by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
A years-long battle over the old Haverty’s building on the corner of Laura and Duval streets is apparently over and it’s a win for the City.
In November, an appeals court judge ruled in favor of the City of Jacksonville, which had nearly every facet of ownership of the building except the canceled check from the owner — Philip Browning, principal owner of Atlanta-based Striton Realty. Today, the City owns the building after paying Browning $1.8 million for it, far less than the $5.5 million asking price.
“It’s done subject to having them (Striton) ask for a rehearing in the First District Court of Appeal and that’s not likely,” said Steve Busey, a partner in the firm Smith Hulsey & Busey, the outside counsel retained by the City to handle the case.
Busey said the case was rare because of the financial issues. Originally, the City offered Browning $1.98 million for the building, an offer that Browning refused. The case went to trial and in April 2004 and a jury returned a verdict of about $1.6 million. Browning and the City eventually settled on $1.8 million, a deal that had to be enforced by Circuit Court Judge Hugh Carithers. Browning then took the case to appeals court where the First District Court of Appeal ruled in favor of the City.
“This is unusual because we got the property for less than the City offered, pre-eminent domain,” said Busey.
Alan Mosley, director of Public Works, said the City can now move forward with plans to use the building as an annex where it will eventually house the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission, the City’s Planning Department and the Jacksonville Housing Commission.
“Those departments all get a lot of external traffic and deal with topics that create a lot of discussion,” said Mosley, explaining why Mayor John Peyton would prefer them as close to City Hall as possible. “We will have one big commission meeting room.”
Architectural firm Rink Reynolds Diamond Fisher & Wilson has been retained to create a design for the building, which Mosley says needs a lot of work. He conceded there is the slight possibility it could be torn down if it can’t be renovated without extensive and ultra-expensive work.
“There has been some discussions about whether to renovate it or tear it down, but right now we are planning to renovate it,” said Mosley, adding that the cost to renovate has been tentatively estimated at $8 million, bringing the total cost to almost $10 million, a price tag Mosley said he can live with. “We are happy with the building.”
The City also recently took ownership of the Ed Ball Building on Hogan Street, just a block southwest from City Hall. The 11-story building also will further consolidate City offices.
“Between the Ed Ball and Haverty’s buildings, we will empty out the Annex,” said Mosley, adding the State Attorney’s Office will likely take some of the space. “The Annex will probably become part of the county courthouse solution until we get farther along in that process.”
Eventually, the City would like to sell the property the Annex is on, a process that may not take very long because the Hyatt has first right of refusal on the property.
“That’s the agreement with the Hyatt,” said Mosley. “Any money generated from here (the sale of the Annex) will go to pay down the debt on the Ed Ball building.”