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The owner of the unfinished Berkman Plaza II Downtown says that demolition crews will begin removing the upper floors of the structure July 9. Jacksonville Riverfront Revitalization LLC said in a news release July 8 that delivery of a high-reach excavator to the 500 East Bay St. site over the Fourth of July weekend will allow Orlando-based contractor Pece of Mind Environmental Inc. to begin the work. Pece of Mind President Steve Pece said the company has been removing steel and other debris from the 18-story structure and preparing the site for the crane’s arrival since May. “The demolition is expected to take three to four months, weather permitting,” he said in the release.
After sitting vacant and unfinished for more than 13 years, demolition crews began preliminary site work April 27 to tear down the Berkman Plaza II high-rise Downtown. Steve Pece, president of demolition contractor Pece of Mind Environmental Inc., said his crews have “boots on the ground” to demolish the 18-story structure through its contract with the property’s likely developer, Jacksonville Riverfront Revitalization LLC. Pece said April 27 that workers won’t start taking down the shell structure for three to four weeks as crews put in erosion control measures, expand fencing and clean up loose debris at the site floor by floor.
05:10 AM EST Share City officials want to get rid of the unfinished riverfront high-rise despite a potential buyer with an active permit to tear it down. Three out-of-state companies submitted bids as part of the city’s order to demolish the unfinished Berkman Plaza II while a potential developer says his group will buy the site within days. City Procurement Division officials opened bids April 14 that range from $1.68 million to $2.34 million. The step shows the city continues to move ahead on its tear-down order for the Downtown structure as it also approved a demolition permit in January for Jacksonville Riverfront Revitalization, which wants to buy the site.
Park Beeler, the co-managing member of developer Jacksonville Riverfront Revitalization, told a City Council and Downtown Investment Authority joint workshop Feb. 23 that his company intends to buy the unfinished Berkman Plaza II within two weeks and start demolition at the end of March. Those plans are complicated by a city order to demolish the riverfront structure at 500 E. Bay St. Beeler said at the workshop that city officials informed Jacksonville Riverfront Revitalization it will not cancel a public demolition order issued in October when the structure was condemned by the Municipal Code Compliance Division. “I must be very honest with you, this is a situation that is of concern to us because it’s a blight on (the) title,” Beeler said.
05:20 AM EST Share Contractor Pece of Mind Environmental plans to use a high-reach boom to demolish the unfinished 18-story building from the top down. The developer that wants to raze the unfinished Berkman Plaza II on the St. Johns Riverfront Downtown says it no longer plans to implode the high-rise. The city is reviewing an amended permit application filed Jan. 6 to tear down the 18-story building at 500 E. Bay St. using a high-reach excavator. Developer Jacksonville Riverfront Revitalization LLC hired Orlando-based contractor Pece of Mind Environmental Inc. to complete the demolition. Documents filed with the city show Pece of Mind plans to use a crane and 135-foot boom to demolish the 279,000-square-foot structure from the top floor down. The company will use a debris curtain to keep material contained at the demolition site.