If the deal is approved, Fleet Landing will acquire the Duval County Public Schools’ Southbank riverfront headquarters for $20 million, JaxToday.org reported Aug. 21.
The news site said Atlantic Beach nonprofit Fleet Landing plans to raze the building at 1701 Prudential Drive and build a senior living community on the site.
Property records show the Duval County School Board owns the almost 123,000-square-foot building developed in 1981 on 3.15 acres.
District officials told the school board at a meeting Aug. 19 they chose Fleet Landing’s offer from the 10 it received through its real estate partner, Trinity Commercial Group.
Trinity Commercial Group’s marketing brochure says 4.87 acres is available for sale at the “Southbank Riverwalk Redevelopment Site.” It is between the RiversEdge development and the River House apartments.
Duval Schools has operated at the six-story building for 44 years. It has 600 employees there.
The board is scheduled to vote on the deal Sept. 2 along with a deal to buy an office building in the Baymeadows area.
Reporter Megan Mallicoat reported that in a statement sent to Jacksonville Today on Aug. 21, a Fleet Landing spokesperson confirmed the company’s intent to buy the property and said the site would be its third community in the Jacksonville area.
Fleet Landing’s flagship property is in Atlantic Beach. The organization is developing another in Nocatee.
“Negotiations and due diligence for the Southbank site are in the early stages, and much work remains, including final School Board approval. Fleet Landing anticipates sharing more details about the potential development by the end of 2025,” the statement says.
Fleet Landing CEO Joshua Ashby told Jacksonville Today his company would raze the district’s existing building.
The school board is scheduled to vote on buying the Southeastern Grocers headquarters building at 8928 Prominence Parkway in Prominence Office Park.
Jacksonville-based Southeastern Grocers, the parent company of Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket, has leased the space since 2016.
Its lease of the four-story, 165,000-square-foot structure expires at the end of the year.
Southeastern Grocers said it is preparing to move its headquarters to its Edgewood Support Center at 5050 Edgewood Court in West Jacksonville.
“The Edgewood Support Center has remained our technology center for many years, and it now provides a readily available option for our Store Support Center, at least for the interim, as we thoughtfully shape our long-term plans,” said Meredith Hurley, Southeastern Grocers senior director of communications and community, in an emailed statement Aug. 19.”
Daily Record news partner News4Jax said that during the Aug. 19 workshop with school board members, Superintendent Christopher Bernier said the district had a potential sale of the building of $20 million.
He said the sale would potentially close in August 2026.
Bernier said that of the $20 million, $12.5 million would come at closing, and the additional $7.5 million 36 months after closing.
He said the purchase price for the Prominence building would not exceed $14 million.
The building is owned by a limited partnership led by Jacksonville-based Dream Finders Homes LLC that paid $22 million for 15 parcels, including seven office structures built from 1988 to 1998, in the park in June 2024.
Bernier said the deal would be the best deal to meet the district’s needs.
“The school board has asked me to make a determination about getting off the river, they asked me over a year ago,” Bernier said. “We’ve come with what we believe is a good deal for them (the school board) to consider.”