by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
For the moment, the Laura Street Trio has been reduced to a duo.
The City has marketed the dilapidated historic buildings on the corner of Forsyth and Laura streets — the Marble Bank, Florida Life and Bisbee buildings — as a package redevelopment deal. But the current developer, the Police and Fire Pension Fund, now plans to focus its efforts on the Marble Bank and Bisbee buildings, leaving the Florida Life Building for later.
Fund administrator John Keane said splitting the projects up is necessary because the Florida Life Building’s condition is the worst of the three. Setting that building aside will speed the redevelopment of the Marble Bank and Bisbee buildings. If the Fund’s redevelopment plans are approved by the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission and the City Council, Keane predicts those buildings could be on the market as mixed-use residences by the end of 2006.
But if the Florida Life Building will be left out of the redevelopment act, Keane said the Fund wants the building to at least look the part.
The building is safe and secure, said Keane. Its exterior will be cleaned up and outfitted with windows so it will blend in with its renovated neighbors.
“We’re going to put windows in and make it look visually like an occupied building as opposed to a skeleton, which is what it looks like now,” said Keane.
The Trio originally was slated for renovation into office condominiums by Signet Development. Those plans lagged, however, and the City shifted its focus downtown from office to residential development. The Fund then acquired the buildings in 2004 in exchange for a $3 million credit on the City’s annual Pension Fund contribution.