was interested in building a residential development on the Southbank where the Duval County Public Schools administration is located but the School Board voted down that proposal last October..
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Fleet Landing Riverside tower planned on former Haskell site
Reporting by David Bauerlein, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
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