Duval Schools’ prospective buyer plans riverfront retirement community

If the deal to purchase Duval Schools’ headquarters building on Prudential Drive goes through as planned, a local nonprofit organization will build a senior living community on the Southbank site.

District officials told the School Board at a meeting Tuesday they chose Fleet Landing’s offer of $20 million from the 10 offers it received through its real estate partner, Trinity Commercial Group. The board is scheduled to vote on the sale at its Sept. 2 meeting. 

In a statement sent to Jacksonville Today on Thursday, a Fleet Landing spokesperson confirmed the company’s intent to buy the property and said the site would be its third community in the Jacksonville area, joining an existing campus in Atlantic Beach and an under-construction project in Nocatee. 

“Negotiations and due diligence for the Southbank site are in the early stages, and much work remains, including final School Board approval. Fleet Landing anticipates sharing more details about the potential development by the end of 2025,” the statement says.

Fleet Landing CEO Joshua Ashby tells Jacksonville Today his company would raze the district’s existing building. 

Duval Schools has been headquartered in the Southbank building, at 1701 Prudential Drive, since May 1981. Constructed by The Haskell Co. — which still contracts with the district on construction projects, like the new Southside Estates Elementary that opened earlier this month — the building cost $6.8 million at the time and was the subject of controversy after a building inspector questioned the quality of the construction. Haskell denied the claims, and the State Attorney’s Office and a grand jury cleared the company of wrongdoing after an investigation, according to a 1981 story in The Florida Times-Union. 

Four decades later, Duval Schools says moving off the river is the fiscally responsible move.

“The disposal of this facility will eliminate future higher maintenance costs, utility costs and liabilities associated with an older structure,” said documents provided to school board members in advance of the meeting Tuesday.

Superintendent Chris Bernier told the board that the sale of the Prudential Drive building would close in the latter half of next year, and that Fleet Landing had agreed to lease the building back to the district for $1 for up to 18 months after that. They also agreed to post $1 million as surety for the deal — something the district’s contracted real estate firm TCG partner Dan O’Berski characterized as “two to four times the normal amount” and compared to a “non-refundable deposit.” Fleet Landing’s payment would come in two parts: $12.5 million due at closing and the remaining $7.5 million due three years later. 

Duval Schools has considered moving its district HQ several times, including as recently as three years ago.

Now, they propose to move to the Prominence office park in Baymeadows near Interstate 95 into a building that is owned by Dream Finders Homes and currently leased by Southeastern Grocers. 

O’Berski said his firm reviewed nearly 40 properties and spoke with the owners of about half. After considering factors like employee drive times, they narrowed the field to two options — the Prominence office park building and the old JEA building Downtown. 

They selected the option at 8928 Prominence Parkway because it was a “turnkey solution,” Bernier told the board. All of the furniture will convey with the sale, and the building will not need extensive renovations. The JEA building, which is more centrally located Downtown, would have required a lot of work. 

The price for the new building is $14 million. Bernier said Duval Schools would have to offer a total of $500,000 as surety, with the closing scheduled around Dec. 31. Because the district would end up with about a year between closing on the new building and selling the old one, Bernier said they would need a loan. He said they would “competitively bid” for a bond, which would likely have interest of 4% to 5%.

Interest on a $14 million loan for one year at 4% compounded annually amounts to about $560,000. A higher rate or longer term could see the district pay close to $1 million in interest.

Bernier did not specify if the district would pay for the new building in two parts, as it receives payment for the Prudential Drive building, or if it would require further financing to pay the entire sum at closing.

A company controlled by Dream Finders Homes bought the property last summer as part of a sale that included seven buildings and 75 acres for a total of $22 million. On Tuesday, when board members asked if $14 million for just one of the buildings is a good deal, O’Berski said it was — and that Dream Finders got an especially good deal.

“I would tell you it’s probably one of the best transactions I’ve seen in the state of Florida over the last 10 years,” O’Berski said. “Some of those needle-in-haystacks happen.”

Documents show the district will pay the real estate firm on a commission basis, but it’s not clear exactly how much each transaction will cost. Documents included with the contract indicate the sale of the Prudential Drive property could cost the district 6% of the selling price, or $1.2 million.

District officials say any profit from the headquarters shift would be put toward repairs and renovations for its school buildings.

“It can’t come and increase salaries. It can’t come and do other things,” Bernier said. “It’s capital dollars that have to stay on the capital side.”

Effect on parents

For all that it does have, the Southside building doesn’t have an auditorium suitable for public gatherings like the monthly school board meetings. Bernier’s suggestion is for the school board to meet at the more centrally located Schultz Center, next to existing parent-facing district offices — though the district would have to install a dais to make the Schultz Center work, too.

Bernier said he wants to create a “one-stop shop” at the Schultz Center — so that any task a parent might need to do in person will be able to be done without going to the Baymeadows building. Bernier said a parent’s first move should be to contact their local school, and if they are not able to help, the staff at the Schultz Center will.

As for how much it would cost to retrofit the Schultz Center, Bernier said he hasn’t asked his staff to run those numbers yet. 

Even with the Schultz Center suggestion, the proposed district HQ move is getting some pushback from community advocates concerned about the effect on parents. 

The Jacksonville NAACP says they “strongly oppose” the move to Baymeadows.

Constance Hall, who served on the School Board about 10 years ago and is now a vice president of Jacksonville’s NAACP, says the move off the Southbank isn’t the issue.

“Moving to another location has certainly been on the agenda for quite some time. I do understand why … they need to get off of prime property,” she says. “So, you know, that’s not the issue.”

But she says the new location is not “centrally located” and is less accessible for those without cars. A ride on public transit from EverBank Stadium to the current district headquarters, for example, takes about 45 minutes and is free. To go to the Schultz Center costs $1.75 and takes more than an hour. To go to the Prominence Parkway building, it takes about an hour and a half, costs $3.50 and requires more than a mile of walking.

“A school system — the administration building, the governance building — it should be accessible citywide and for the community. That’s just plain and simple. All of these satellite centers that that’s being talked about — 
it just — it doesn’t sound like it’s a plan,” she says. “It’s an appeasement to have those buildings and other buildings. It makes no sense.”  

Several board members said Tuesday they wished the new HQ building were more centrally located — though the distance wasn’t a dealbreaker for most.

Vice Chair April Carney said the building itself is worth traveling for.

“We all wish we could have the perfect situation. I would love to be able to live oceanfront. It’s never going to happen. It’s just not,” she said. “We’re in a position where we can be in a turnkey, absolutely beautiful building that will improve the quality of life for our employees.”

Board member Cindy Pearson, whose District 3 includes the current HQ, questioned if the move is really a net positive — if the board will have to hold its meetings elsewhere and the location isn’t central. 

“It’s hard to legislate from the suburbs,” Pearson said. “Official government should be as close to the city center as possible.”

The board’s vote on both transactions is scheduled for its Sept. 2 regular meeting.