Curry vows Barnett Building and Laura Street Trio renovation will get done
Laura Street Trio buildings in downtown Jacksonville. The tall yellow-brick building is the 1912 Florida Life Building; the tall white building is the 1909 Bisbee Building; and the short building at the intersection of Laura Street and West Forsyth Streets is the 1902 old Florida National Bank building. (Bob Self/Florida Times-Union)
Top administrators for Mayor Lenny Curry gave a go-ahead Monday for using up to $9.8 million in city incentives for restoration of the historic Barnett Bank Building and Laura Street Trio, which city officials have tried for years to get occupied again in the middle of downtown.
Past attempts have flopped, sometimes spectacularly. Curry said downtown development is on the move and this time, the four buildings will get restored.
“With a keen focus on increasing economic development throughout the city, building public-private partnerships, and ensuring a return on the city’s investments to taxpayers, my administration has been able to successfully negotiate a redevelopment agreement whe
e others have stalled and failed,” he said in a statement after the Mayor’s Budget Review Committee gave its support.
