Downtown Investment Authority CEO Lori Boyer said Oct. 13 that she expects a new deal to redevelop the Laura Street Trio will be ready within six months after City Council passed a bill overhauling the city’s adaptive reuse incentives.
Boyer told Council members that plans for the Trio project and two others are nearing completion and were waiting for Ordinance 2020-0527 to be enacted.
Plans for the Trio at 51 W. Forsyth St. include a Courtyard by Marriott hotel, an urban grocery store and a restaurant.
“I have probably three applicants that you would see very quickly, including the Trio, who have been working on putting together a project,” Boyer said.
The DIA CEO did not name the other two projects.
“There are a number of others that I would like to encourage to come forward and apply for it because they are eligible and I think it would dramatically improve Downtown if they move forward, but they have not been on their own initiating a request yet,” Boyer said.
Council voted 19-0 at its Oct. 13 meeting to pass the bill that expands city programs that offer incentives for the renovation and redevelopment of historic properties and contributing structures to Downtown’s historic district.
The contributing structures must be at least 50 years old.
Steve Atkins, Trio developer and SouthEast Development Group president, said Oct 14 the bill is “a true catalyst for some of our community’s most important projects.”
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