The long-vacant Ambassador Hotel building in Downtown Jacksonville is the subject of a foreclosure lawsuit against the St. Augustine-based developer behind a failed effort to revive the historic building.
The suit, filed in Duval County Circuit Court by St. Augustine-based Good As New Ventures LLC, involves a $9 million construction loan to Axis Hotels LLC from DLP Lending Fund LLC. The loan was finalized in 2021, the suit states, with the property offered as security.
The suit says that in October 2023, DLP obtained a default judgment against Axis Hotels LLC in the Court of Common Pleas for Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, for $10.58 million plus per diem interest of $6,000. In April 2024, DLP transferred the loan and judgment to Good As New Ventures, the suit says. Good as New Ventures is managed by DLP and shares its address. Good as New Ventures was founded in Pennsylvania and changed its address to St. Augustine in 2022, state records show.
In its June 2024 filing in Duval County, Good As New Ventures claims Axis Hotels has not paid the judgment. Axis Hotels is the lead defendant in the suit, which also names 16 contractors and other entities with interest or possible interest in the property.
A hearing on the case has not been set, a court staff member said. Court records show numerous filings related to the case in recent weeks, including attorneys entering their appearance as counsel of record and confirmations of defendants being served notice of the suit.
Axis Hotels LLC is an affiliate of the Augustine Development Group, which acquired the building in July 2018 for $5.4 million as part of a five-lot, 1.5-acre purchase of properties bordered by Duval, Julia, Church and Pearl streets. The adjacent Central National Bank building also was part of the purchase.
The phone number listed on the Augustine Development Group website appears to no longer be working. An email to a contact listed on the site was not immediately returned.
Plans for the property included converting the Ambassador into a 127-room La Quinta Inn and Suites, and demolishing the Central National Bank building and replacing it with a 200-unit apartment building and parking garage. Total construction costs were estimated at $38 million, and the original estimated time of completion was 14 months. The city approved permits for the project in March 2019.
In January 2019, the Jacksonville City Council approved an economic development agreement with Axis Hotels LLC to redevelop the building. The city approved a $1.5 million historic preservation grant for the Ambassador Hotel portion of the project and a $4.9 million Recapture Enhanced Value grant for the apartment building and parking garage, due upon completion.
Augustine Development Group also obtained a $3.8 million loan from the Local Initiative Support Corp., a community development organization funded by donations and partnerships with the city of Jacksonville, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Federal Home Loan Bank and Fannie Mae Foundation.
LISC is among the defendants listed in the suit.
Today, the building’s entrances remain boarded up. Some new windows were installed while construction was underway, but most window openings are either open to the elements or covered with protective fabric material. Graffiti covers portions of exterior walls and the property is surrounded by construction fencing.
Augustine Development Group also was behind a project to redevelop the Independent Life Building across Julia Street from the Ambassador and Central National Bank. In 2023, Council approved a redevelopment agreement with the group that included a $3 million historic preservation grant for the building.
In February 2024, Downtown Investment Authority CEO Lori Boyer said the Augustine Development Group was in default on its redevelopment agreements for both the Ambassador/Central National Bank and Independent Life Building projects.