City officials want to purchase the old Fire Station No. 5 property on Riverside Avenue from Fidelity National Financial Inc.
WJCT News partner the Jacksonville Daily Record reports that ordinance 2019-527 filed Friday by City Council President Scott Wilson at the request of Mayor Lenny Curry would authorize $2.6 million from the city’s debt management/loan repayment fund to buy the former fire station property at 347 Riverside Ave.
FNF, a Jacksonville-based provider of title insurance services, owns the adjacent parcel to the north at Alfred duPont Place.
The city also is making other land deals on Riverside Avenue.
The Downtown Investment Authority approved a deal with Florida Blue Inc. on June 19 to make its 4.5-acre riverfront surface parking lot bordering the two Fidelity properties available for development.
In return, the city would provide Florida Blue with a $3.5 million grant to build a $22.5 million parking deck on available city property along Magnolia Street at the site of an existing retention pond.
Combined, the land deals would free up 5.2 acres for development along the St. Johns River.
An expanded version of this story is at JaxDailyRecord.com.
