At $69.44 per sf, Taurus picked up a bargain asset in the center of a revitalized area of the city, area brokers tell GlobeSt.com. The average hard construction cost of a class A office building today in Florida is at least $150 per sf, construction sources tell GlobeSt.com.

Taurus plans to convert the landmark property to office condos, selling full 4,500-sf floors at an undecided price. "A number of buyers, familiar with the building, have already expressed a strong interest in buying one or more floors," says Taurus managing partner Jeff K. McFadden. Jacobs Jewelers is the only tenant in the building which was renovated in 1985 and 1999.

The transaction took two months to complete, from contract signing to closing. The deal was done at this time because "the City of Jacksonville is in the midst of revitalization and Taurus felt that this was a good opportunity and a perfect time to enter the Jacksonville market," McFadden tells GlobeSt.com. The US offices of Taurus are in Pompano Beach.