WEDNESDAY January 27, 2021
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Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
JaxPort still interested in Power Park
THE MATHIS REPORT
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The CEOs of the port and JEA plan to reopen talks about the future of the 2,000-acre property. BY MIKE MENDENHALL STAFF WRITER
JACKSONVILLE
Jacksonville Port Authority officials still are interested in buying and redeveloping the St. Johns River Power Park and surrounding parcels, despite JEA’s decision Jan. 21 to halt its search for a master developer for the property. At the JaxPort board of directors meeting Jan. 25, CEO Eric Green said he called JEA CEO Jay Stowe after the utility’s decision to stop the request for qualifications. He said Stowe agreed to reopen talks about the 2,000-acre North Jacksonville property’s future. The property is the site of a demolished coal-fired power plant, the St. Johns River Coal Terminal and other parcels. Green said Stowe began considering the future of the property after he assumed the top executive role at JEA on Nov. 30. “I think it led Jay (Stowe) to say let’s slow it down a little bit and see if there’s something we can put together that’s a lot better but also (see) how we can work with the port authority,” Green said. “It’s an important piece of property and it does everything that the city would like to see it do,” Green said. “That is it creates jobs.” JEA spokesperson Simone Garvey-Ewan said in a Jan. 22 email that Stowe plans to talk with JaxPort and other community leaders about the power park site. The renewed discussion comes after the two independent authorities stopped coordination on the property in September.
JaxPort board Chair Jamie Shelton said in a Sept. 21 letter to the JEA board that the port authority would like the site for redevelopment but was not interested in engaging in the joint RFQ recommended by former interim JEA CEO Paul McElroy. JaxPort said its access to federal, state and local government financing, as well as private capital market money, put the organization in a unique position to pay for the redevelopment. The property has access to the St. Johns River via a 25-acre parcel at Blount Island Marine Terminal formerly used by JEA to unload coal for the power plant. The majority of the property is northwest of Blount Island. JEA imploded the decommissioned 1,264-megawatt generating plant in 2019 and expects the demolition to be complete early this year. JEA estimated in its RFQ that 1,100 of the 2,000 acres can be developed. Recreational opportunities and conservation on the surrounding wetlands are possible. JaxPort also has not ruled out a partnership, long-term lease or another type of ownership arrangement with JEA. JEA is performing due diligence to prepare the site for redevelopment or a sale, according to Garvey-Ewan. “The mission is to release the SJRPP property for development or a potential sales transaction only if it results in the highestand-best use for the community,” the email states. “JEA will explore if this includes maritime use or another opportunity.” MMENDENHALL@ JAXDAILYRECORD.COM @MIMENDENHALL (904) 356-2466
JACKSONVILLE
Photo by Mike Mendenhall
JaxPort CEO Eric Green speaks Jan. 25 at the port authority’s board meeting. He said he will talk with JEA CEO Jay Stowe about the future of the St. Johns River Power Park site.
JACKSONVILLE
ST. JOHNS RIVER POWER PARK
KAREN BRUNE MATHIS EDITOR
GEM Products expanding in Flagler Center
The Jacksonvillebased maker of marine hardware supplies sees a surge in demand. GEM Products Inc. filed plans with the city for a 33,860-square-foot expansion on 2 acres at its campus in Flagler Center, a move that supports a business boosted by the effects of the pandemic. It will be the second phase of the 5.36-acre project at 12770 Flagler Center Blvd. Jacksonville-based GEM Products makes stainless steel marine and hardware supplies for boat and yacht builders. “COVID-19 has resulted in a booming boating industry. The industry is effectively sold out of product beyond the 12-month mark,” said President and CEO Matthew Bridgewater. “The demand is at a much higher rate than anyone could have ever predicted. People are buying boats to escape, liking the experience, and then buying bigger boats.” GEM Products invested about $9.5 million in the first phase, based on the costs of the land and construction, but that doesn’t count the build-out, furnishings, fixtures and equipment. Bridgewater said the privately
The St. Johns River Power Park and its surrounding properties in North Jacksonville are owned by JEA.
JEA
SEE MATHIS, PAGE 2
Jacksonville unemployment at 4.8% in December Jacksonville’s unemployment rate fell in December but Northeast Florida ended 2020 with huge job losses amid the pandemic. The unemployment rate in the Jacksonville metropolitan area of Duval, Baker, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties fell from a revised 5% in November to 4.8% in December, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity said Jan. 22. That was well above the record low of 2.6% at the end of 2019. Every major private industry sector lost jobs in 2020. The only sector growing jobs was government, which increased by 1,100, or 1.4%. The leisure and hospitality sector dropped by 10,400, or 11.9%, and retail trade fell 5,000, or 6%.
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