JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – City officials and the owner of three historic downtown buildings known as the Laura Street Trio are leaving the door open for a potential development partnership in the future.
This comes after it appeared the two sides may have come to an impasse over financing. But on Wednesday, both sides made it clear a potential deal could move forward.
After decades of lying abandoned, the sign outside the Laura Street Trio says, “Coming Soon!” However, that promise appeared to be in jeopardy after a dispute over financing.
The Downtown Investment Authority Board previously offered three financing solutions which developer Steve Atkins of the Southeast Development Group did not accept.
Everyone involved says they want to save the historic buildings but if the city and the developer can’t find a compromise they could be torn down. There have been plans to add multifamily housing and a hotel.
What DIA doesn’t want is a deal with no conditions.
Much of the back and forth is because the only option the developer is interested in includes paying for the hotel portion with a loan worth $22 million — and the city would have to back up that loan.
“At this point we’re looking at our options. But it is our intention to make sure those buildings are restored,” Mayor Donna Deegan said last week. “I think that unfortunately in this situation we gave Mr. Akins three, what we thought were very good options through DIA. Unfortunately, he came back with something that once again the general counsel said is more of the same and is not constitutional. We cannot in a responsible way move forward with something we feel is unconstitutional.”
Deegan said time is of the essence for the buildings that have sat vacant for too long.
But by the time the Downtown Development Authority met Wednesday, the posture of both sides appeared to have softened.
The developer’s attorney, Jason Gabriel, said his client is willing to explore other financing options.
“I don’t think we’re at the end of this, we’re gonna get this done,” Gabriel said. “There’s been 24/7 conversations, analyses, we have people crunching numbers. So yes, term sheets are being developed as we speak, to get to a place that is hopefully acceptable to the city.”
The DIA also amended the resolution to say although it can’t accept the developer’s previous financing proposal, it is willing to evaluate future financing proposals which could come within weeks.
One major proponent of revitalizing the Trio is Councilman Matt Carlucci, who said the project would revitalize downtown.
“They have survived and they’ve been here. And they’ve seen their day. And then they lost their day. And now they’re going to start a new day. And I think that is a wonderful story. And it says a lot about who Jacksonville is because we always overcome adversity in Jacksonville always do,” Carlucci said.