Laura Street Trio
A partnership between Jacksonville-based SouthEast Group and Las Vegas-based The Molasky Group, will soon break ground on a long planned project to convert the vacant Laura Street Trio into a 131-room Marriott branded hotel. The boutique hotel, which will be located on Laura Street, between Forsyth and Adams Streets, is a part of a $90 million adaptive reuse program involving three of Florida’s earliest skyscrapers. In addition to historic preservation, the hotel will include a new mid-rise building, a restaurant, rooftop bar and urban bodega.
Made at the Armory
Photograph courtesy of Bullet at Abandoned Florida
In October 2020, the Jacksonville City Council approved a deal to renovate the historic Duval County Armory Building into a mixed-use arts-focused complex. Ft. Lauderdale-based REVA Development Corporation plans to transform the former 111-year-old Armory, straddling the border of Downtown Jacksonville, the Eastside and Springfield, into a mixed use building featuring art studios, galleries, co-work and event space centered around a food hall with space for 12 food and beverage vendors. Utilizing Place Architecture, designer of Tampa’s Armature Works, as the architect, the project is anticipated to cost $23 million and will include a second phase featuring 100 apartment units. Renovation on the long vacant property where the Allman Brothers debut performance took place and where famed Marian Anderson made Florida civil rights history, is expected to take two years to complete.
Union Terminal Company Warehouse
In October 2020, the developer applied to the city for a building permit to begin construction on the adaptive reuse of the 330,000-square-foot historic Union Terminal Warehouse Company building at 700 East Union Street. Atlanta-based Columbia Ventures plans to convert the structure into 228 apartments, a mix of small office tenants, community organizations, food and beverage operators, affordable maker and raw entrepreneur space, and a rooftop terrace with a community garden. Expected to be completed by 2023, the $34 million project will be first in Florida to use both Opportunity Zone and Historic Tax Credits.
Vista Brooklyn
Construction continues on Vista Brooklyn, a 10-story, 308-unit apartment building across the street from Brooklyn Station at 200 Riverside Avenue. The $60 million project by Nashville-based Bristol Development Group, LLC. and Jacksonville-based Hallmark Partners also includes 14,000 square feet of ground floor retail space facing Riverside Avenue.
VyStar Credit Union Parking Garage
VyStar Credit Union intends to construct a mixed-use parking garage at the intersection of Laura and Forsyth Streets. Plans by Dasher Hurst Architects, show a seven-story parking garage with 780 parking spaces and 13,169 square feet of ground floor retail space along Laura and Main Streets.
Editorial by Ennis Davis, AICP. Contact Ennis at edavis@moderncities.com