TUESDAY October 8, 2019
Public legal notices begin on page 4
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Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
THE MATHIS REPORT
Rowe’s plans expansion into old Harveys, Winn-Dixie locations
16 firms submit bids for JEA
Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
Daily Record Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
The bidder identities will remain confidential until a final award is issued in late February, utility officials say. BY MIKE MENDENHALL STAFF WRITER
JACKSONVILLE
Rob Rowe, owner of Rowe’s IGA Supermarkets, inside the former Winn-Dixie store in Baymeadows he plans to reopen.
Photo by Karen Brune Mathis
KAREN BRUNE MATHIS EDITOR
The Commonwealth Village store on Edgewood could receive a $750,000 city grant for a food desert project.
Jacksonville independent supermarket veteran Rob Rowe is considering two more stores, one in Northwest Jacksonville and another in Baymeadows. Both are in former Southeastern Grocers Inc. stores. Southeastern Grocers closed those two, along with more, in spring 2018 as it restructured under bankruptcy laws. The Northwest Jacksonville store at 1020 Edgewood Ave. N. in Commonwealth Shopping Center is a former Harveys, a banner of Southeastern Grocers. The city Office of Economic Development wants to provide landlord Saglo Development Corp. a $750,000 grant to open a Rowe’s IGA Supermarket at the site to serve customers in a food desert. The Mayor’s Budget Review Commit-
tee on Monday approved the request, which means the deal will need to be completed and approved by City Council. The money comes from $3 million in the Northwest Jacksonville Economic Development Fund earmarked to make healthy food available and affordable in food deserts. Miami-based Saglo and Rowe plan a $3.5 million renovation of the 49,000-square-foot Harveys store, parking lot, signage and landscaping. The location once was a SaveRite, a division of Jacksonville-based WinnDixie Stores Inc. that focused on low prices. Rowe was the SaveRite executive behind it.
JEA received 16 replies to its invitation to negotiate from companies and organizations interested in purchasing some or all of Jacksonville’s public energy and water utility. The identities of the bidders remain confidential, after JEA procurement professionals opened the bids Tuesday and announced the number received at 2 p.m. at the utility’s office Downtown. The deadline for companies and organizations to reply to JEA’s ITN was noon Tuesday. JEA Media Relations Manager Gina Kyle said in a public meeting notice that utility officials would not be taking questions or interviews about Tuesday’s procurement process. Only one company spoke with the media Tuesday. Rob Nicholas, vice president of resource optimization at Veolia North America, told Daily Record news partner News4Jax.com that his company is interested in only a portion of JEA’s assets, and the company wants to team with another respondent during the negotiating process. Veolia Water Technologies is a division of Paris, France-based Veolia Environment — a global water and wastewater services provider with $1.868 billion in annual revenue, according to the company’s website. The utility’s procurement rep-
SEE MATHIS, PAGE 3
SEE JEA, PAGE 3
Earth Fare grand opening Oct. 16 in St. Johns Earth Fare, a specialty organic and natural food grocery, will open its St. Johns County store Oct. 16. The 24,000-square-foot store is in the Shoppes at St. Johns Parkway at 120 Shops Blvd. along St. Johns Parkway near County Road 210. Before the 7 a.m. store opening, a grand-opening celebration will include a ribbon-cutting ceremony, live music, giveaways and a $3,000 check presentation to Landrum Middle School. The first 300 shoppers in line will receive gift cards valued at up to $500. The store will be open daily from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.
VOLUME 106, NO. 228 • ONE SECTION