by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
The Police and Fire Pension Fund’s leadership say the quickest route to securing and renovating three crumbling, historic properties on Laura Street will begin once the City hands over the deeds.
Administrator Richard Cohee said acquiring the Florida Life, Bisbee and Marble Bank buildings represents a unique opportunity as the fund makes an aggressive move into real estate. But Cohee admits he doesn’t really know what the fund is getting into with the buildings.
“I know there’s 10 feet of water in the basement of one of them,” said Cohee. “One of the first steps after we get the property will be to assess what needs to be done structurally. We know there will be a lot of work to do.”
City planners and private developers have warned the City that the buildings are deteriorating to the point where they soon might not be salvageable. Several Downtown Development Authority board members pleaded with the City to take even rudimentary steps to secure the buildings — such as putting a tarp over a hole in the roof of the Marble Bank building. But City officials say the best way to preserve the building is to get them into developers’ hands quickly.
So when a development deal with local development group Signet fell through after years of inaction, the mayor’s office moved quickly to bring in the pension fund. The City Council will consider the mayor’s request to deed the properties to the fund.
Aware that timing is critical — DDA board member David Auchter said every day that goes by makes the project more expensive and less viable — Cohee said the fund hopes to use engineering assessments and architectural reviews already prepared by private developers.
“There’s already a lot of work that’s been done, and hopefully they’ll be reasonable about sharing what they’ve done,” said Cohee. “For no charge hopefully.”
And the developers’ response? No problem, so long as they’re in business with the fund. Both Signet and developer Mike Langton said they would welcome the chance to work with the fund and said they would bring along their assessments of the property. Signet spokesperson Michael Munz said they had plans in hand, waiting for the fund’s go-ahead.
“We have reached out to Mr. (fund administrator John) Keane in an attempt to develop a working relationship,” said Munz. “We expressed to them that we have done our due diligence with respect to those properties and more so our desire to see them developed.”
The scope of the project has changed since Signet first was selected to develop the buildings. Signet’s concept was office and commercial use, but the City has since stated a strong preference for residential development. Both Signet and Langton say the switch won’t be a problem. Whatever the building’s future use, Cohee said the first step is to keep them from collapse.
“We need to get in there and contain the damage,” said Cohee. “If we get the City Council’s approval, we’ll get in there immediately to secure those buildings.”