Architects share design ideas for Studers’ downtown development
- February 6, 2015
- / Randy Hammer
- / studer-community-institute
Architects working on transforming the old Pensacola News Journal site into an apartment and retail complex shared proposed designs Friday morning with Quint and Rishy Studer and a small group of people who huddled in the third-floor conference room of the Studer Group.
“This is about our 11th meeting where we’ve reviewed proposed site designs for this project,” said Andrew Rothfeder, who heads Studer Properties. “And I promise there will be more proposals and more meetings to come.”
The Studers purchased the former 5.85-acre PNJ property for $3.4 million a little more than a year ago.
Jeff Smith with Niles Bolton Associates in Atlanta, Ga., led Friday’s presentation of proposed site designs. Some highlights of the presentation:
- The four-story complex will feature about 20,000 square feet of retail space on the first floor.
- The proposal right now calls for 251 apartments.
- The majority of apartments will be one bedroom and priced under $1,000.
- Studio apartments will run about $750 a month.
- A dozen of the units will be three-bedrooms and run $2,100 a month.
- A parking garage will be tucked inside the complex.
- A rooftop deck will have “great views” of the city and Pensacola Bay.
- Some residents will be able to walk out of their living room onto a swimming-pool deck.