The City Council designated the Porter House Mansion in Downtown Jacksonville’s North Core and a building at 112 E. Forsyth St. near the Florida Theatre as local landmarks.
The Council voted 17-0 on Aug. 10 to approve bills that designate the properties as historic.
The Jacksonville Historic Preservation Commission issued recommendations May 26 to approve the designations for both properties.
Porter House
Developer JWB Real Estate Capital LLC plans to renovate and lease the Porter House at as office space to a single tenant on the top three floors. The basement space is planned for a restaurant.
Through 510 N Julia LLC, JWB paid $2.605 million in August for the 510 N. Julia St. mansion and the 1.5-acre block where it sits.
Known as the Thomas V. Porter Residence, the mansion was built in 1902. The city Planning and Development Department’s report calls it “the last grand home in Jacksonville’s Downtown” that is a “significant visual reminder of the city’s historical and architectural heritage.”
Jacksonville architect Henry John Klutho designed it.
During a May 21 virtual meeting of the JAX Chamber Downtown Council, JWB President Alex Sifakis outlined preliminary plans for multifamily and mixed-use development on vacant land next to the mansion.
Sifakis said the residential project could be seven stories and likely would not begin until the middle or end of 2022.
He showed Downtown Council members an aerial photo of the Porter House block with street-level retail facing West Church and Ashley streets.
Sifakis said in August 2020 that the Porter House renovation would cost $600,000.
The city issued a permit Feb. 19 for River City Contractors Inc. to begin work on Americans with Disabilities Act and restroom renovations at the four-level, almost 16,000-square-foot building at a cost of $200,100.
112 E. Forsyth St.
Orlando-based Team Market Group bought the 2,000 square-foot building near the Florida Theatre through 112 E Forsyth LLC in May 2018 for $250,000.
Seller Ann Teague Bonding Agency bought it for $150,000 in 2003 from WW Properties LLC.
Team Market Group partner Romi Mawardi said in 2018 it would be used for office space. The Orlando investment group also planned to adapt 120 E. Forsyth next door into the Mather Social Gathering cocktail bar.
According to documents filed with the historic designation legislation, 112 E. Forsyth St. is one of a group of commercial buildings constructed on the eastern part of Downtown during the decade after the Great Fire of 1901.
The three-story building was built in 1906 as office space for the New York Steam Laundry Company that operated next door at 120 E. Forsyth St., according to a city Planning and Development Department report.
It was built by Jacksonville contractor Norman Lesley Snelson, which the report said was one of many architects and builders attracted to the city after the Great Fire.
Council members Ju’Coby Pittman and Tommy Hazouri were absent for the vote Aug. 10.
The Orlando investors also own the two-story, 12,000-square-foot building at 120 E. Forsyth St. It was built in 1909.
They bought it through 120 E Forsyth LLC in June 2018 for $830,000.
Team Market Group filed a permit application for 120 E. Forsyth St. in August 2018 for a $60,000 build-out. That application is marked as “return for corrections” on the city Building and Inspections Division website.
