City of Jacksonville files foreclosure lawsuit to force sale of Laura Street Trio

City of Jacksonville attorneys this week asked a Duval County circuit judge to order a foreclosure sale on the Laura Street Trio, the historic buildings in the heart of downtown that have been the center of city debate for years.

Attorneys argue in the lawsuit that the developer failed to address code compliance issues with the property, resulting in a lien of more than $800,000. The proceeds of the sale would go toward paying the fines.

A spokesperson for SouthEast Development Group, the company that has owned the trio since 2013, said the company was notified through a call from the Times-Union about the lawsuit.

"Considering the substantial progress we have made during recent positive discussions with the City Council in good faith, it appears that the city's decision to file this lawsuit is both premature and ill-advised, let alone in bad faith," the statement read.

A city spokesperson said the city had begun early negotiations to buy the buildings, but the liens had been placed prior to starting.

"The owner of the Laura Street Trio buildings has been obligated to maintain the buildings and not allow them to deteriorate," Phil Perry said in a statement. "By their own admission in public meetings, this has not happened, and we can no longer wait to preserve these historic buildings."

The city did not announce the lawsuit, but it is the latest escalation in debate with the development group and owner, Steve Atkins. The Downtown Investment Authority board of directors voted in June to cease negotiations for an incentive package with SouthEast Development Group until it could put more equity into the project or bring in a financing partner.

A City Council special committee has since picked up the project to decide a path forward. The chair of the committee, council Vice President Kevin Carrico, said he had no knowledge of the lawsuit.

"This move will hurt those negotiation efforts which will hurt the future of this property and the future landscape of downtown," Carrico said in a statement. "If the city forecloses on this property and takes over, you can bet it will look exactly as it does now for another decade."

The statement from SouthEast Development said while developers hoped to find a positive path forward.

The city alleges in the foreclosure suit that the buildings have not been brought into compliance with safety and maintenance code since 2015, growing the fines by $250 per day. It was not immediately apparent which parts of the code were violated.

The suit was filed against Laura Trio, a limited liability company with SouthEast Development as its sole managing member, according to state records.

Mayor Deegan: Time for other options for restoring Laura Street Trio in downtown

The legal maneuvering against Atkins echoes a similar strategy City Hall took against the former owner of the then-vacant historic Bostwick Building in 2014. In that case, the city successfully convinced a judge to order a foreclosure sale based upon the accumulation of thousands of dollars owed in code violations. That building reopened years later as the Cowford Chophouse.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: City of Jacksonville files foreclosure lawsuit to force sale of Laura Street Trio