Indiana-based Becovic Management Group now owns the historic Barnett National Bank Building in Downtown Jacksonville.
The group said Dec. 4 it planned to buy the Barnett along with the Laura Street Trio of historic buildings, and on Dec. 10 it closed on the Barnett for $15.63 million.
Becovic bought the Barnett through BMG Barnett LLC. The seller was Barnett Tower 2 LLC, which is affliated with SouthEast Development Group. Southeast also owns the Trio.
The deed states existing leases with JPMorgan Chase Bank and the University of North Florida.
Becovic took out a $14 million mortgage with Wells Fargo Bank in Indianapolis.
SouthEast and Las Vegas-based Molasky Group of Cos. renovated the Barnett building, at 112 W. Adams St., into The Residences at Barnett , a mixed-use development, in 2018. Danis Construction was the contractor for the project.
The sale is for less than the city’s $20.84 million assessed value of the building. In 2017, the building owner applied for a permit for almost $22.4 million to transform the structure built in 1923.
Joshua Roberts, director of acquisitions for BMG, said Dec. 4 that the 18-story building was not fully renovated.
He said Becovic plans to finish it off by completing a planned amenities center on the third floor and building-out two other floors.
“That building has no amenities. So the third floor will be an amenity center, which will start immediately. Then the sixth and seventh floor, which were initially planned to be additional commercial space, we’re actually going to convert that into multifamily.”
Roberts said the group was working with architects on a plan for the sixth and seventh floors but believed it would involve 18 to 20 units.
Becovic Management Group also said it had a tentative closing date of Dec. 18 for the Trio. As of 1 p.m. Dec. 18, that sale had not been recorded by the Duval County Clerk of Court.
Roberts said Becovic planned to renovate all three Trio buildings and add new construction on the property. The finished project would include multifamily units, a hotel, commercial and retail space and a restaurant, he said, adding that specifics were still being determined.
The Trio comprises the Florida Life Insurance, Bisbee and Marble Bank buildings at northeast Laura and Forsyth streets. The buildings were among the first built in Jacksonville after the 1901 fire that destroyed much of the city.
They have been vacant for decades amid several failed redevelopment plans, with ground-floor openings boarded up and upper-story windows missing.
“Our plan is to renovate the three existing buildings as quickly as possible, and then there will be a new construction component that will come after that,” Roberts said. “We think that by phasing it out, it will not only yield a faster return (on investment), but it will give Jacksonville a faster finished product quicker than what was originally anticipated.”
Roberts said Becovic would seek financial incentives from the city in a phase-by-phase manner. He said those amounts had not been determined.
Privately held Becovic Management Group is led by president and owner Muhamed Becovic. It was founded in 1973.
The group has developed and sold luxury apartment developments in Northeast Florida. It owns the Lost Lake at 8681 AC Skinner Parkway and sold The Howell at the Preserve Apartments at 780 Island Point Drive in August for $37.75 million.