JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The City of Jacksonville and new owners of the Laura Street Trio have reached a draft agreement expected to be signed by Thursday at the latest.
Action News Jax reported last week that the sale of the cluster of historic buildings hinged on a $800,000 lawsuit.
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
“We’re going to make a very strong run at making this thing work,” Mike Weinstein, Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan’s chief of staff, told council finance committee members Tuesday. “We’ve spent many, many years at it. But I think it’s a totally fresh start and we will see where it goes.”
Council members previously pushed for the lawsuit to be dropped to help the sale go through.
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
The city said while it won’t drop it, they have agreed to freeze the suit for up to four years. The draft agreement gives the new owner, Live Oak Contracting, up to 48 months to fix the code violations that have racked up against the buildings for years under SouthEast Group.
Deegan, the city’s General Counsel, and Weinstein met with Live Oak and its attorney for an hour Monday and came to an agreement.
It requires the purchase to be done by the end of the year, a concrete deadline for a term sheet, and a start date for construction.
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
RELATED STORIES:
- New ownership of Laura Street Trio hinges on $800K lawsuit, council & mayor at odds on next steps
- City dismisses lawsuit against Laura Street Trio developer, new partner joins team
- ‘It’s obnoxious:’ Council members fed up with Laura St. Trio delays, call on city to drop lawsuit
- Laura Street Trio in jeopardy again, DIA to recommend Jacksonville end negotiations with developer
- Developers giving new insights into plans to revitalize Laura Street Trio
- ‘It’d be awesome:’ The $87M proposal to bring Jacksonville’s Laura Street Trio back to life
- Laura Street Trio proposal still a possibility after amended DIA resolution passes
- Laura Street Trio owner plans to move forward despite DIA resolution finding project ‘untenable’
- Laura Street Trio development faces setback; Jacksonville mayor says restoration is ‘priority one’
Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
