FRIDAY October 18, 2019
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REDEVELOPMENT
CSX CEO says tech boosted earnings
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Boyer wants master plan for First Baptist property
JACKSONVILLE
Quarterly revenue is down, but earnings are up as expenses are cut.
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BY MARK BASCH CONTRIBUTING WRITER
board member Oliver Barakat, who asked about DIA’s role in the First Baptist sale. He said the First Baptist campus is privately owned and a sale will be a private transaction. Barakat is a senior vice president at the real estate firm CBRE Jacksonville. Boyer said after Wednesday’s meeting that she contacted First Baptist following its Sept. 8 announcement that it wanted to sell most of its Downtown campus. Church leaders said they were interviewing real estate brokers but have not announced a hire or a strategy. “I know that any request to hold off for a while runs counter to their desire to move forward, so I don’t want to stop them from their plan,” Boyer said. “I want
CSX Corp. surprised everyone Wednesday by reporting slightly higher third-quarter earnings, despite lower revenue, as it continued to cut expenses and increase efficiency. The Jacksonville-based railroad has reduced expenses with job cuts over the past three years. CSX’s headcount in its operations throughout the Eastern U.S. dropped by almost 400 in the third q u a r te r to Foote 21,158, and has dropped by about 5,000 since the beginning of 2017. However, during CSX’s conference call with analysts late Wednesday, CEO Jim Foote outlined other initiatives that are making the railroad run more efficiently. The company has increased fuel efficiency by operating trains with distributed power, Foote said. “This technology, which CSX had historically not deployed, allows us to disperse locomotives throughout the train which improves fuel efficiency and enhances safety and reliability by reducing train separations,” he said. Foote said the company is implementing other safety initiatives. “Technologies such as the increased use of automated track inspection cars and drones are
SEE BOYER, PAGE 2
SEE CSX, PAGE 2
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MULTIPLE BLOCKS FOR SALE
First Baptist has proposed selling nine city blocks — six contiguous — in response to declining church attendance and a growing multimillion-dollar maintenance bill on its aging 1.5 million-square-foot property. File image
“What I see is that the collective property presents an opportunity for Downtown redevelopment that is bigger than may occur if it’s piecemealed.” LORI BOYER DOWNTOWN INVESTMENT AUTHORITY CEO
Downtown Investment Authority CEO says she would like to work with the church, which is selling nine city blocks. BY MIKE MENDENHALL STAFF WRITER
Downtown Investment Authority CEO Lori Boyer said a master-planned redevelopment could be the best option for First Baptist Church officials as they plan to sell 12.17 acres of the church’s Downtown campus. Boyer told DIA board members Wednesday the redevelopment opportunity for Downtown is in the property’s six contiguous blocks, but the impact would be diminished if the parcels are sold separately. “What I see is that the collective property presents an opportunity for Downtown redevelopment that is bigger than may occur if it’s piecemealed,” she said. Boyer was responding Wednesday to
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