9th and Main: Now (finally) Available

[Bill Hoff]

The building itself is in decent shape, as the article mentions.

[strider]

While the original building could be considered contributing, it is listed on the property appraisers database as being built just after the period of significance so probably not.  This means the entire complex could be torn down tomorrow and it would be very difficult if not impossible to stop.

In this case, the building has been empty long enough it should be sold for a minimum amount so that the rehab is affordable for whomever gets it.

[Gunnar]

The building itself is in decent shape, as the article mentions.

What caught my eye was the "decline over years" part plus many comments in the thread.

It may be decent compared to others but if bringing this decent structure up to standards / rehab it is more expensive than building a comparable structure new then the building does have a negative value and the city should consider this when determining their asking price.

This way, they would ensure to sell the property (it's not going to get better under their ownership it seems) and that it could in fact be rehabbed if the price is right and this is explicitely put in the contract (e.g. "if you rehab the existing structure we sell the property for price x, otherwise you pay price y).

[Bill Hoff]

9th & Main is now in good hands.

Strings Sports Brewery coming in 2018:
http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2017/06/29/contract-signed-for-9th-main-building-in.html?ana=e_me_set1&s=newsletter&ed=2017-06-29&u=vC1L0N7cUlzvidhV0KQpyg03f410dd&t=1498739961&j=78467111

A craft brewery & restaurant/sports bar.

[Tacachale]

^Interesting choice for that area. Best of luck to them, that's a pretty great spot.

[MusicMan]

This is more of the same crap with the City and the ridiculous RFP process.

No one actually knows what happened with this series of events.

It was supposed to be  Bono's, that was the proposal that won.

Now it's completely different.   

We'll never know what the building was worth because this process is so ridiculous.

I am glad something is being done with it because it is an amazing property, it's just the way

COJ handles this stuff. So unbelievably amateurish. Is it on record, anywhere in public view,

what the actual amount of past due fines and taxes was?  If the City has had ownership for the last 7-9 years,

why the hell are there any past due taxes owed anyway? Aren't those the responsibility of the City to pay,

since they have been the owner of record for the last several years?  Does the contract stipulate a time line for the

$600,000 in renovations spending and a specific opening date?  Did anyone do any environmental remediation as was mentioned

several times before on MJ as holding up the progress?   This is so reminiscent of that ridiculous restaurant sitting empty in the middle

of LaVilla.  When the hell will that be re-opened? EVER? As long as COJ owns it there is little or no hope for it.  City owned property is one of the biggest anchors on downtown re-development because the Real Estate Division is clueless and hamstrung by some of the most absurd red tape you will find anywhere. I'm pretty convinced this is why so much of the big recent developments are happening at Town Center and Butler/Southside. The City is for the most part out of the equation there so developers are happy to do projects there. Downtown, COJ has it's nasty fingers involved in everything and this RPF and the entire last 10-20 years are prima facia evidence of how 'effed' up the City is.

Have a nice day.

[vicupstate]

I assume the past due taxes are from when the previous owner owned it. There would be no taxes levied if the government owned it.

[MusicMan]

That should be public record. However the City foreclosed on this property several years ago. Shouldn't all past due taxes have been cleared up when the foreclosure was finalized? 

I'm not an expert in municipal foreclosure proceedings but the city got the property.  The previous owner got nothing.  How can they continue to pursue past due taxes after the foreclosure? Maybe they can . I don't know. It certainly appears that the new owner is on the hook for those taxes/liens/fines etc....   

That part does not make sense either.

[lowlyplanner]

This is all public record...

The contract can be read here:  http://cityclts.coj.net/coj/COJBillList.asp?Bill=2017-0377

The property taxes can be seen here:  http://fl-duval-taxcollector.publicaccessnow.com/propertytaxsearch/accountdetail.aspx?p=071810-0000

The tax liens had already been sold when the City took the property back.  At that time, they were much lower.  The City could have paid them off then.  Instead, they racked up a lot of interest over the last 7 years.

Most lenders won't let things go that far.  They'll foreclose before the tax deeds are sold.

The City did a very good job with the environmental.  They have a grant program that will pay for Phase I and II environmental testing in certain parts of town.  When contamination from old gas tanks turned up, they helped get the property enrolled in a state cleanup program - the cleanup should be done within a year.

The project originally had the Bono's, the brewery and a theatre.  Over the last year, the Bono's dropped out, and theatre moved to the old Burro Bar space.  That's the way commercial real estate projects work.  The initial bank dropped out due to fears about the environmental issues, and then another bank.  The third bank will hopefully be the charm.

If the City re-issued the RFP every time something changed, it would be years and years before anything happened.

[MusicMan]

"The third bank will hopefully be the charm."

Pretty much sums it up. 

I presented the City with a cash offer of $150,000 couple of years back, presented it to a City Councilman and a representative of the Real estate division.  I was representing an established restaurateur, and we met at one of his restaurants.

Just sayin.............

The RFP process is crap. It takes the concept of free markets and highest best offer out of the equation and lets someone at the City make a decision based on what they think is best.  The City owns MILLIONS of dollars of real estate (probably hundreds of millions), cannot afford to maintain it ( by that I mean cut the grass on a regular basis or perform perfunctory maintenance) and has no plans for 99% of it. It's just sitting there.

Offer it up for sale for God's sake and return it to the market place. Or give it to the Weavers. They have the money and passion to do something with it. The City has neither.

Do you know how many times I drove past Ninth and Main in the past several years to see a big yellow COJ card taped to the window, notifying the owner that the grass needed trimming or the broken window needed repair?  More than I can remember.

Done venting. Have a nice day.

[tufsu1]

The RFP process is crap. It takes the concept of free markets and highest best offer out of the equation and lets someone at the City make a decision based on what they think is best. 

Actually the RFP process allows scorers at the City ( always more than 1 person) to compare proposals based on preset requirements. More often than not, it is a very fair way to select a winner.

[Noone]

"The third bank will hopefully be the charm."

Pretty much sums it up. 

I presented the City with a cash offer of $150,000 couple of years back, presented it to a City Councilman and a representative of the Real estate division.  I was representing an established restaurateur, and we met at one of his restaurants.

Just sayin.............

The RFP process is crap. It takes the concept of free markets and highest best offer out of the equation and lets someone at the City make a decision based on what they think is best.  The City owns MILLIONS of dollars of real estate (probably hundreds of millions), cannot afford to maintain it ( by that I mean cut the grass on a regular basis or perform perfunctory maintenance) and has no plans for 99% of it. It's just sitting there.

Offer it up for sale for God's sake and return it to the market place. Or give it to the Weavers. They have the money and passion to do something with it. The City has neither.

Do you know how many times I drove past Ninth and Main in the past several years to see a big yellow COJ card taped to the window, notifying the owner that the grass needed trimming or the broken window needed repair?  More than I can remember.

Done venting. Have a nice day.

+1

[MusicMan]

According to the article (sited by Bill Hoff) dated June 29 2017 a contract was signed for this building.  The article further states that "Adeeb will be pouring $600,000 into renovating the property once the contract is closed in six weeks and hopes to be open by March 2018."

I can state for the record that NO WORK has been done and the building appears largely as it has for the past several years. Empty, vacant and miles away from being returned o the functioning fabric of Springfield. 

If the COJ had simply offered it for sale a Broker most likely would have brought a buyer with CASH and the place would probably be ready by now, if not completed and up and running.  Instead it sits.

Bill Hoff, any updates on why nothing has been done? 


"If the City re-issued the RFP every time something changed, it would be years and years before anything happened."

Well it's years anyway.  Just check with Peter Rummell on that.

P.P.S.  If you check with the property appraiser website there is no evidence that any contract was signed or recorded. It still shows COJ as owner......

[fieldafm]

Financing (through LISC, which is financing most of Main Street now) is in place, and construction should start soon.

Traditional bank lending and/or institutional money is hard to obtain on properties like these. Lost in the financial meltdown, bank consolidations and sweeping (and poorly conceived) regulations like Dodd-Frank... was the erosion of community banks, that used to take on loans like these.

Big thumbs up to the Adeeb family for staying committed to this property over the last couple of years.

The world is often more complex than just going on a message board complaining about things

[MusicMan]

Describing reality is not complaining Field.  I have presented offers on this property for way more money than this Buyer is paying. I would have bought it myself if a serious opportunity had presented itself. Jax has several excellent restauratuers who may have paid fair market value for it if it had been listed by a traditional broker and market forces been put in play. Sitting empty for 8-9 years didn't do anyone any good.

I'm curious what Crispy paid for his building, and whether he would have bought this if given a chance.

It's on COJ, $109,000 is what Crispy paid. What are these guys paying?

All of this aside, I am happy the place will in the not too distant future be brought back to life. I spent plenty of dollar$ at Henrietta's...