Gordon’s Castle wants to renovate Groover Stewart Building in Downtown...

[thelakelander]

...but lack of investors makes it difficult

The problem: Finding investors who are willing to do smaller-scale projects â€" and reap smaller returns on their investments. It’s next to impossible to build the large-scale, garden-style apartment projects that are popping up all over the city’s Southside in an urban environment, and mid- and high-rise construction costs are too high to justify the rents in Downtown Jacksonville.

That leaves the rehabilitation of old office buildings (which the urban core has no shortage of) into apartments as one way to build the residential base and create more density Downtown â€" a top priority for the newly created Downtown Investment Authority.

Farley Grainger, president of Broom, Moody, Johnson & Grainger Inc., a Jacksonville real estate appraisal firm, has tried to get a group of investors to back the apartment conversion at 25 Market St. It’s just very difficult to find that kind of capital.

full article: http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/blog/2012/09/apartments-grover-street-development.html?page=all