September 16, 2005 Friday

GREENLEAF BUILDING GOES FOR $5 MILLION;

12-story, 72,000 square-foot building will be converted into office condos

By: ALISON TRINIDAD

Taurus Southern Investments LLC, based in Orlando, bought the Greenleaf Building downtown for $5 million last week, according to a news release. Taurus closed the deal, the group's first in Jacksonville, with Greenleaf Crosby Development Inc. on Sept. 6. Greenleaf Crosby Development is the affiliate of Allied Capital Corp. in Washington, D.C., that bought the building in July 2004 for about $4 million.

Built in 1901, the building sits on the corner of Laura and Adams streets and has been vacant over the past year save for Jacobs Jewelers on the ground floor. It was the headquarters for law firm Foley & Lardner for nearly 20 years until the firm moved out in June 2004.

Jeff McFadden, a managing partner for Taurus, said the 12-story, 72,000 square-foot building will be converted into office condominiums, which will be sold by the floor. McFadden expects those units to be on the market the first quarter of next year, but sale prices have yet to be determined.

The elevators in the building will be upgraded; the intricate hand-made antique brass and terra-cotta finishes restored; and the lobby refurbished with marble or granite floors.

Parent company Taurus Investment Holdings, founded in 1976 in Munich, Germany, entered the U.S. market in Pompano Beach in 1979. Taurus Southern Investments, the operating company in Florida, owns or manages about 2 million square feet of office space, primarily in Central Florida.

CORRECTION: The Times-Union takes mistakes seriously. We will correct all mistakes of fact made in our news stories as soon as possible.

We also publish appropriate clarifications.

- The Greenleaf Building, on the corner of Laura and Adams streets in Jacksonville, was built in 1927. Because of a reporter's error, the building's construction date was incorrect in a story and photo caption on Page D-1 Friday.

alison. trinidad @ jacksonville. com, (904) 359-4268

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