FRIDAY November 20, 2020
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Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
REDEVELOPMENT
THE MATHIS REPORT
Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
DIA wants Landing site’s future to start with a park
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SEE LANDING, PAGE 2
SEE MATHIS, PAGE 2
CEO Lori Boyer wants three design teams to create options for the space. The Downtown Investment Authority wants to secure designs for a minimum 4.5-acre public park at the former Jacksonville Landing site before putting the remaining property on the market for development. The DIA filed a draft request for proposals to the city Procurement Division for review that solicits designs for park space at the site’s St. Johns River frontage and Laura Street corridor, according
to CEO Lori Boyer. At the DIA board’s Nov. 18 meeting, Boyer outlined plans to create three design teams to generate options for the vacant city-owned green space at 2 Inde- Boyer pendent Drive W. In an interview Nov. 11, Boyer said the DIA is prioritizing public space at what she called “Riverfront Plaza.” “I don’t want to put those (development parcels) into the marketplace until
The Seffner company will renovate the space in The Markets at Town Center as a new concept.
we have some preliminary design done on the public space,” she said. “I don’t want it to just be a lawn of a private space.” Boyer said each design team would include a landscape architect, artist, urban designer or architect and be given a stipend to complete a proposal. Their work products would be evaluated. “There would be public input and that would be the opportunity to decide which one we would want to build,” Boyer said at the Nov. 18 meeting.
City of Jacksonville photo
STAFF WRITER
Rooms To Go CEO pays $10M for closed Toys R Us store
A group led by Rooms To Go CEO Jeffrey Seaman paid $10 million for the former Toys R Us building at The Markets at Town Center. Cormorant SJ Properties LLC, based in Seffner and led by Seaman, bought the property from Hines Global REIT 4875 Town Center LLC. Seaman said Oct. 30 the sale had closed, but did not disclose the price. The deed, executed Oct. 30, was posted Nov. 18 to the Duval County Clerk of Courts website. Rooms To Go intends to renovate the store as its new concept, Seaman said. In addition to its current furniture line, Rooms To Go is adding an expanded children’s section and a 9,000-square-foot area for outdoor patio furniture. At 74,000 square feet with a 55,000-square-foot showroom, the 4875 Town Center Parkway location will be the company’s largest new concept store. “We love Jacksonville. It’s a very good market for Rooms To Go. We were just waiting for the
The Downtown Investment Authority is prioritizing public space at what the city now is calling “Riverfront Plaza,” the former Jacksonville Landing Downtown along the northbank of the St. Johns River.
BY MIKE MENDENHALL
KAREN BRUNE MATHIS EDITOR
UNF to offer MBA, MSM classes at The Barnett The University of North Florida’s Coggin College of Business will offer Master of Business Administration classes and Master of Science in Management courses in the spring term at its Downtown location. Students will have access to the classroom space and other study areas at the UNF Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in The Barnett Building. Courses will be offered with options for inperson, telepresence or online engagement. The application deadline is Dec. 21 for spring classes.
VOLUME 108, NO. 5 • ONE SECTION