As a fire destroyed the Rise Doro apartments under construction near EverBank Stadium on Jan. 28-29, attention turned to what else is happening Downtown.
Among the projects:
Jones Bros. Furniture Co.
A $6.03 million package of city incentives to revive the historic Jones Bros. Furniture Co. building at 520 N. Hogan St. is scheduled at City Council committees in early February.
If passed there, the next stop would be a final vote before the full Council.
Corner Lot Development plans to turn the seven-story structure into a 29-unit apartment building with 1,700 square feet of co-work space.
The city incentives would come in the form of two Downtown Preservation and Restoration forgivable loans and a Deferred Principal Loan.
The project is featured in a video series, “Building a City,” sponsored by Corner Lot and available to watch here.
According to city documents, Corner Lot plans to invest $15.2 million in the project.
Greenleaf & Crosby Building
In the same round of committee hearings, Council members will consider a $4.96 million package of incentives for the Greenleaf & Crosby Building at 208 N. Laura St.
JWB Real Estate Capital LLC plans to build-out 44,000 square feet of leasable commercial office space and 11,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space in the 96-year-old building, which is a designated historic landmark. The company plans to use the building as its headquarters.
It now is based at 7563 Philips Highway in Deerwood Center.
The incentives comprise a Historic Preservation Restoration and Rehabilitation forgivable loan, a Code Compliance Renovations forgivable loan and a Deferred Principal Loan.
The 12-story building, built in 1927, was the home of Jacobs Jewelers from 1930 to 2023.
Laura Street Trio
As for the Trio, the collection of historic buildings at Forsyth and Laura streets, work on incentives is happening behind the scenes at City Hall after the City Council stalled a deal that would include $36.5 million in forgivable loans and property tax breaks, a $2 million forgivable loan and a $22 million “city participation loan” designed to guarantee a 25-year construction loan obtained by developer SouthEast Development Group.
Citing concerns that the participation loan could be unconstitutional and that the deal would expose the city to an alarming level of debt liability, the Council sent the package to the Downtown Investment Authority with instructions to meet with SouthEast and return with another proposal.