Springfield Arts Center

[Lunican]

In what is being called the "Springfield Loft District"...

The Springfield Arts Center is planned for a building on Market St just past 11th St. The building is actually bordered by Market St, Liberty St, and railroad tracks on the other 2 sides.


http://www.springfield-arts-center.com/

[theskyliner]

Looks great!! There is so much development going on. I Love it! I did not have time to read the write up. So is this a performing arts facility? If so I think it would be nice if we also came up with a modern dance troop based in Jacksonville to go along with the facility. It will give us one more reason to come downtown and be entertained. I know we have ballet but a good modern dance troop would be great. Dance really brings enrichment to a city! However I am excited about this new development.

[Diane Melendez]

Wow, what a great project and a boost for Springfield. Greatest luck to all.

[thelakelander]

Looks great!! There is so much development going on. I Love it! I did not have time to read the write up. So is this a performing arts facility? If so I think it would be nice if we also came up with a modern dance troop based in Jacksonville to go along with the facility. It will give us one more reason to come downtown and be entertained. I know we have ballet but a good modern dance troop would be great. Dance really brings enrichment to a city! However I am excited about this new development.

Its a commercial loft project. Meaning loft office space for creative and graphic firms like architects, artist, interior designers, etc. This developer (Jay Sillman) is also looking at purchasing other nearby warehouses. He says Jax is like Atlanta 10 years ago, only more progressive.

[Diane Melendez]

It seems to me Mr. Sillman may be just the kind of fellow Jacksonville needs right now. Let's all have hope.

[Lunican]

This is the area that was suggested in the MetroJacksonville.com commuter rail study as a great loft and warehouse district which could be served by rail transit.

[copperfiend]

Its a commercial loft project. Meaning loft office space for creative and graphic firms like architects, artist, interior designers, etc. This developer (Jay Sillman) is also looking at purchasing other nearby warehouses. He says Jax is like Atlanta 10 years ago, only more progressive.

Weren't the Olympics in Atlanta 10 years ago?

[thelakelander]

Yes, I think he was just giving the paper some fluff. You know most Jacksonvillians still have the red haired child syndrome so when an out-of-town developer feeds us complements, he knows it will get him further in the community than one who really tells it like it is.

[Jim]

The pics and art concepts are wonderful. Hopefully this will be a catalyst.

[Keith726]

Yes a very nice project for that area.

[fsujax]

Well, I hope this project works out. It would be a nice addition to the neighborhood. I am still waiting on other Springfield projects to break ground. That part of Springfiled could really be a neat area and maybe this project will help get that started.

[02Roadking]

From the JBJ:

Developer to invest $2.4M in Springfield loft project

The Business Journal of Jacksonville - September 8, 2006
by Christian Conte (http://www.bizjournals.com/search/bin/search?t=jacksonville&am=jacksonville&q=%22Christian%20Conte%22&f=byline&am=120_days&r=20)
Staff writer

http://cll.bizjournals.com/story_image/55177-120-150.jpg?rev=2
ACM Development Group President Jay Silliman said his passion is to preserve the historic details of 2303 N. Market St.
View Larger (http://cll.bizjournals.com/story_image/55177-400-0.jpg)
SPRINGFIELD -- Right now, the Springfield Arts Center is a vacant warehouse with a faded, red-brick facade, boarded up windows and overgrown vines. But its inner beauty has captured the eye and the imagination of an Atlanta developer who plans to transform this tired and dusty building and others like it in historic Springfield into a thriving commercial loft district.
When it was built at the corner of Market and 14th streets in the 1920s, the 60,000-square-foot building was used as a furniture manufacturing warehouse, but ACM Development Group LLC (http://www.bizjournals.com/search/bin/search?q=%22ACM%20Development%20Group%20LLC%22&t=jacksonville) bought the building to renovate and market it for owner-occupied office and studio lofts.
"The whole concept, and I'm a freak about this, is the preservation," ACM President Jay Silliman said as he walked across the more than 80-year-old hardwood floor anchored by the no-longer-available heart pine wooden beams.
"You can't rebuild this building."
So, to renovate it, Silliman plans to invest a total of $2.4 million before it can be occupied about spring 2007. He declined to comment on how much he paid for the property, but the city of Jacksonville Property Appraiser's Office lists the sale of 2303 N. Market St. to Market Street Lofts LLC (http://www.bizjournals.com/search/bin/search?q=%22Market%20Street%20Lofts%20LLC%22&t=jacksonville) April 28 for $700,000.
When complete, a total of 33,000 square feet of loft space will be available, and it will sell for about $160 to $180 per square foot.
Silliman expects many of the prospective buyers to be young, creative clientele looking for a place to house companies such as architectural firms or dance studios. But that's not to say that the Springfield Arts Center wouldn't suit a real estate agency or a certified public accountant's office.
"It's just for a company that wants a really unique, open space," Silliman said. "It's a very different personality that wants to be in this type of space."
Established in 1869, Springfield is Jacksonville's first and oldest neighborhood. The Jacksonville Historical Society (http://www.bizjournals.com/search/bin/search?q=%22Jacksonville%20Historical%20Society%22 &t=jacksonville) says the first surge of development happened here when the trolley line was extended from Main Street, and by the 1890s, the area was a thriving suburb.
Development stopped in the mid-1920s, however, when the city of Jacksonville approved a zoning ordinance that classified the entire district as commercial. It wasn't until the 1970s, when the Springfield Preservation and Revitalization Council (http://www.bizjournals.com/search/bin/search?q=%22Springfield%20Preservation%20and%20Rev italization%20Council%22&t=jacksonville) spearheaded an effort to down-zone the neighborhood, that revitalization began.
Since then, Springfield has been added to the National Register of Historic Places (http://www.bizjournals.com/search/bin/search?q=%22National%20Register%20of%20Historic%20 Places%22&t=jacksonville), but until recently much of the revitalization has been limited to the old Queen Anne- and Colonial Revival-style homes.

Pages: 12 (http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/2006/09/11/story6.html?page=2&b=1157947200^1341988)Continue Reading http://ll.bizjournals.com/rd/redarrow.gif (http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/2006/09/11/story6.html?page=2&b=1157947200^1341988)

[RiversideGator]

Interesting development. It is good to see that Silliman is moving down here and will be working some of his magic down here with our old warehouse space. Here is another clip about this development:

• A new loft project is coming to Springfield. ACM Development Group is renovating a vacant warehouse on the corner of Market and 14th streets into The Springfield Arts Center, owner-occupied studio and office lofts. They should be complete in spring 2007.
http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=45889

[OceanCowboy]

Does anybody know how these are doing? Have they sold out yet?

[thelakelander]

According to my sources, they haven't sold out yet, but the market has been receptive.