The Downtown Investment Authority is considering offering $3.5 million in incentives to resurrect two adjacent buildings in the historic core of Downtown and connect them into a mixed-use development with apartments and a restaurant.
The two vacant structures are at 231 N. Laura St., the site of the defunct Mag’s Cafe, and at 44 W. Monroe St.
On Nov. 14, the DIA Strategic Implementation Committee is scheduled to consider resolutions containing separate incentive packages for each building.
Resolution 2025-11-01 would support a proposed $4.71 million renovation of 231 N. Laura St. by Alan Cottrill, president and CEO of Avant Construction Group. Under terms of a redevelopment agreement between Cottrill and the DIA, he would purchase the building from Historic Urban Core LLC through an LLC he would form before the closing.
According to DIA records, Cottrill plans to renovate the two-story building into a mixed-use development with two one-bedroom apartments and about 1,880 square feet of space for rental to a local restaurateur. The restaurant square footage includes patio space at the corner of Laura and Monroe streets.
The DIA would provide slightly more than $1.9 million in incentives for the project, comprising a $718,445 Historic Preservation, Restoration and Rehabilitation Forgivable Loan, a $807,400 Code Compliance Forgivable Loan and a $381,500 Downtown Preservation and Revitalization Program deferred principal loan.
Resolution 2025-11-02 would provide $1.62 million in incentives toward a $4.08 million adaptive reuse of 44 W. Monroe St. into four one-bedroom apartments and 2,700 square feet of retail and cafe space.
The incentives would be awarded to Rafael and Carmen Godwin, owners of Historic Urban Core LLC, and would comprise a $687,955 Historic Preservation, Restoration and Rehabilitation Forgivable Loan, a $608,700 Code Compliance Forgivable Loan and a $324,100 Downtown Preservation and Revitalization Program deferred principal loan.
The DIA documents say Cottrill and the Godwins have had conversations with a restaurateur about creating a passageway through the first-floor walls of the buildings to combine the restaurant space.
“Similarly, the Owner (Cottrill) intends to combine the second floor in similar fashion with a single common entrance through the stairway provided on the Monroe Street side of the subject property,” says a staff report on the Laura Street building.
In addition, the staff report said Cottrill and city officials are in talks to improve a billboard on the roof of that building and coordinating the use of it for the benefit of the city.
The Monroe Street building was constructed in 1947 and the former Mag’s Cafe building was built 10 years later.
The Jacksonville City Council voted in August 2025 to grant local landmark status to both buildings.
Avant and the Godwins have also partnered in a proposed adaptive reuse of 225 N. Laura, a three-story building next door to the former Mag’s Cafe.
In May 2025, Council approved $2.56 million in incentives for that project, which calls for a ground-floor restaurant with eight short-term rental units on the top two floors.
The building’s majority owners are Alan and Ellen Cottrill of Avant. The Godwins, who purchased the property in 2022, maintain a minority interest.
The 6,492-square-foot building is identified in city documents as Juliette Balcony, a reference to the decorative railings on the windows of its upper floors.
It was built three years after the Great Fire of 1901
The DIA SIC committee meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Jacksonville Main Library at 303 N. Laura St.