JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The city of Jacksonville filed a default motion to resume the public auction of the Laura Street Trio after giving time for another developer to buy the buildings.
RELATED: Jacksonville City Council debates Laura Street Trio future, new developer emerges
The city filed the motion on April 14 against Laura Trio LLC for “failing to respond as required by law” to the city’s complaint.
If the lawsuit is successful, the Duval County Clerk would put the building up for sale in a public auction and the money would pay the city for more than $800,000 in code violation penalties it has assessed.
In August, the city originally filed a complaint against the owners, prompting a foreclosure.
In September, the lawsuit was dropped against the Trio’s developer, the SouthEast Development Group, Inc., to pave the way for a new agreement between the two sides.
An outside lawfirm was brought in to draft legislation for an agreement to get the project started.
In November, talks fell through, and the Laura Street Trio developer cited a “lack of communication and respect” during negotiations with the city.
The foreclosure lawsuit was paused to give time for a new developer to buy the property, but talks fell through, leading to the city to restart the lawsuit seeking the public auction of the property.
Mayor Donna Deegan’s Office sent this statement Wednesday afternoon:
The city filed the lawsuit in August but pulled it back when Live Oak Contracting was brought to the table as a partner. We refiled the lawsuit in November after those talks stalled, but we held off on serving Laura Street Trio, LLC and Red Oak Capital Fund II, LLC to provide time for the purchase and sale agreement negotiations with Live Oak Contracting to proceed. (Live Oak Contracting would purchase the buildings from Laura Street Trio)
The property sale was supposed to close by the end of 2024. We served Laura Street Trio and Red Oak Capital earlier this year once it became clear those negotiations were again stalled.
The clerk’s default is the next step in the lawsuit process. We took this step after Laura Street Trio did not respond to our complaint.
Mayor Deegan's Office
