J Magazine Spring 2018

Suttles says, especially from old buildings.
“At the end of every project, we go
through the lessons learned. It definitely
helps after you’ve done dozens and dozens,
you learn things someone coming
in cold would never think about,” Suttles
said.
“We do it with new construction but
the lessons from these historic adaptive
reuse projects are really valuable. It
would be silly not to leverage those lessons
and help the next owner, the next
project.”
Suttles said Danis likes the challenge
presented by old buildings. “It’s a giant
puzzle, and you don’t have all the pieces,”
he said. “Our people have to use their
brain power. Big-box retail projects can
be interesting but with old buildings, you
expect to be surprised.”
In addition to the duPont Center,
here’s the Downtown challenges Danis
has taken on so far:
The Jake M. Godbold Annex,
the former Haverty’s building
Farah & Farah Building, the
former Kress building
Cowford Chophouse, the
former Bostwick building
The Barnett bank building,
now under restoration
The Laura Street Trio: The
Marble Bank, the Bisbee building and
the Florida Life Building
FSCJ dorms at 20 W. Adams St., the
“[The Jake M. Godbold
city hall annex] was
a Klutho building that
was in worse shape
than the (Laura Street]
Trio, from what I’m
told, and they put that
one back together.”
Steve Atkins, The Southeast Group
former Lerner building
That’s not just a lot of real estate, it’s
a lot of historic real estate, many of the
buildings dating to the building boom
after the Great Fire of 1901.
It’s that track record that appealed to
Steve Atkins of the Southeast Development
Group and why Danis was hired
to do the Barnett and Laura Street Trio
projects.
He was especially impressed with the
work Danis did on the Jake M. Godbold
building.
“That was a Klutho building that was
in worse shape than the Trio, from what
I’m told,” Atkins said. “And they put that
one back together.”
Every building has a story to tell. Over
the decades they’ve had multiple uses,
multiple owners, multiple tenants and
sometimes multiple renovations, Suttles
said.
And they have surprises galore: The
crumbling foundation of the Bostwick
building and the decorative plaster ceiling
of the Barnett building had been concealed
for decades.
There’s even a secret tunnel.
Back in the day that robbers lurked
outside banks, the Marble Bank had a
tunnel with a trap door in the sidewalk
where carriages could safely drop cash
deposits.
Since surprises come with the territory,
Suttles said Danis likes to uncover
them early in the process. The design
team researches the history of the building,
studies old architectural plans,
drawings and photos.
The Southeast Development Group
wants to restore the original banking
JEFF DAVIS
The Jake M. Godbold City Hall Annex at Laura and Duval streets.