by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
It’s been a long time since a Downtown office tower sold as condominiums instead of leased space, but that’s exactly how the owners of the Greenleaf Building on Laura Street are treating the building’s 12 floors.
“We have sold one of the floors and one is leased,” said Duke Addison, president of Addison Commercial Real Estate, Inc. and the company that is currently managing the building. “We can sell the floor that is being leased.”
Addison said he believes the Blackstone Building on Bay Street is the only other Downtown office tower that consists of office condos, a practice that is much more common in suburban office buildings. Orlando-based developer Cameron Kuhn has purchased the SunTrust Building, as well as the Barnett Bank Building. He plans to renovate both and sell each floor as a separate condo. However, his buildings will take time and money before they are ready to be occupied.
“What’s unique about the Greenleaf Building is that you could move in tomorrow,” said Addison, explaining that each floor has its own electric meter, while the entire building shares water costs. “It’s built-out, the floors are carpeted, there are built-in credenzas and book cases. The building is in move-in condition. All someone would have to allow time for is the movers to come in and set up.”
Foley & Lardner occupied most of the building until late last year when the law firm moved to Independent Square. Since then, Addison’s company has been managing and marketing the space. Wednesday night, they invited potential tenants from several professions to tour the building and have a little fun at the same time. The open house included a a preview of all 12 floors as well as drinks, food and putting contest on several of the floors. Winners got Players Championship tickets and new putters. They were welcome to bring their checkbooks if they liked what they saw.
“You would be buying a piece of history, a part of Downtown,” said Addison. “It’s vintage architecture and you could own a small piece of Jacksonville history.”
The building is owned by Taurus Southern Investments, LLC, another Orlando-based commercial real estate developer.
Addison believes the concept of owning a floor or two of a building may be appealing to law firms, CPAs and related companies for several reasons. The chance to own the exact space needed without having to search all over for that sized building is among those incentives.
“If you want a 5,000 square-foot office, that piece of land may be too expensive to buy. In the Greenleaf building, you can be in a bigger building, but only own a small piece,” said Addison, adding that he is looking for one company interested in some sort of naming rights. “We are trying to find an anchor tenant for the ground floor, perhaps someone that may want to put their name on the building.”
Addison said the plan is to have the building’s 12 floors sold within the next 12-18 months. The former half of that time frame represents an ambitious estimate, while the latter is more conservative.
“If it is not sold out within 18 months, I’ll be very surprised,” he said.