JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – An Indiana-based developer said on Thursday it is purchasing the Laura Street Trio in Downtown Jacksonville and the Barnett National Bank, according to the Jacksonville Daily Record.
RELATED: New potential Laura Street Trio buyer could also scoop up historic Barnett Building in property deal
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Becovic Management Group plans to close on the Barnett building Dec. 9 and has set a tentative closing date of Dec. 18 for the Trio, according to the group’s director of acquisitions, Joshua Roberts.
Roberts said the group would not divulge the sales price until the transactions close.
The Trio is owned by Laura Trio LLC, which is affiliated with SouthEast Development Group. The Barnett building is owned by Las Vegas-based Barnett Tower 2 LLC.
Becovic, which began doing business in Northeast Florida in 2013, is headquartered in the Indianapolis suburb of Fisher, Indiana, and has offices in the Bank of America tower at 50 N. Laura Street.
Privately held Becovic Management Group is led by president and owner Muhamed Becovic. It was founded in 1973.
The group has developed and sold luxury apartment developments in Northeast Florida. It owns the Lost Lake at 8681 AC Skinner Parkway and sold The Howell at the Preserve Apartments at 780 Island Point Drive in August for $37.75 million.
In a Dec. 4 interview, Roberts said Becovic planned to renovate all three Trio buildings and add new construction on the property. The finished project would include multifamily units, a hotel, commercial and retail space and a restaurant, he said, adding that specifics were still being determined.
The Trio comprises the Florida Life Insurance, Bisbee and Marble Bank buildings at northeast Laura and Forsyth streets. The buildings were among the first built in Jacksonville after the 1901 fire that destroyed much of the city.
They have been vacant for decades amid several failed redevelopment plans, with ground-floor openings boarded up and upper-story windows missing.
“Our plan is to renovate the three existing buildings as quickly as possible, and then there will be a new construction component that will come after that,” he said. “We think that by phasing it out, it will not only yield a faster return (on investment), but it will give Jacksonville a faster finished product quicker than what was originally anticipated.”
Roberts said Becovic would seek financial incentives from the city in a phase-by-phase manner. He said those amounts had not been determined.
Alan Cottrill, president and CEO of Avant Construction Group, said in August that Avant had begun work on behalf of the potential buyer to perform due diligence for a potential sale of the Trio. Cottrill, who didn’t reveal the identity of the buyer at that time, confirmed Dec. 4 that it was Becovic.
Roberts said Becovic chose Avant based on work it has done on other Downtown projects. He said Becovic has done limited work in historic renovation but nothing on the scale of the Trio.
“Alan’s got a great reputation,” Roberts said. “He has that track record of historical preservation, so it was really a no-brainer for us, and we’re excited to work with him and his team.”
Avant has worked on several adaptive reuse projects Downtown, including:
• The Federal Reserve Bank at 425 N. Hogan St., which is being redeveloped into a members-only social club called The June.
• Sweet Pete’s at 400 N. Hogan St., formerly the circa-1909 Seminole Club.
• The Porter House Mansion, the 1902-built home at 510 N. Julia St. and owned by JWB Real Estate Capital.
• The adaptive reuse of the Hillman-Pratt and Walton Funeral Home at 525 W. Beaver St., which has been converted into apartments and a restaurant.
• The planned restoration of the Juliette Balcony building and adjacent former Mag’s Cafe building in the 200 block of North Laura street into short-term rentals and restaurant space.
Roberts said Becovic had received engineering reports saying all three Trio buildings were salvageable.
Barnett plans
SouthEast and Las Vegas-based Molasky Group of Cos. renovated the Barnett building, at 112 W. Adams St., into The Residences at Barnett, a mixed-use development. Danis Construction was the contractor for the project.
Roberts said the 18-story building was not fully renovated. Becovic plans to finish it off by completing a planned amenities center on the third floor and building-out two other floors.
“That building has no amenities. So the third floor will be an amenity center, which will start immediately. Then the sixth and seventh floor, which were initially planned to be additional commercial space, we’re actually going to convert that into multifamily.”
Roberts said the group was working with architects on a plan for the sixth and seventh floors but believed it would involve 18 to 20 units.
Recent history
Over the years, the Jacksonville City Council approved three separate Trio redevelopment incentive deals with SouthEast and its principal, Steve Atkins, but none resulted in the commencement of work and the city did not pay out the public funding. Atkins has owned the buildings since 2013.
In January 2025, Live Oak Contracting President and CEO Paul Bertozzi told Council members he had entered into a purchase and sale agreement with SouthEast and expected to close on the deal within 45 days.
At that time, the city paused a foreclosure lawsuit it filed months earlier alleging SouthEast-affiliated owner Laura Trio LLC had failed to pay code violation fines on the property that exceed $800,000.
SouthEast countered that the city unfairly used incidents of vandalism and graffiti that were beyond its control as the basis for the suit.
In March 2025, the city said the potential sale of the Trio to Live Oak Contracting had stalled and that the city was resuming action on the lawsuit. Live Oak Contracting confirmed in August that it was no longer involved in negotiations for the property.
City, DIA reaction
On Dec. 4, Jacksonville City Council President Kevin Carrico said via text message that Becovic’s involvement gives the Trio “new hope to be restored and innovative into something that could be great for downtown.”
“I have met the new owners and I’m convinced that they are the right people to make this a reality,” he said, adding that he was looking forward to “continued progress on this restoration being a signature stamp on our downtown.”
Downtown Investment Authority CEO Colin Tarbert said in an email that the “DIA has been in communication with the prospective purchaser of the Barnett and Trio buildings, and we are encouraged by their interest in these landmark properties.”
“Should the transaction be finalized, we look forward to working with the development team to better understand their plans and to determine how DIA and the City can support the responsible and timely redevelopment of these important assets in the heart of Downtown,” he said.
Becovic has four limited liability companies that appear linked to the Barnett and Trio deals.
In August, it created BMG Barnett LLC. and BMG Barnett Member LLC.
On Nov. 21, it created BMG Trio LLC and BMG Trio Member LLC.
The LLCs are managed by Muhamed Becovic. The registered agent is James B. Porter, a partner at Smith, Gambrell & Russell.