JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – In a meeting Tuesday, the JEA board approved a resolution that ultimately paves the way for the former campus to be sold.
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The former headquarters campus, which includes two office buildings and a parking garage on roughly 2.4 acres in downtown Jacksonville, has stood vacant since employees moved to the new headquarters in April 2023.
Dr. Wayne Wood is a historian-at-large with the Jacksonville Historical Society and has been passionate about the property for decades.
“I’ve been lobbying for two years to have the JEA sell this building,” Wood said. “It’s a gem. Most people don’t look at it very often because it’s set back from the river, but it is a wonderful work of art and should be preserved as that.”
Wood featured it in one of his books highlighting prominent buildings in the River City. He said construction was completed in 1963, and its unique appearance represents the mid-century modern style.
“This wonderful building with its hexagonal windows is like a 19-story honeycomb in the sky,” Wood said. “And it originally was built as the headquarters for the Universal Marion Corporation, which is a large industrial manufacturing company. And they made their headquarters in downtown Jacksonville.”
Wood said it was an ambitious mixed-use project. He said there was a six-story department store, a 19-story skyscraper, a six-story parking garage, and a dress shop. He said the original plan was to include a doctor’s pavilion, an ice-skating rink, and a reflecting pond.
However, the latter two items were never built. There was also the rotating rooftop restaurant called The Embers.
Wood said he ate dinner there himself as a teenager.
“The view of Jacksonville one night was just spectacular,” Wood said. “In 1979, the building was bought by the Charter Company, and they removed the rotation mechanism for the restaurant so the president of the company, Raymond Mason, could have his office suite up there. And the view is still spectacular.”
Wood said that while the building is very sturdy, it needs to be restored and renovated so as not to fall into a state of disrepair.
“Any building that’s been vacant for a long time is in danger of decay and deterioration just because of the lack of maintenance on the inside,” Wood said. “People need to be in a building to keep it vibrant.”
Wood said that while it would be a great spot for apartments and condos, he has a different idea.
“I love the idea of doing the University of Florida’s new downtown campus,” Wood said. “Put it in that building, have a vertical college campus instead of putting it out in the fairgrounds far away from downtown and using up lots of land. This building is already there, and it is close to the library. It’s close to the art museum.”
The board-approved resolution includes a provision that a future sale or transaction will be returned to the board for approval. In a statement, a JEA spokesperson said there is no set price at this time.
As for the next steps with the sale process, JEA is finalizing the method of disposition for the properties and will provide timelines for a sale process in the near future.
