JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The razing process of the former Florida Times-Union building is well in its advanced stages. The iconic five-story newspaper headquarters and press building along Jacksonville's Riverwalk, now a literal shell of its past life, have been vacated for over two years.
The skeletal remains are impossible to miss for anyone driving along Riverside Avenue. Peering through its bones, all that's visible are the haunting images of the elevator shaft in the center of the once bustling structure.
A much leaner news operation is now housed in the Wells Fargo building downtown at 1 Independent Drive, Suite 200.
Built in 1967 by the Florida Publishing Co., Augusta, Ga.-based Morris Communications took the operation over in 1983. Gatehouse Media assumed ownership in 2017. The Morris family sold the newspaper in October 2017 to Gannett, but remained owners of the riverfront site.
Atlanta-based developer Jeffrey Fuqua has secured the contract to buy the 19-acre property, according to an article last year in the Times-Union. Fuqua has plans to transform the property into a development that includes offices, retail, restaurants and apartments, the article states.
Duval County property assessment records listed the value of the property at $15.12 million. The estimated cost of Fuqua's project is $250 million.
Photos: Former Florida Times-Union building in Jacksonville
