The fire-ravaged Rise Doro apartment building is primed for a revival after the Jacksonville City Council gave final approval Sept. 10 to a $15.45 million incentives package to rebuild the complex.
Council voted 18-0 in favor of Ordinance 2024-0633, which contains the incentives. Council member Terrance Freeman did not attend the meeting.
The vote came seven months after the project was heavily damaged by a fire that broke out Jan. 28 on the structure’s sixth floor and burned for more than 24 hours. Mayor Donna Deegan called the fire a setback for Jacksonville’s Downtown revitalization effort, as Rise Doro stood as the first residential development in the Sports and Entertainment District near EverBank Stadium.
The complex was days from its first scheduled move-ins when the fire occurred. The cause of the blaze has not been determined.
The pedestal-style construction included five floors of wood-frame construction built atop a two-story concrete base and around a seven-story concrete parking garage. After the fire, the city ordered the wood-framed portions of the building to be demolished out of concerns of a collapse that would damage adjacent structures.
Concrete portions of the building were determined to be structurally sound.
The incentive package includes a 20-year, 75% Recapture Enhanced Value grant of $11.45 million and a $3 million workforce housing completion grant in addition to the emergency grant, which was offered in consideration of Rise promptly complying with a city’s demolition order, which allowed surrounding businesses to reopen within weeks of the fire.
In 2020, the city approved a 15-year, 65% REV grant of $5.75 million for the project. A REV grant is a refund on ad valorem tax revenue generated by a new development. The grant for Rise would come through the DIA Multifamily Housing REV Grant program and would be payable upon completion of construction.
According to DIA records, the rebuilt project would include 247 residential units and 7,400 square feet of retail space. Rise intends to incorporate 85 units of workforce housing, where before all the units were to be leased at market rate.
The parking garage structure will provide 300 spaces and be topped by a rooftop swimming pool and fitness center. There will be 4,700 square feet of ground-floor retail space, which will be open to the public during normal business hours.
The DIA reported that the rebuilt 360,000-square-foot structure will include 15 954-square-foot one-bedroom town home units, 173 one-bedroom units of 625-750 square feet and 61 two-bedroom units of 1,025 square feet. The 85 workforce units will be restricted to tenants making up to 120% of the area median income.
The cost of the original project, including the concrete pedestal and parking garage, was $65 million. In 2020, the DIA board approved a 15-year, 65% Recapture Enhanced Value grant of $5.75 million for the project.
DIA CEO Lori Boyer cited increased construction costs as the reason for the new REV grant being nearly twice the size of the version approved in 2020.