JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After years of negotiations, the Downtown Investment Authority and the Laura Street Trio developer have reached an impasse.
The Downtown Investment Authority staff again recommended that the city end negotiations with the developer of the Laura Street Trio on the latest round of requests for public incentives to resurrect the historic buildings, according to News4JAX’s news partner the Jacksonville Daily Record. The recommendation was approved by the board on Friday.
Now it’s back to the drawing board.
“It’s like a house divided. We don’t need a house divided. We need our house of Jacksonville united behind this project,” said Councilman Matt Carlucci, who has been pushing for the project since day one.
Steve Atkins, principal of SouthEast and owner of the buildings since 2013, said he was caught off-guard, but that he supports the move.
“In my mind, there’s nothing more important for Downtown. Now that the stadium deal is done, this is front and center. And the only way I think something is going to happen is if we work directly with the Council,” Atkins told the Jacksonville Daily Record.
Atkins now wants to work directly with City Council.
DIA documents put a $194.2 million price tag on the renovations with SouthEast requesting about $89 million in city incentives. Those numbers, according to a DIA report, put the city “at risk” and is seen by staff as not worth consideration.
RELATED: Laura Street Trio developer says historical buildings could come down if deal isn’t reached with city | Developer wants loan assistance to help jumpstart long-delayed Laura Street Trio project downtown | City, developer of Laura Street Trio leave the door open for potential project partnership
Sources told News4JAX in May that the developer and the city had been close to an agreement.
Within hours of the Friday decision, Carlucci sent an email to the mayor’s office formally withdrawing a bill he introduced last year to get the project going.
As of now, it’s unclear what options a special committee will consider to fund the Trio, but Carlucci says the developer’s multi-million dollar ask was too much for the city in the long run.
“This project is so near and dear to my heart, but not as much as the great city of Jacksonville is near and dear to my heart. And I have to protect our finances,” he said.
Atkins said whatever decisions or recommendations are made by the special committee, he’s ready to move soon.
“We need to get this moving forward now, as soon as we can. We are prepared to mobilize onsite within 30 days. We just need to get to a place where we have an agreement with the city and move this forward,” he said.
One interesting aspect to all of this is the special committee that has been tasked with exploring options for the Trio’s revitalization was initially formed to look into the future of downtown and specifically the DIA, the very agency that just voted to end the discussions with the developer. As of now, it’s unclear when the special committee will meet to discuss the Trio.