by Sean McManus
Staff Writer
Two of the three potential developers for the historic buildings on the corner of Laura and Forsyth streets pitched their ideas to the Jacksonville Historical Society (JHS) Thursday but no formal decision was made regarding which proposal they would support.
The only definitive action taken occurred near the end of the meeting when the group, which included JHS’s board and other interested parties, passed a motion requesting that a representative with full voting power be placed on the committee with members of the Downtown Development Authority to decide who lands the project.
Lisa Shepherd of the City’s Historic Preservation Commission’s put the idea up for vote and the motion passed unanimously.
Emily Lisska, the executive director of the JHS, said she will now place a call to DDA managing director Al Battle to inquire about whether a representative from the JHS can vote on the proposals.
The first presentation was made by Steineman & Co., originally an Atlanta firm who relocated its corporate offices to Jacksonville three years ago. They touted their experience with historic preservation in Atlanta, most notably the 1919 Ponce De Leon Apartments across from the historic Fox Theatre on Peachtree Street.
Their vision, a $23 million renovation, would incorporate 1,700 square feet of multi-tenant professional office and retail space in the Old Florida National Bank building (Marble Bank), 4,400 square feet of retail and 39,600 square feet of professional offices in the Bisbee building, 2,400 square feet of pedestrian-level retail, 19,200 square feet of ‘boutique’ office space and unique apartments with penthouse garden terrace accommodations. The plan also includes a 300-space parking deck that will create an additional 10,000 square feet of ground floor retail space.
“We consider this property to be a major emerald in the necklace that runs from the riverfront to Hemming Plaza,” said Buddy Young, who was representing Steineman. Their proposal, which would use Elkins Constructors as the contractor, would also add a tower to the rear of the buildings and an outdoor park on top of a new parking garage.
Klutho Partners, LLC, a development group led by Chris Brown and Mike Langton presented its vision for a $58 million Klutho Commons, a mixed-use development that includes, in addition to the Marble Bank building, the Bisbee building, the Old Barnett Bank building and potentially a new, Class “A” office building above a nine story, 500-car parking garage.
Lisa King, who works for Langton & Associates, said her team’s interest in historic preservation is both personal and professional. King, the past chair of Riverside Avondale Preservation (RAP), renovated a turn-of-the-century home in Avondale and Langton was the recipient of RAP’s Great Save award last year for the work he did renovating a 1912 home on the river. Langton is also renovating the historic W.A. Knight building on West Adams Street into loft apartments.
Signet Development, the group that submitted the third proposal, did not attend.
According to Shepherd, the Signet proposal does contain one option which would allow for the destruction of the Bisbee building, something that historic preservation experts believe would run contrary to their overall goal to preserve as many historic buildings as possible.
Longtime architect and Henry Klutho expert Bob Broward said all three proposals have their problems. One main concern is that the east side of the Bisbee building would be rendered virtually windowless by a new Forsyth Street parking garage.
“There’s really not enough detail at this point to tell me which way to go,” said Broward, who has been approached by all three developers seeking advice on the project. “Pretty pictures are nice, but you need floor plans before you can decide.”