by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
Three historic buildings bordering Laura and Forsyth streets may not only get a much needed facelift, but also a change in ownership.
Currently a City asset, Mayor John Peyton said Thursday the Marble Bank, Florida Life and Bisbee buildings will soon be declared surplus and turned over to the Jacksonville Police and Fire Pension Fund.
Once the Fund takes ownership, Peyton said they would redevelop the buildings for mixed residential/commercial use.
“We are pleased that the Police and Fire Pension Fund remains committed to improving the downtown area and confident in their ability,” said Peyton.
Added Peyton spokesperson Heather Murphy: “The Fund’s vision for the trio proved to by in line with the mayor’s in that it calls for more residential units downtown.”
Following the Fund’s relatively new real estate buying trend, Pension Fund administrator John Keane said the acquisition is a “win/win situation.”
“We’ve had a meeting of the minds and we believe that through this arrangement everyone is coming out a winner,” he said. “We get to take ownership of those buildings, the crown jewels of the city in my opinion, and return them to the downtown building inventory.”
In exchange, Keane said the buildings’ $3 million value will count towards the City’s future Pension Fund contributions and ultimately, “reduce its long term debt.”
“All I can say,” said Keane, “is that we are anxious to move forward with this project. I plan to discuss it further with our board, who is very receptive to what’s being proposed, at our next meeting.”
Once the deal is finalized, Keane said development efforts will be paid for entirely by the Fund, except for an previously awarded $3 million Historic Trust Fund Grant.
“As soon as possible, we’d like to get started,” said Keane. “Obviously those buildings need to secured so that we can keep them from deteriorating any further. Once we do, we’ll plan to put them on the fast track.”
Unsure if legislation would be required to authorize the deal or if a Request for Proposals (RFP) for any work is required, Keane said those issues and others would be addressed in the months ahead.
“The devil is in the details,” said Keane, “but believe me, these buildings are a top priority for us and we’ll put a squad of professionals on this deal to insure that we can develop our plans and make it happen.”
Boarded up for years, numerous efforts to redevelop the three buildings have yielded little results.
Most recently, a City agreement with Signet Development, who was expected to renovate the buildings as offices, dissolved in June. The City ended that deal, saying market conditions downtown had changed and that it was more interested in bringing residential units into the area.
According to the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission, a new RFP was to be issued by December.