The city of Jacksonville dropped a foreclosure lawsuit against the developer of the Laura Street Trio redevelopment project, opening the door to a possible new agreement to resurrect the historic Downtown buildings.
SouthEast Development Group Inc., which was named in the suit, issued a statement Sept. 16 saying it was “encouraged by the city of Jacksonville’s renewed focus on moving this important project forward.”
The dismissal of the suit came a week after SouthEast and city officials revealed they were in talks to resolve the litigation, in which the city alleged that SouthEast owed the city more than $800,000 in unpaid fines for municipal code violations involving the buildings.
In related news, Downtown-based Live Oak Contracting issued a Sept. 16 release saying it had partnered with SouthEast as a co-general partner and equity investor alongside Southeast Holdings LP and SouthEast Community Investment Fund LLC.
After a Sept. 9 meeting of the Jacksonville City Council Special Committee on the Future of Downtown, committee Chair Kevin Carrico said he hoped the involvement of Live Oak as an equity partner would resolve concerns that SouthEast and its principal, Steve Atkins, had brought too little private equity to the project in recent proposals for redevelopment agreements with the city.
Atkins’ most recent 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.
Live Oak said the project would include a 143-key four-star Autograph Collection Hotel by Marriott, 169 blended-rate apartments and retail and entertainment spaces that “will be unlike anything else in Northeast Florida.”
SouthEast and DIA have been at an impasse over an incentives deal for redeveloping the Trio, with the sides disputing which was responsible.
Carrico, in his remarks after the special committee meeting, said resolving the lawsuit would be pivotal in reopening the door for a renegotiated redevelopment agreement. If the suit isn’t headed off, he said, it was almost certain that Live Oak and other investors would pull out.
In SouthEast’s Sept. 16 release, the developer said it looked forward to working with Mayor Donna Deegan’s administration, the Downtown Investment Authority and “all other interested stakeholders” to restore and repurpose the buildings.
“SouthEast Development Group, DIA, and the Mayor's Office continue negotiations to determine the best path forward in completing renovations of the Laura Street Trio project. Current plans are to move forward without the lawsuit as agreed to by both parties,” Deegan said in a statement.
Carrico said he plans to hire an independent lawyer for the committee to take part in the negotiations.
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.
This story has been updated with a statement from Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan.