by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
The development team behind the renovations of the Haydon Burns Library may have closed on the building a little later than anticipated, but the addition of a new partner may prove beneficial in both the short and long run.
Bill Cesery and his sister Barbara recently became 37.25 percent owners of Main Branch when they formed Cesery Library, LLC and bought into the project.
“We bought into the partnership and are now a full-fledged partner,” said Cesery, adding he’s been interested in the project since the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission put out a request for proposal on the building.
Cesery’s office is in San Marco, next to Bistro Aix and near Peterbrooke Chocolatier, which originally expressed interest in converting the former library into a chocolate factory. Cesery’s company does build from the ground up, but it specializes in refurbishing old buildings into mixed-use developments that usually include both a retail and residential component. The company has 60 apartment units, several strip centers across town, a couple of buildings on Hendricks Avenue and several other developments.
One of the best-known Cesery redevelopment projects is the old elementary school on Flagler Avenue in San Marco that his company bought and renovated into 38 residential units.
“We like to be both an urban developer and redeveloper,” he said. “We opened the old school about three years ago and it’s 90 percent occupied.”
Cesery’s company also includes a real estate company and a construction company. A licensed contractor, Cesery said he doesn’t plan to influence the current redevelopment concept.
“We’ve got a conceptual design, now we just need to fill in the details. We are all in agreement on the concept,” said Cesery, who got involved 4-6 weeks ago. “We toured the building and met with the other partners. We were immediately taken with the building and thought the partnership group brought a lot to the table.
“We are happy with the group, the prospective tenants and we think it’s a real good fit for us.”
Original partner and Burrito Gallery owner Tony Allegretti said the addition of the new partners represented an opportunity to bring their redevelopment experience and financial stability to a project that will be watched carefully over the next couple of years.
“It’s a total shot in the arm,” said Allegretti.
Cesery said the only issue may be the 90 residential units planned for the roof.
“There are several options and we are starting to explore those options,” he said. “It might be possible that we build them ourselves and manage them. It’s a cool building, a nice period piece and a wonderful location. The level of interest in the project is high.”
Allegretti said Cesery’s credentials as a redeveloper of older buildings is an asset. He said Cesery is a “good fit” and his desire to do a project Downtown is evident.
“He’s a real visionary,” said Allegretti. “They really solidify our ability to pull off a mixed-use project in the core.”
The building is currently being cleaned up in preparation for the upcoming film festival. Once the festival is over, Allegretti said the development team will begin working with the contractors.