A proposed 30-story Hard Rock tower with hotel rooms and residences got its official unveiling Oct. 1 during a Downtown Development Review Board workshop.
Developers want to build the tower on riverfront land that sits between The Plaza Condominium at Berkman Plaza & Marina and the USS Orleck Naval Museum. The proposed Hard Rock site has been vacant since demolition tore down the half-built Berkman II apartment
tower.The Hard Rock tower would have 350 hotel rooms, 152 "branded residences," restaurants, cafes, retail, space for live entertainment and events, and meeting facilities. One side of the building would face the St. Johns River and the other would be alongside Bay Street. The side along Bay Street would have 5,000 square feet of retail.
Some Hard Rock developments have casinos in them. Hard Rock Jacksonville will not have a casino.
The proposed design features the shape of a record album coming from the building and floating in the air above the riverwalk.
"The way the building is going to sit and the design shape and design of the building is going to change our skyline, and you're going to be able to see it from I-95 and everywhere else," said Michael Munz of Florida Innovation Capital.
He said the design feature of the record album would be "unlike any other building the world has seen, and it's going to be right here in Jacksonville."
He said the Hard Rock building would feature displays about musicians who have roots in Jacksonville.
"This Hard Rock is going to give Jacksonville's musical identity a real lift and a global life, which we think it's deserving of," he said.
The session was a workshop so the Downtown Development Review Board did not take any action but had a chance to make suggestions.
The presentation did not involve any discussion of development costs or financial incentives from the city. That would go through the Downtown Investment Authority board and ultimately City Council.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: First look: How Hard Rock tower would shape Jacksonville skyline
