A new player has joined the effort to revive the Laura Street Trio in Downtown Jacksonville, which could help break a logjam between the development team and the city over the future of the historic buildings.
During a Sept. 9 meeting of the City Council Special Committee on the Future of Downtown, committee members were told that Jacksonville-based Live Oak Contracting had joined SouthEast Development Group in the redevelopment project.
Kevin Carrico, chair of the special committee, said the involvement of Live Oak and its founder, Paul Bertozzi, could move the project forward by addressing concerns raised by Council members, Downtown Investment Authority board members and others that SouthEast and its principal and Trio owner, Steve Atkins, brought too little private equity into previously proposed development agreements with the city.
SouthEast has been working to transform the Trio into apartments, a hotel and restaurant.
Katherine Ruttell, director of marketing and communications for Live Oak, said during a telephone interview that the amount of the company’s investment in the project was being negotiated.
“I think it changes it a lot,” Carrico said, referring to Live Oak’s effects on the dynamic between the development team and the city.
“He (Bertozzi) is a known entity here in town. He’s got a great track record of doing multifamily and conversions. Steve has experience with the historic, so I think Steve stays on the team with that relative experience and Live Oak becomes more of the lead of the construction piece and is bringing more capital partners," he said.
“Which makes everyone happy, because at the end of the day that’s less money up front and less money from the city.”
Atkins redeveloped the historic Barnett National Bank Building at 112 W. Adams St. Downtown into apartments, office and retail space that opened in 2019.
Carrico said he learned of Live Oak’s involvement in recent weeks.
“They bring a pretty large amount of capital to the project as well as knowledge of construction it would take to pull it off,” he said.
“So they are going to be more in the driver’s seat than SouthEast at this point, I believe. So we’re going to continue to negotiate with them as a new partner.”
Live Oak specializes in multifamily construction and provides contracting services along the East Coast and in the Southeast. According to information provided by the company, Live Oak employs 55 people and has completed more than $1 billion in projects since its founding 10 years ago.
Bertozzi was named a Jacksonville Daily Record Top Entrepreneur in 2021.
The company’s projects include the multifamily component of the One Riverside mixed-use development at 1 Riverside Ave., the former Florida Times-Union campus. The residential part of the project comprises two seven-story apartment buildings totaling 270 units.
The overall Fuqua Development project also includes ground-floor restaurant and retail space and a Whole Foods grocery store.
Trio foreclosure lawsuit
The committee was told that the developers and city are working to resolve a foreclosure lawsuit filed in mid-August by the city against the Trio’s owner, Laura Trio LLC.
The lawsuit alleged that the Trio ownership, led by Atkins, owes the city more than $800,000 in unpaid fines for municipal code violations involving the buildings.
Jacksonville attorney Jason Gabriel, a representative for Trio developer SouthEast Development Group, told committee members that the development team had “a couple of good, productive conversations” with Mayor Donna Deegan’s administration and the DIA on the suit. Gabriel said those talks led to the identification of “10 or 11” issues to be resolved to dismiss the suit.
SouthEast and DIA have been at an impasse over an incentives deal for redeveloping the Trio, with the sides disputing which was responsible.
Carrico said resolving the lawsuit would be pivotal in reopening the door for a redevelopment agreement. If the suit isn’t headed off, he said, it was almost certain that Live Oak and other investors would pull out.
“If they see this (lawsuit) as something the administration is just going to hang over this, then they’re going to walk,” he said.
“Whatever 10 or 11 things they want from Live Oak, as soon as we can get that done and they drop that lawsuit, then I think the capital partners can come in and we can really start working on term sheets.”
Gabriel agreed, saying investors “will leave in a heartbeat if the prospect of litigation is a real one.”
Scott Wilson, Deegan’s Council liaison, said the administration would work in good faith with SouthEast toward resolving the suit.
More Trio negotiations
For the next round of negotiations, Carrico said he plans to hire an outside lawyer to represent the City Council. He said Council President Randy White had given him authority and funding to bring aboard the independent counsel.
The negotiations would involve the DIA, mayor’s office and Council’s attorney, he said, adding that he was “trying to work with everybody” toward a solution.
Gabriel said he believed that if the lawsuit were out of the way, the sides could negotiate a term sheet in two to four weeks.
Atkins declined to comment after the meeting.
His latest proposal included $85.77 million in city incentives comprising $18.3 million in loans and $67.57 million in development grants. The total development cost was $188.67 million to convert the buildings into a hotel, apartments, restaurant and bar.
SouthEast said its proposal was backed by a 100% completion guarantee by project contractor Turner Construction Co. of Atlanta.
That proposal drew concerns that SouthEast was asking for incentives to cover a higher-than-average percentage of his total costs than the city typically allows.
Past negotiations
Atkins received Council-approved incentives in 2017 and 2021 but did not follow through with construction either time.
The most recent impasse came after Council member Matt Carlucci filed legislation to move the project forward. His ordinance prompted Council to direct DIA staff to begin another round of negotiations with SouthEast, which eventually led to the DIA board unanimously passing a resolution in June 2024 to cut off talks with the developer.
The Trio comprises the First National Bank Building, Bisbee Building and Florida Life Building. 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.
During a presentation to the special committee on Sept. 9, local historian Wayne Wood said the Trio constituted “Jacksonville’s most historically significant corner,” with two being designed by noted Jacksonville architect Henry J. Klutho. He said the layout of the structures was unique, with the bank building being placed at the corner and abutting its high-rise neighbors.
He said the arrangement was “breathtaking in its symmetry,” with the bank “perfectly framed by two skyscrapers of similar height and proportion designed by our most prominent architect.”
Wood said the buildings needed to be preserved as a group.
“It’s our crown jewel. It’s our Picasso,” he said.