JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The developer of RISE Doro, a downtown apartment complex that caught fire Sunday, is a real estate company named RISE. According to the company’s website, it has dozens of apartment complexes located across the country in its portfolio, including several in the Jacksonville area.
The company put out a statement thanking the firefighters and first responders involved and during a news conference later in the day, RISE President and Chief Financial Officer Greg Blais confirmed that the complex was insured and stated he’s not opposed to rebuilding.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the firefighters, first responders, and their families who have been committed to the safety of our community. We are thankful for their quick and ongoing response to the situation,” the company said in a statement on its website.
“Obviously, we’ve got a long process to go through and navigate,” Blais said. “We chose to move the company to Jacksonville to make the commitment to be downtown. We still have that commitment strong in our hearts. We want to be downtown, and we absolutely want to see a rebuild happen.”
At an early morning press conference Monday afternoon, Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan said she hadn’t heard much from representatives of the developers behind RISE Doro.
“I haven’t heard much else from them beyond the fact that they are hopeful that at some point they’ll be able to get back and rebuild,” Deegan said. “Obviously, at this point, that’s going to be a process.”
According to RISE’s website, it focuses on multi-family and student housing development, management, and financing.
The website also says the company does its own construction for some projects; the Doro is one of them.
According to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, the building contractor for the Doro has been licensed since 2014, and the state website shows no complaints against them.
RISE is now based in Jacksonville after it moved its headquarters from Valdosta.
RISE has six apartment complexes in its portfolio in the Jacksonville area, including the Doro.
There’s also RISE Julington, RISE Bartram Park, RISE Baymeadows, RISE Glen Kernan Park, and RISE at Nocatee. RISE Glen Kernan Park and Rise at Nocatee are 55-plus active living apartment complexes.
In Gainesville, the company has two student apartment complexes, RISE Thirty-Fourth and Anthem House Apartments.
The company’s CEO told the Jacksonville Daily Record in 2022 that the 247-unit project at RISE Doro was expected to cost $67 million and be completed in the summer of 2023. But now, the immediate concern is keeping the building from collapsing.
After the Doro caught fire Sunday, News4JAX reached out to the company to ask whether people had already signed leases or had move-in dates. We also wanted to know if RISE had any idea what may have sparked the fire, but it did not immediately respond.
According to RISE Doro Apartments’ website, units in the apartment were available for leasing, with some available starting March 1. Apartments.com listed rent for $1,475-$3,200 with units ranging from studios to two bedrooms.
A spokesperson for JEA said the utility provided two transformers for the RISE Doro Apartments building. “Both services had final electrical inspections and were connected in early October,” they said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation by the state fire marshal.