by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Things are going so well at 11 E. Forsyth that Vestcor Companies officials are already inquiring about moving forward with plans to renovate the Roosevelt Hotel into 100 residential apartments and a mixed-use retail/commercial office development that will be known as The Carlington.
Mark Farrell, president of Vestcor, has submitted his company’s tentative financial plan for renovating the historically significant, but deteriorating, building on West Adams Street. The preliminary numbers indicate Vestcor will need a $10.7 million loan from the City, a City grant worth $7.9 million and a $2 million Federal HUD grant. Vestcor plans to invest $5.3 million of its own capital into the project.
Farrell said these numbers are not absolutes and there is room for negotiating with the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission — but not much.
“These are the numbers that make the deal make [financial] sense,” said Farrell. “Can we move a dollar? Yes. Can we move two dollars? Yes. Small tweaks can be made and everything’s negotiable. We can be flexible with the loan and then, maybe, need less grant money depending on the interest rate of the loan. There’s a matrix, but this is the basic model we think makes sense.”
JEDC executive director Kirk Wendland said the financial proposal from Vestcor doesn’t surprise him. City officials realize that renovating historic buildings is an expensive venture. Wendland admits it would certainly be easier and cheaper to tear down the Roosevelt Hotel, but neither the City, Vestcor nor those who value historic preservation want any part of that scenario.
Unfortunately, it is kind of what we anticipated,” said Wendland of the Roosevelt costs. “It’s not better than we thought. When the 11 E. Forsyth deal was done, we knew the Roosevelt was in worse shape.”
Wendland said the best the City can hope for is that the downtown housing market booms and developers find themselves being able to pick up more of the tab. Until then, Wendland said he anticipates some negotiating with Vestcor, but ultimately going to City Council with a proposal similar to the one currently on his desk.
“The fact of the matter is that historic preservation and rehabilitation is good news,” said Wendland. “One, we not only get something we want, but it’s a good looking product. Two, we turn a negative into a positive. The bad news is, doing it is expensive. Based on 11 E. Forsyth, the work being done and the excitement it’s generating, it will not be a hard sell to convince people to do this [the Roosevelt] project.”
Farrell said the renovation of the old American Heritage Life building is going better than expected. Outside of finding a little more old foundation than expected — which delayed construction of the six-story, 155-space parking garage — all of the surprises have been pleasant.
“We’re very pleased with the outcome and the final results of the building,” said Farrell. “We have taken an old office building, gutted it and turning it into apartments. It was tough to visualize how the rooms would settle into the building. Now, the walls are up, the 15th floor is done and we are as pleased as we could be.”
Farrell said residents will start moving in Feb. 1, the garage should be done by March 1 and construction on the Roosevelt could begin as soon as the end of the second quarter on next year.
“The first units would be done 12 to 15 months after we start,” said Farrell, adding the Roosevelt may be in an even better location considering its proximity to Hemming Plaza, City Hall, the new library and the new county and federal courthouses.