JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The owner of the historic Laura Street Trio in Downtown Jacksonville has found a potential new buyer for the long-vacant buildings, Jacksonville City Council President Kevin Carrico said on WJCT’s First Coast Connect on Tuesday.
According to News4JAX news partners at The Jacksonville Daily Record, Carrico said he heard that Trio owner, SouthEast Development Group, was again trying to sell the buildings at Laura and Forsyth streets after several failed attempts to renovate them.
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After the meeting, Carrico said the potential buyer is from outside of Jacksonville and may have negotiated a purchase with the owner. However, when asked about the potential purchase, Principal of SouthEast Steve Atkins said in a text message that “it’s a bit early” for him to offer comments about it.
RELATED | Jacksonville files default motion seeking public auction of Laura Street Trio
The potential purchase comes amid a lawsuit filed by the City of Jacksonville that seeks to resume the public auction of the Laura Street Trio after giving time for another developer to buy the buildings.
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.
Phil Perry, the city’s chief communications officer, said on Tuesday that Mayor Donna Deegan’s office had spoken with “several interested parties” on the Trio but had nothing concrete to report on any of them. Perry also said the lawsuit against Southeast was moving forward and that the emergence of a new buyer would not likely affect the city’s actions.