THURSDAY November 21, 2019
Basch Report: Maxwell House parent company downgraded PAGE 10
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Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
ARMADA STADIUM PLANS MORE Daily Record THAN SOCCER
Baymeadows JACKSONVILLE Park bringing First Watch, SpringHill Suites Starbucks also coming to old golf course site.
Daily Record Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
NEW HOME FOR THE ARMADA
The Jacksonville Armada FC, owned by Robert Palmer, is seeking to buy 5 acres of city-owned land northeast of the Downtown Sports Complex at A. Philip Randolph Boulevard and Grant, Albert and Georgia streets for an up-to-10,000-seat stadium.
JACKSONVILLE
Moving RP Funding offices from Baymeadows is part of the plan for the proposed stadium complex. BY MIKE MENDENHALL STAFF WRITER
T
here’s more than one goal for the Jacksonville Armada FC’s quest to build a new stadium near the Downtown Sports Complex. The club’s proposed deal could bring along a corporate building for some of team owner and Florida entrepreneur Robert Palmer’s businesses. Palmer is the founder of Maitland-based RP Funding Direct Mortgage Lender, HomeValue.com, Listing Power Tools and other business ventures based in Lake Mary. RP Funding opened in Baymeadows in 2016 and leases 26,500 square feet of office space at 8381 Dix Ellis Trail in Prominence office park. It has 175 employees. Armada President and General Manager Nathan Walter said in an interview Friday that Palmer hopes to relocate Robert Palmer Companies operations from Baymeadows to the new stadium complex. Walter said the announcement is expected within a
Renderings posted on Robert Palmer’s Facebook page show an RP Funding building as part of the stadium complex. RP Funding is owned by Palmer.
SEE ARMADA, PAGE 6
BY SCOTT SAILER STAFF WRITER
Joyce Development Group LLC will bring a 120-room SpringHill Suites by Marriott, a Starbucks Coffee Co. shop and First Watch, The Daytime Cafe, to its $30 million Baymeadows Park project at the site of the former Baymeadows Golf Club. The group and District 11 City Council member Danny Becton broke ground on the mixeduse center Wednesday at 7981 Baymeadows Road, east of Interstate 95. “The project will be transformative for the area and improve the quality of life,” Becton said. Becton considers the site a center of revitalization for all of Baymeadows. John Joyce, managing member of Joyce Development, said Starbucks should open in August followed by First Watch in September. Construction is expected to start on the five-story hotel in March and be completed by November 2021. Along with the hotel, Baymeadows Park will include 22,000 square feet of commercial, retail and restaurant uses among four buildings. Starbucks and First Watch will anchor the ends of the project. Joyce said 17,000 square feet of the commercial space is committed, leaving 5,000 square feet available for lease. Eric Yi and Austin Kay with NAI Hallmark are the commercial real estate leasing brokers for the tenant space. The project architect is RDL Architects Inc. of Shaker Heights, Ohio.
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HEALTH & BUSINESS
CEO shares what’s ahead for Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville Growth plans include entrance from Butler. PAGE 5 VOLUME 107, NO. 5 • TWO SECTIONS