DIA considers plans to build apartments on Southbank restaurant location
Redevelopment along Downtown’s riverfront could be shifting to the Southbank. Related Group of Miami is in talks with Maritime Concepts, owner of the River City Brewing Co., to build a $92.34 million apartment building on the Southbank location where the iconic restaurant now stands. Maritime has entered into a contract with Related Group to sell […]
Neighborhood group gives up fight in church development lawsuit
Right Size San Marco, a grass roots neighborhood group comprised of more than 1,000 members, has decided to cry “uncle” in its appeal of the City of Jacksonville’s decision to allow a good portion of the South Jacksonville Presbyterian Church campus near San Marco Square be rezoned so that a four-story, 49.5-foot tall apartment complex […]
FWC to revive legislation to regulate overnight anchoring in Ortega River
Riverfront Ortega homeowners and local boaters who desired a law be drawn up prohibiting vessels from anchoring overnight in the Ortega River should not give up hope. Although the bill – HB 417 – introduced by State Representative Wyman Duggan died on the vine during the last legislative session, which ended in March, there is […]
Iconic mural bites dust in bank demolition
Murray Hill’s sprawling “Calvin and Hobbes” mural that was painted by Jerkface, a famous New York streetscape artist, was demolished along with the Bank of America Building 840 Edgewood Avenue South in early September. The building’s playful cartoonish mural stretched along the southern side of the former Bank of America branch facing Kerle Street. The […]
Texas company takes over development of The District
A young, feisty independent specialty finance company has taken over The District project on the Southbank. Preston Hollow Capital of Dallas bought the Elements Development of Jacksonville LLC, including the 30 acres of land, from Peter Rummell and Michael Munz in early September. “They stepped into our shoes,” Munz said. Preston Hollow was founded in […]
The Way We Were: Joe and Joni Bifano
When it comes to true love, the third time is the charm, the saying goes. And that’s how it was for Joseph James Bifano. As a young man working in his hometown of Sheboygan, Wis., on the second floor of J. C. Penney in the boys’ department, there were at least two occasions when his […]
The Way We Were: Sissy Barker
It’s quite the paradox, but amid multiple moves across state lines, Sissy Barker has maintained throughout Jacksonville a consistency in friendships and family, which marks the theme of her life. Born to Sara and Paul Hattaway on Thanksgiving Day 1936 in Augusta, Georgia, Sissy Barker’s real name was Cynthann. She was named for her father’s […]
Caring for world wildlife one exotic animal at a time
Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens veterinarians, Dr. Meredith Persky of San Marco, and Dr. Yousuf Jafarey of Riverside, may live 10 miles from their place of employment, but through their job they experience a little piece of nearly every corner of the world. Inside the 115-acre botanical gardens located on the Trout River, they care for […]
Keeping the neighborhood clean, one street at a time
If the streets of San Marco and San Jose sparkle more since the Coronavirus pandemic began, you can thank Mel and Hilda Case. Dubbed as “Neighborhood Angels” by some in the San Marco community, the couple spend two to three hours a day, six days a week, picking up trash as they walk for miles […]
