The Downtown Investment Authority board voted 9-0 March 17 to approve a $24.67 million taxpayer-backed incentive package to partially finance SouthEast Development Group LLC’s planned historic Laura Street Trio renovation.
WJCT News partner the Jacksonville Daily Record reports City Council could take the final vote on the incentive agreement by the end of June for SouthEast’s $70.48 million proposal to adapt the vacant structures into a 145-room Marriott Autograph Hotel with a restaurant, lounge, ground-floor retail and a bodega grocery store.
The Trio buildings, built between 1902 and 1912, are historic and contributing structures to the Downtown Jacksonville National Register District, which makes the adaptive reuse project eligible for the DIA Downtown Preservation and Revitalization Program.
The Florida Life Insurance, Bisbee and Marble Bank buildings comprise the Trio at Laura and Forsyth streets. Plans also call for an eight-story addition to complete the hotel.
DIA staff called the Trio renovation March 17 a “critical step” in Downtown Jacksonville’s redevelopment.
An expanded version of this story that includes a rendering of the proposed office tower and a breakdown of the incentives package is at JaxDailyRecord.com.
