By Karen Brune Mathis & Mike Mendenhall • Staff Writers
Rise: A Real Estate Company paid $5.2 million for the George Doro Fixture Co. property at 102 A. Philip Randolph Blvd.
Rise bought the property Sept. 30 through Jacksonville Properties I LLC. The deed was recorded Oct. 1 with the Duval County Clerk of Court.
It bought the property from 102 A. Philip Randolph LLC, led by Jacksonville investors Paul and Farley Grainger.
The Downtown Development Review Board approved final designs May 14 for Rise to build an eight-story apartment and retail project to replace the building, despite objection from local historic preservation advocates.
Rise Vice President of Development Matt Marshall said Oct. 1 that the company is obtaining building permits from the city. He expects demolition of the existing Doro structure and site work to begin later this fall.
Marshall said construction will take about 22 months and Rise will start a preleasing program three months before receiving its certificate of occupancy from the city.
The DDRB voted 6-1 to clear plans by Valdosta, Georgia-based Rise for a 247-unit apartment building and seven-story parking garage.
Plans call for 7,527 square feet of combined ground-floor and rooftop retail, outdoor patio and public gathering spaces.
The board’s 2½-hour debate included public comments from more than 20 opponents of demolishing the at least century-old Doro Fixtures building on the 1.63-acre site near the Sports Complex.
Rise applied to the city for a demolition permit in April after the DDRB made the permit a condition for final approval when it cleared the conceptual design in March. The permit is in review.
The Doro Fixture Co. building is not in Jacksonville’s Downtown National Register District and does not have local landmark status to protect it from demolition, according to a Downtown Investment Authority staff report.
DIA staff consulted with Christian Popoli, city planner supervisor for the Community Planning Division, Historic Preservation Section, for the report.
Documents from the Florida Division of Historical Resources show the building was reviewed by state officials in 1983, 1991 and 2003 and found the structure potentially eligible for a local historic designation.
The oldest building on the Doro property dates to 1914 and more structures were added through 1954, according to the DDRB report, while the state review dates the original building’s construction in 1904.
DIA Operations Manager Guy Parola said May 14 officials in the city Historic Preservation Section do not intend to review the Doro Fixture building for historic preservation.
The board approved The Doro design with the condition that Rise obtain a building permit for vertical construction before demolishing the existing Doro Fixtures structure.
The condition doesn’t apply to interior demolition of the structure.
The board agreed to add language proposed by Rise attorney Paul Harden that the hold on demolition pending a permit is a binding condition as long as no one seeks a local landmark designation on the structure.
Board member J. Brent Allen said that demolition should not move forward without certainty that the mixed-use project will be built.
Rise wants to create a permanent presence in Jacksonville, Marshall said. The company opened a 5,000-square-foot office in September at 2312 Pablo Professional Court to house its construction division.
Rise also plans to begin work in late November on The Julington, a 260-unit market-rate apartment community along the east side of San Jose Boulevard.
“We’re looking at Jacksonville as a long-term investment opportunity,” Marshall said.