A Brief Look at the Laura Street Trio Incentive Package

[thelakelander]

Should rephrase, I just don't think it has the interest to make it financially workable anymore. They're continually scrapping and being held to ransom by an unreliable developer. That shows how desperate things are to me. Things are past the point of return I feel.

What happens if the unreliable developer is removed from the equation?

[landfall]

Should rephrase, I just don't think it has the interest to make it financially workable anymore. They're continually scrapping and being held to ransom by an unreliable developer. That shows how desperate things are to me. Things are past the point of return I feel.

What happens if the unreliable developer is removed from the equation?

Depends on the situation. I don't see a line of willing parties wanting to renovate the bones of the current building. We all know there's a reason they've given Atkins so many chances. They clearly have no leverage.

[acme54321]

Should rephrase, I just don't think it has the interest to make it financially workable anymore. They're continually scrapping and being held to ransom by an unreliable developer. That shows how desperate things are to me. Things are past the point of return I feel.

What happens if the unreliable developer is removed from the equation?

Depends on the situation. I don't see a line of willing parties wanting to renovate the bones of the current building. We all know there's a reason they've given Atkins so many chances. They clearly have no leverage.

The buildings are private property, owned by Atkins so he's the only option at this point.  There's no line of willing parties (that you know of publicly) because they buildings aren't for sale.

[heights unknown]

So in essence, and being that nothing has been done by him, and millions of dollars have generally gone nowhere, he has been using his private ownership of the trio and the trio property as pawns, IMO, to probably line his pockets. As someone said in a previous post, maybe the City, (DIA), should buy the property from Atkins and MAYBE that might get things moving; and MAYBE this is what he has been and is hoping for all along; never intending to develop anything, just line the holes in his pants pockets and his wallet.

[jaxoNOLE]

City of Jacksonville files foreclosure lawsuit to force sale of Laura Street Trio

City of Jacksonville attorneys this week asked a Duval County circuit judge to order a foreclosure sale on the Laura Street Trio, the historic buildings in the heart of downtown that have been the center of city debate for years.

Attorneys argue in the lawsuit that the developer failed to address code compliance issues with the property, resulting in a lien of more than $800,000. The proceeds of the sale would go toward paying the fines.
[...]
The city alleges in the foreclosure suit that the buildings have not been brought into compliance with safety and maintenance code since 2015, growing the fines by $250 per day. It was not immediately apparent which parts of the code were violated.

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/local/2024/08/23/jacksonville-files-foreclosure-lawsuit-against-laura-st-trio-developers-southeast/74918266007/

I have been wondering for some time if these violations were being assessed, and I am glad to see they have been.

[acme54321]

Lol, what part of municipal code are those things not violating?

[Joey Mackey]

Hell yes, we've got to rip these buildings away from the current owner. An owner who has failed to do anything with them for over a decade, an owner that wants to let them deteriorate for another decade, unless the city pays his ransom of $80 million.

[heights unknown]

Here here, yay yay! Finally it seems (or appears) that the Developer will be held responsible, accountable, and punished/reprimanded for his actions which cover over a decade (or more). I often wondered, and posted out loud, WHEN they would bring him and his entourage into account.

[jaxlongtimer]

Curious, could Adkins pay the fine and tear down the buildings to avoid future fines as a result of this action?

[CityLife]

Curious, could Adkins pay the fine and tear down the buildings to avoid future fines as a result of this action?

No. They would still need a demo permit from the City and the City would not grant it because it's historic.

To get the fines up to $800k, there must be several violations as you can only charge $250 per day, per violation. It's easy to stop the foreclosure by simply paying the fine. In this case, the buildings are clearly worth more than $800k. However, the code violations have to be remedied in order to stop the foreclosure. Put simply, COJ may have Atkins by the balls because curing the violations likely means renovating the buildings. So you either renovate the buildings or lose the property to COJ.

It's funny, I had typed up a post in this thread, but didn't post it,  saying COJ only has 2 ways to pressure Atkins. 1. Foreclose on code violations 2. Take them by eminent domain, which is a grey area legally for historic buildings and also ties the cities hands on future use. Foreclosure is the easiest path forward, especially with serious violations and fines that are $800k.

Good to see the City finally playing hard ball, but it also makes me wonder why it took this long.

[thelakelander]

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/local/2024/09/09/jacksonville-might-drop-lawsuit-over-historic-laura-street-trio/75141018007/

[acme54321]

More from the Daily Record.  It'll be interesting to see where this goes. 

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2024/sep/09/committee-chair-new-developer-in-the-drivers-seat-in-laura-street-trio-project/

[thelakelander]

The city's dismissal of Laura Street Trio lawsuit puts negotiations back on front burner

The city moved Monday to dismiss a foreclosure lawsuit it filed a month ago against the owner of the Laura Street Trio, clearing the way for another round of negotiations on a redevelopment deal that would save the historically valuable but vacant buildings in downtown.

If the city had moved forward with the foreclosure suit and been successful, it would have resulted in a public auction when another entity could possibly have bought the Trio.

But SouthEast Development Group, which has owned the Trio since 2013, recently brought in a new financial partner in Paul Bertozzi, the founder and CEO of Live Oak Contracting. That sparked talks among SouthEast, Bertozzi, Mayor Donna Deegan's administration, the Downtown Investment Authority, and City Council member Kevin Carrico about pursuing a deal rather than fighting in court.

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/local/2024/09/16/jacksonville-drops-foreclosure-lawsuit-on-historic-laura-street-trio/75247059007/

[marcuscnelson]

^Not exactly. They're asking, if the two towers are really so bad off that this level of city incentives is the only way to save them, are there any other routes to save the Marble Bank? It raises serious questions about the condition of the buildings and what's really needed to save them. Either way it's an academic question as demolition is a non-starter, as Atkins was not interested in that and more to the point, a demolition permit would not be awarded.

An Op-Ed in the Times-Union this week is furthering a concept for demolishing the towers. Personally, it strikes me as highly speculative to assume that any replacement structures would be taller.

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/opinion/columns/guest/2024/10/17/opinion-marble-bank-is-key-to-laura-street-trio-redevelopment/75664471007/

[thelakelander]

Yeah, I'm not sure why anyone would think that something taller would be built as a replacement.