Daily Record Financial News &
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Vol. 102, No. 187 • One Section
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Friends’ viability questioned
Gulliford says another group may run Hemming more efficiently By Max Marbut Staff Writer The Friends of Hemming Plaza’s budget was stretched so thin last month that when the city withheld a June payment over a contract dispute, the nonprofit couldn’t make payroll. Instead, Friends Executive Director Vince Cavin loaned the group $7,000 on July 14 in a transaction shown as “Vince deposit to be reimbursed.” Six days later, a check written to Cavin was listed to “repay short term loan.” The revelation was shared Monday during a City Coun-
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cil Finance Committee meeting where members discussed amending the contract again for the fledgling nonprofit. Finance Chair Bill Gulliford introduced a bill last week that would allow the Friends to include revenue from concessions and others forms of income to meet the group’s fundraising requirements. Under the terms of an 18-month contract, the city will provide a total of $1 million in installment payments as long as the nonprofit collects $250,000 in private donations within the contract’s first year. The contract went into effect
Sept. 1 and is being funded by $800,000 from the Downtown Investment Authority and $200,000 from the city. Based on questions raised by the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department and an opinion from the Office of General Counsel, the city withheld a $150,000 payment due June 1. The nonprofit has received $600,000 from the city since September. City attorneys said the amount of private donations reported by the Friends fell short of the $200,000 the group was supposed to raise within nine months of the
contract date. The nonprofit lists $106,000 in donations since September. If concession money had been allowed, the group would have reached the fundraising requirement. Bill Prescott, a member of the Friends board, told the committee not receiving the June 1 payment led to Cavin loaning the group money so employees could be paid. Gulliford said while he thinks the group has done “a phenomenal job” with park improvements, he has concerns about the nonprofit’s long-term stability. Hemming continued on Page A-2
Major commercial development is planned in Northwest Jacksonville along the Interstate 295 West Beltway. Pilot Flying J intends to develop an almost 9-acre, more than $4 million Pilot Travel Center at southwest I-295 and Pritchard Road. About two miles south, hotelier Philip Murphey plans to build a $9 million, up to 100-room Holiday Inn Express & Suites at northeast I-295 and Commonwealth Avenue. The city is reviewing site plans and building-permit applications for the Pilot Travel Center on vacant property owned by Robert’s Diesel Service Inc. It would be the third Pilot Travel Center in the Jacksonville area. The others are in Baldwin off of I-10 and at County Road 210 off I-95. Plans show Pilot Travel Centers will build a $4.15 million travel center, including an almost 13,000-square-foot retail building along with fueling positions for cars and trucks. Plans show it will include a drive-thru Arby’s, and the company says it also will include a Cinnabon and PJ Fresh, which sells fast-casual food such as roasted chicken, pizza, soup, salads, sandwiches and hot dogs. The permit applications do not list a contractor. Property owner Robert Taylor said the Northwest Jacksonville area needs the project, given that he estimates at least 50 warehouse operations populate the vicinity. Pilot centers cater to truckers, among other travelers, and that area’s warehouses Mathis
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Photo by Kevin Hogencamp
NW Jax Interactive dining in Brooklyn gaining Pilot and new hotel
Candy Apple Café & Cocktails owners, from left, Alan Cottrill, Ellen Cottrill, Jennifer Earnest and Liz Earnest say their inspiration for HOBNOB is drawn from a dinner club format they enjoyed for years.
Vacations spur new venture for Candy Apple owners
By Kevin Hogencamp Contributing Writer Long before the en-vogue Candy Apple Café & Cocktails opened its doors this spring in Downtown Jacksonville, its owners had another, very different idea for an eatery. Husband-and-wife team Alan and Ellen Cottrill and mother-daughter duo Liz and Jennifer Earnest say for about a decade, they have envisioned opening a restaurant that blends great food with social interaction. Featuring sharable plates and customer-
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chef interactions, their concept is akin to the dinner-club format the four food lovers enjoyed for years. The monthly themed gatherings featured a five-course small-plate dinner experience in a cocktail party environment and allowed their social circles to intersect. As the Cottrills and Earnests explored their idea further, they began to fancy the notion of setting up chef’s tables and having butler-passed appetizers. They came up with the idea to have their customers ring in the weekends with an eatery-wide champagne toast every Friday afternoon.
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It would be the ultimate place in Jacksonville to socialize — to hobnob, so to speak. By late fall, the Cottrills’ and Earnests’ longstanding concept, HOBNOB, will open above Unity Plaza at 220 Riverside, an upscale apartment community buoyed by retail stores, restaurants, programmed activities and Unity Park. “From the very first dinner club, we said, ‘One day this is going to be a restaurant.’ And now, here we are,” Ellen Cottrill said. The venture deliberately aims to delve beyond the Candy Apple collaboration by HOBNOB continued on Page A-4
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