At the intersection of Laura and Forsyth streets in downtown Jacksonville, three distinctive historic buildings have sat, vacant and crumbling, for decades now.
These grand buildings, collectively dubbed the Laura Street Trio, were once critical pillars to downtown Jax’s burgeoning financial district. Today, however, they’ve been largely left to rot away, leaving some without historic context to wonder, “What’s so great about those old buildings?”
As we await the beginning of SouthEast Group’s planned overhaul of the three buildings, let’s take a look back at each of their histories.
The last of the three Trio buildings to be built, the Florida Life Building, was completed in 1912. Another Klutho design using reinforced concrete, the new building leaned more toward Prairie School influence, with elements including ornamental terra cotta cornices at the top of the building. The narrow 11-story structure at 117 N. Laura Street very briefly held the title of tallest building in Jax upon its completion.
The building was supposed to house operations for Florida Life Insurance Co., but the company went bankrupt just three years after opening its new headquarters building. The building instead served as an office building to various tenants, including both Florida National Bank and Jacksonville National Bank at different points.
Its tenure with Jacksonville National Bank led to it becoming lumped in with the other two Trio structures as property of NationsBank. Not long before NationsBank sold the Trio properties, it removed the ornamental cornices due to fear of damage from storms.
As with the other two, the Florida Life Building was sold to Angela Schneider, who then sold the building to the city. It’s now owned by SouthEast Group, which plans to convert it into a Courtyard by Marriott hotel.
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