by Glenn Tschimpke
Staff Writer
Circuit Court Judge Lawrence Haddock has denied the City’s request to take a three-quarter acre plot of land at 325 Main St. through eminent domain. The City had slated the land for surface parking and a pocket park to complement the Downtown Library across Main Street.
Judge Haddock’s ruling, dated April 4, reads, “. . . [The City] abused its discretion by making a decision based on an insufficient study of relevant factors, including the need for the property, alternative sites, environmental concerns and its compatibility with the City’s long range plan . . .”
Mayor John Delaney’s chief administrative officer and Better Jacksonville Plan top administrator Sam Mousa was not sure of the City’s next step.
“We have three options,” he said. “We can abandon our efforts, which I don’t think we’ll do. We can perform additional due diligence or we can appeal. The judge indicated perhaps that we needed to provide more due diligence.”
In other words, the City needs to provide a more compelling reason to leverage the property from its current owner. The site, currently a surface parking lot, is owned by the Eunice Estelle Demery Trust and is overseen by John DeSalvo. Current plans for the site include a 12-story mixed use building called The Landmark. It would include 12,000 square feet of retail, 84,237 square feet of Class A office space and eight levels of parking garage which would contain 891 parking spaces.
“We are pleased with the honorable Judge Haddock and his decision to allow us to keep our property,” said business partner Mark Jackson in a statement on behalf of DeSalvo.
Jackson is owner of Tenant International Development Group, LLC and is teaming with DeSalvo on The Landmark project. He denies allegations that The Landmark is being used as a ploy to raise the value of the land in question. The City has offered DeSalvo $662,000.
“That would be too simple to do that,” said Jackson. “We want to keep the land. We want to build a building. That’s money for us.”
Mousa claims the land will be used to park school buses while children visit the library if the City purchases it.
Mousa said he would speak with the attorneys handling the case before further action is pursued. When asked why the City is trying vigorously to acquire DeSalvo’s particular plot, he defended the move.
“We believe the community and downtown would love to see more green space downtown,” he said. “This one was well-liked for its adjacency to the library.
If the City is denied further eminent domain actions on the land, Jackson speculated that it would take about a year and a half to complete The Landmark, with a grand opening in late 2003.
Rex Holmlin, project manager for the Downtown Library project, said the judge’s decision will not delay construction of the library. Demolition of existing buildings on the site is scheduled to begin in May.