JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Plans to sell the Duval County School Board’s Southbank headquarters to Fleet Landing are officially off the table.

District staff confirmed during Tuesday’s workshop that Fleet Landing had withdrawn its proposal, leaving two offers from Chase Properties still under review.

With Fleet Landing out, the board now has two Chase options: a $17.2 million outright purchase to turn the property into a mixed-use development with 600 apartments, retail, and hotel space, or a land swap deal that would move the district into the Suddath building and add $4,872,300 in cash to offset renovation costs.

That swap would keep district headquarters in the urban core, while the other option would move operations to Prominence Parkway in Baymeadows, a newer and larger space that could consolidate more departments.

Some members, including Cindy Pearson, expressed frustration that the board hadn’t been offered a chance to tour the space before.

“We weren’t shown the Suddath property before,” Pearson said. “Now that we’ve reopened the discussion, I would like to look at it.”

Pearson suggested pushing a final vote to December, but board leaders stuck with keeping the item on the agenda for the November 4th meeting.

Other members, like Melody Bolduc, shared concerns that the Suddath building didn’t offer enough parking space for employees and room for expansion at the Suddath site.

Superintendent Dr. Christopher Bernier assured the board that the new proposals address one of their biggest concerns — timing.

“You asked us to align the closing dates,” Bernier said. “Contractually, we can now get that within a day.”

Both proposed agreements now sync the sale of the current building with the purchase of a new one, eliminating the transition gap that delayed the last deal.

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