FREE
October 8-14, 2020
The Mathis Report: Maximus seeking $1.2 million expansion PAGE 4
jaxdailyrecord.com
JACKSONVILLE
Record & Observer
THE LOT J DEAL Record & Observer JACKSONVILLE
MILLIONS AT STAKE
Amazon at Imeson a $106.1M project
JACKSONVILLE
The 1.1 millionsquare-foot Softlines distribution center will open in fall 2021 and pick, pack and ship small items, including apparel, accessories and footwear.
JACKSONVILLE
BY KAREN BRUNE MATHIS
Record & Observer Record & Observer EDITOR
Images special to the Daily Record
A rendering of the Lot J development looking east toward TIAA Bank Field shows two apartment buildings leading to a Live! District entertainment center, retail, hotel and office space.
Some Council members want additional details before backing the $445 million project with more than $200 million in city spending. BY MIKE MENDENHALL STAFF WRITER
T
he deal between Shad Khan’s Jacksonville Jaguars and Mayor Lenny Curry’s administration for the $445 million mixed-use Lot J development calls for nearly half of the project to be paid for with taxpayer money. That will require City Coun-
cil approval before one dollar is spent. Eleven of Jacksonville’s 19 Council members attended the joint city-Jaguars news conference Oct. 5 to announce the Lot J project. Council President Tommy Hazouri and member LeAnna Cumber sent statements of support, read by Curry during the event at Daily’s Place Flex Field. Several Council members SEE LOT J, PAGE 8
How Forcura is growing while employees work from home PAGE 3 The top 10 home sales of the week in Northeast Florida PAGE 10 The Marbut Report: Two in-person events for the JBA PAGE 14
The Live! District entertainment center that is part of the Lot J project would be partially paid for and fully owned by the city under the deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars and The Cordish Companies.
Now under construction, online retailer Amazon.com Inc.’s new Imeson Park fulfillment center is at least a $106.1 million project. Approved and pending building and related permits show the almost 1.1 million-square-foot e-commerce facility will cost that amount and there likely will be further investment as conveyors and other equipment are installed. Seattlebased Amazon announced Sept. 2 that it will open a 500-job Jack- Davis sonville fulfillment center in fall 2021 at 10501 Cold Storage Road in the North Jacksonville industrial center. Construction plans call it a Softlines fulfillment center. Amazon said the center will pick, pack and ship small items, including apparel, accessories and footwear. “Building this site in Jacksonville gives us the opportunity to better serve our customers in the region,” said Alicia Boler Davis, Amazon vice president of global customer fulfillment, in the news release. SEE AMAZON, PAGE 11
THE BASCH REPORT
Pandemic sales boom may help Winn-Dixie parent IPO Plus: Landstar System downgraded. PAGE 12 VOLUME 3, NO. 18 • ONE SECTION