Latest breakdown in Laura Street Trio talks sparks friction between Deegan, Council VP Carrico

The Special Committee on the Future of Downtown is set to meet Nov. 25 to discuss deal terms and work toward a resolution.


  • By Ric Anderson
  • | 12:10 a.m. November 14, 2024
  • | 4 Free Articles Remaining!
The Laura Street Trio of historic buildings at Forsyth and Laura streets in Downtown Jacksonville are shown Nov. 11, 2024.
The Laura Street Trio of historic buildings at Forsyth and Laura streets in Downtown Jacksonville are shown Nov. 11, 2024.
Photo by Monty Zickuhr
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The latest breakdown in negotiations over resurrection of Jacksonville’s Laura Street Trio of historic buildings has prompted criticism of Mayor Donna Deegan’s office from the chair of the City Council Special Committee on the Future of Downtown.

In a related statement, the lead developer of the proposed adaptive reuse of the long-vacant buildings said it was cutting out the mayor’s administration from discussions on the building and will work directly with Council on a redevelopment agreement to get the project moving.

Kevin Carrico

After Deegan’s office announced Nov. 12 that it was permanently abandoning talks with the Trio development team, led by SouthEast Development Group principal Steve Atkins, Council Vice President Kevin Carrico issued a statement accusing the Deegan administration of a “lack of engagement and unwillingness to provide constructive feedback or counterpoints” during negotiations.

“This lack of responsiveness shows a troubling lack of commitment to preserving our city’s historic sites,” read the statement from Carrico, the chair of the Council Special Committee on the Future of Downtown.

Carrico announced that the committee would meet at 10 a.m. Monday to review the deal terms and seek a resolution to save the long-vacant buildings.

He said that at the administration’s request, he had taken a “step back” in the negotiations in recent weeks and had been hopeful that Deegan’s chief of staff, Mike Weinstein, could broker a deal with the development team. 

Instead, Carrico said, he was frustrated to learn that the administration had cut off talks and was refiling a foreclosure lawsuit it filed in September alleging that Atkins, who owns the buildings, owed the city $800,000 in unpaid fines from municipal code violations. 

“By refusing to set aside the looming threat of a lawsuit, the administration is jeopardizing the project and leaving our historic buildings at risk of further deterioration,” Carrico said in the statement. 

“A lawsuit should not be weaponized to undermine efforts; rather, it should be waived as part of any city incentive aimed at preserving these landmarks.”

Deegan response

In response to Carrico’s remarks, Deegan’s office issued a statement saying he was inaccurate in saying the administration hadn’t engaged adequately with the developers.

Donna Deegan

 “As Vice President Carrico well knows, city negotiators met multiple times with the Trio developer and his lobbying team over the past few months,” the statement said. 

“As outlined in our detailed summary, we considered many different deals during that time. However, every time the developer and his lobbyist moved the goal posts the city’s financial contribution and risk exposure kept increasing. Furthermore, the developer broke the terms of agreement that were in place for the city to remove its lawsuit.”

SouthEast statement

In SouthEast’s statement, the developers said they had worked diligently to craft a deal only to be abruptly cut off. 

“Over the last eight weeks, however, only one in-person meeting was held with the Downtown Investment Authority (DIA) leadership to discuss the project’s progress,” the statement read.

Steve Atkins

“After weeks of waiting, the administration’s response yesterday was not a courtesy call or constructive feedback, but rather a 30-second notice to SouthEast Development counsel that the City would refile its lawsuit against the property. Following this, the Administration issued a public statement to the press without prior notice to our team.”

SouthEast also criticized the city for “citing incidents of graffiti and vandalism on the Laura Street Trio property as grounds for foreclosure.”

“We believe the city shares responsibility for ensuring Downtown security and that historic properties should be supported, not penalized, to prevent further setbacks in revitalization,” the statement said.

“Our team has invested everything in this project, from financial commitments to creative solutions, and all we ask is for the city to stand with us to see it through,” Atkins was quoted as saying in the release. “With meaningful support, we can revitalize this landmark; without it, we risk losing an invaluable part of our city’s history. Let’s not allow vandalism and lack of engagement to halt downtown’s future.”

Live Oak Contacting enters

Earlier Nov. 13, Deegan said she was “incredibly disappointed” that negotiations had hit another dead end but believes there’s no point in holding more talks with the developers.

In remarks aired by Daily Record news partner News4Jax, Deegan said she had been hopeful that the project could move forward after a new investor, Jacksonville-based Live Oak Contracting, partnered with SouthEast Development Group in September 2024.

Deegan wasn’t alone. Others also saw Live Oak’s involvement as a possible breakthrough amid long-standing concerns that Atkins and SouthEast brought too little private equity into the project and were overreliant on pubic incentives. 

The city said that after Live Oak entered the picture, the development team and city negotiators agreed in principle to several terms of a new deal in what the city calls the “ten points memo.” As a result, the city dropped the foreclosure against SouthEast, which it had filed when a previous round of negotiations reached impasse.

“We had created a 10-point plan for that agreement that we all agreed to, and then those things were walked back from,” Deegan said. “I can’t continue to be a part of a process where I can’t count on those things to be followed.”

History of failed launches

The latest breakdown followed years of similar starts and stops on the Trio, including agreements approved by Council in 2017 and 2021 with SouthEast and Atkins. Neither time did the project launch, sending the city and Atkins back to the table. 

Deegan said there was no point in going any further with the current developers.

“I think certainly people see that we have tried everything that we can try, and it’s just time to move on,” she said. 

Plans for a redeveloped Laura Street Trio include a hotel, restaurants and apartments.

According to a city summary of the latest round of negotiations, the developers submitted a new proposal in October that “materially deviates” from the terms in the 10 points memo. 

That proposal included a request for $96.81 million in incentives, including $20 million in loans, a $36.37 million construction grant and $40.43 million in completion grants.

The ask for public funding was more than $7 million more than the developers had included in their previous proposal in June 2024, the city said. Meanwhile, total development cost rose from $194.25 million in June to $211.74 million in October, the city summary said.

The city said the new proposal isn’t feasible for reasons that include: 

• It seeks a flow of city funds throughout the construction process as opposed to incentives being delivered on the back end following completion, inspections and third-party verifications.

• The timing of payments puts the city at “significant risk,” and the proposal contains “inadequate back stops if the project does not achieve a financial closing and does not get started and complete on time with no cost overruns.” 

The Trio comprises the First National Bank Building, Bisbee Building and Florida Life Building at Laura, Forsyth and Adams streets. The structures were built from 1902 to 1912 and are among the last remaining unrestored buildings constructed during the years immediately following the 1901 fire that destroyed much of Downtown. 

Magill at Cuppa Jax

Speaking Nov. 13 at the morning Cuppa Jax speaker series before the back-and-forth statements were issued,  local civic leader Sherry Magill praised Atkins for reviving the Barnett National Bank Building and called for the Trio to be saved. 

The vacant Barnett was renovated and opened as apartments, retail and office space in 2019.

Magill, former longtime president of the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, noted that Atkins had proposed including workforce housing in the Trio.

Magill now writes commentary on local government and other issues on the Substack online platform, where her goals include increasing civic engagement. She noted that the city has approved millions of dollars in incentives for other proposed Downtown developments without affordable or workforce housing components. 

“I resent, as a taxpayer, that my money is going to a housing project that has not one penny set aside for people making around the median income,” she said, speaking at Riverplace Tower on the Southbank.

 

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