JWB Real Estate Capital buys The Greenleaf Building Downtown

JWB Real Estate Capital paid almost $7 million for The Greenleaf Building at 208 N. Laura St. Downtown, President Alex Sifakis said June 17.

Sifakis said JWB Real Estate Capital paid $6.25 million for most of the building and $700,000 for the ninth floor of the 12-story building.

The historic structure, built in 1927, is divided into some business condos, so JWB bought the ninth floor separately from that owner, he said.

Sifakis said JWB will move its headquarters into about 36,000 square feet of the 66,000-square-foot building, which is at northwest Laura and Adams streets.

JWB now is at 7563 Philips Highway, Suite 109, in Deerwood Center.

Sifakis said JWB would request incentives from the city as it renovates.

Sifakis said the building is 60% occupied. Some tenants will leave as leases expire and others will remain.

He envisions an eventual restaurant on the ground floor.

The historical marker erected on the building in 2005 shows it was built as the Greenleaf & Crosby Building, designed by architects Marsh & Saxelbye.

Visit Jacksonville includes the building on its Downtown Jacksonville Historic Building Self-Guided Tour.

It includes the Greenleaf & Crosby Building and the historic clock in front built by Seth Thomas Clock Company more than 100 years ago.

It says the Greenleaf & Crosby Company owned one of Jacksonville’s earliest and finest jewelry stores, dating back to its first location on Bay Street in 1880. 

The 15-foot clock originally was at the Bay Street store and moved to the site of the new store in 1927.

JWB has been investing in Downtown for several years and on Feb. 24 bought 119 and 129 W. Adams St. for $1.2 million. The vacant building previously held the Breezy Jazz Club and Scottie convenience store sites. They are on the same block as The Greenleaf.

Breezy moved to San Marco in late 2020 and the Scottie store closed before the acquisition.

 Sifakis said the buildings will be renovated into office, restaurant, retail and rooftop bar and lounge space.

“Downtown is an amenity,” Sifakis said.

“We really think it is turning a corner. People will want to work in this 24/7 neighborhood.”

Sifakis said the investment and renovations show JWB’s intentions.

“It’s all about recruitment and retention and another way to show our commitment.”

Leasing representatives with the Colliers real estate company are Senior Director Matthew Clark and associates Olivia Steinemann and Sam Middlekauff.

JWB Real Estate Capital has been investing in Downtown since 2020.

Sifakis has been leading JWB’s focus on adaptive reuse in Downtown’s North Core and construction plans in LaVilla. 

The company is restoring the historic Federal Reserve and Florida Baptist Convention buildings at Church and Hogan streets into apartments, restaurants and retail use. 

In 2020, JWB bought the Seminole Building, anchored by Sweet Pete’s, at 400 N. Hogan St.

JWB is rehabbing the Porter House Mansion at 501 N. Julia St. into office and restaurant space with a proposed multifamily addition.

The company bought a warehouse at 331 W. Ashley St. and a parking garage from First Baptist Church of Jacksonville.

In LaVilla, JWB is developing an $18 million, 91-unit, for-sale town house project with a proposed second phase of 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

It bought a 1.37-acre vacant lot at Jefferson, Forsyth, Houston and Broad streets to hold for future development. 

JWB also is investing in Arlington, which is across the Mathews Bridge from Downtown.

He said March 4 the development costs for the first phase of its rehab of the former Town & County Shopping Center into College Park is $18.5 million. 

The company will finance the project with city incentives, loans and cash.

Sifakis considers College Park the gateway to Arlington, a neighborhood where JWB has built and rehabbed about 500 homes.

Sifakis formed JWB in 2006 with his high school friend and college roommate, CEO Gregg Cohen, to flip single-family homes. 

It has grown to buying 996 properties in 2021 and diversified into development and management of single-family, multifamily and commercial properties.

Sifakis co-owns JWB with Cohen, CFO Adam Rigel and COO Adam Eiseman.

Its core business is single-family home management and development in Duval, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties.