FRIDAY April 9, 2021
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Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
RESTAURANTS
MPS parking garage fight going to mediation
Crazy Beans Coffee opens LaVilla cafe Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
The parties are seeking resolution as City Council prepares to vote on $32.9 million to buy three Downtown facilities.
Daily Record Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
BY MIKE MENDENHALL STAFF WRITER
JACKSONVILLE
Photos special to the Daily Record
Crazy Beans Coffee and JTA representatives cut the ribbon April 6 on the company’s new cafe inside the Jacksonville Regional Transportation Center. From left to right: JTA Vice President of System Development Greer Gillis; Vice President of Engagement Kelli O’Leary; Senior Vice President of Transit Operations Bonnie Todd; Crazy Beans Chef Erika Cline; LaToya Smith; Crazy Beans co-owner Edgar Bartley; JTA board Chair Ari Jolly; JTA CEO Nathaniel Ford; Crazy Beans co-owner Herbert Bartley; Rhonda Bartley; JTA Chief Financial Officer Greg Hayes; and JTA Chief Administrative Officer Cleveland Ferguson III.
The company cut the ribbon April 6 inside the JTA headquarters. BY MIKE MENDENHALL STAFF WRITER
Crazy Beans Coffee opened its breakfast and lunch cafe April 6 on the ground floor of the Jacksonville Regional Transportation Center in LaVilla nearly two months after closing its doors in Fleming Island. Representatives from the family-owned chain and Jacksonville Transportation Authority offi-
cials attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony inside the JRTC. “Crazy Beans is not just coffee, it’s a culture,” Crazy Beans coowners Edgar and Herbert Bartley said in a news release April 6. JTA CEO Nathaniel Ford said the transportation authority is “proud to support a small, local and minority-owned business” investing in the historic LaVilla neighborhood. “The Crazy Beans Coffee café further enhances the experience for the thousands of customers who use this terminal each day, SEE COFFEE, PAGE 2
Crazy Beans Coffee is co-owned by Edgar and Herbert Bartley. Erika Cline, former owner of Bleu Chocolat Cafe, is the general manager.
The Downtown Investment Authority’s and the city’s legal fight with Metropolitan Parking Solutions over the company’s 2004 redevelopment agreement for three parking garages is headed to mediation in the 4th Judicial Circuit Court. Attorneys for the three parties are scheduled for a Zoom videoconference at 9:30 a.m. May 5 to begin mediation in the case, according to records filed Feb. 18 with the Duval County Clerk of Courts. MPS filed a lawsuit in September alleging the city and DIA were in breach of contract and in default when the city withheld portions of several development loan payments owed to the company for parking garages at the Duval County Courthouse and VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena owned and operated by MPS. The city is required in the agreement to make the payments to cover MPS’ operating losses and to ensure a 6.75% annual return on the company’s $3 million required investment. City attorneys and the DIA filed a counterclaim in October alleging Jacksonville-based MPS is in default for failing to meet financial reporting obligations under the 26-year-old deal. The city’s counterclaim cites a 2019 City Council Auditor’s review that found reports for the garages’ revenue provided by MPS were incomplete and not compliant with the redevelopment SEE PARKING, PAGE 2
Ferber buys old Well Fargo bank site in Mandarin The Ferber Company bought a Mandarin bank site with the intention of redeveloping it. Ferber paid $1.4 million on April 5 for the 1.4-acre site at 10600 San Jose Blvd. that features a closed 3,500-square-foot Wells Fargo branch. It was built in 1980. Tom Mundy, Ferber vice president of development services, said April 7 the highest and best use of the site is as a restaurant with a drive-thru. “The site is in the heart of Mandarin with great access at a signal and frontage to San Jose Blvd.,” Mundy said in an email. It is west of San Jose Boulevard, north of Interstate 295.
VOLUME 108, NO. 102 • ONE SECTION