Daily Record Financial News &
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
Vol. 102, No. 198 • Two Sections
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Liberty Street claims total nearly $75,000 Residents praise city’s reimbursement process
The hole in Liberty Street from February caused residents of the Riverwalk Townhomes at The Plaza to spend close to $75,000 of their own money on items like lodging and food. The city has reimbursed the 19 residents for those expernses.
JEA gives McElroy $56,712 increase
Photo by David Chapman
By David Chapman Staff Writer When a portion of Liberty Street fell into the St. Johns River early that Sunday morning in February, the costs started mounting. Not just for the city, which ultimately will spend at least $65 million fixing the makeshift lake and surrounding area. Adjacent homeowners felt the pinch, too. The collapse caused the Riverwalk Townhomes at The Plaza to be without electricity for almost a month. Some sought refuge with friends or at a hotel. Some lost refrigerators full of food. Others
who rented the units out lost income. All told, the city received 19 claims for damages from those homeowners, totaling almost $75,000. They’ve all been paid. Michele Vicari, a renter in the community, filed a claim for $640. Not for food or lodging — at least not for her. Instead, she filed the claim to cover the expense of boarding her two Maltese, Roxy and Zoey. The Jacksonville Orthopaedic Institute worker and her son stayed with her daughter in an apartment off Atlantic Boulevard. It was cramped, but the big prob-
lem was her daughter’s bigger dog. Vicari didn’t feel comfortable leaving her small dogs there during work and didn’t want to stay at a hotel. Boarding was the only expense she believes she would not have made had she stayed. “I can’t complain about anything,” she said in an upbeat tone. Beverly Chapman, her friend and neighbor, took care of her paperwork. Chapman owns a unit and also filed a claim for $291, an amount that covered lost groceries and a meal in a restaurant. Liberty continued on Page A-3
Contract extended for three years
Paul McElroy likes JEA and his job as CEO. The utility’s board likes him and the job he’s been doing. Both sides were looking for stability. Those were the themes for negotiating the renewal of JEA’s contract with McElroy, who has led the utility since 2012. McElroy’s three-year contract extension was approved Tuesday by JEA’s board of directors with a $56,172 increase in salary, bringing the CEO’s salary to $437,172. The increase was based on a study conducted by the utility’s human resources department that determined McElroy’s previous salary, $381,000, was lower than what most other top executives at publicly and investorowned utilities are paid. The study showed the median base salary for CEOs in the energy sector to be about $561,000. Add in the median potential perforMcElroy mance bonus and the figure increases to around $1 million. McElroy’s contract with JEA includes up to a 15 percent performance bonus, which could bring his salary under the new contract to nearly $503,000. Board chair Helen Heim Albee said JEA must offer fair compensation to be able to recruit and retain the best candidates and employees. When McElroy’s contract came up for renewal, she said he was the top choice for the job. She pointed out that in the past three years of McElroy’s leadership, JEA has gone from close to the bottom among JEA continued on Page A-2
Public
Stocking up for the school year
Photo by David Chapman
By Max Marbut Staff Writer
Teacher Supply Depot volunteer Betsy Swayne shows sixth-grade teacher Jessica Thompson how former political snipe signs can easily be converted into clipboards for students. The Duval Charter School teacher took home several, along with a printer and other items. See more about the depot on Page A-7.
New investor for single-family homes HomeUnion sees growth in Jacksonville’s economy
By Carole Hawkins There’s a new investor buying singlefamily homes in Jacksonville, one that aims to make purchasing investment property as simple as picking up a stock for a 401(k). HomeUnion came to Jacksonville because it believes the city has a lot of room for growth. The Irvine, Calif.-based company added Jacksonville and four other metro areas, bringing its number of active markets to 19. It’s not a hedge fund or real estate investment trust, but an online real estate investment manager. The company selects cities with growing economies and prescreens houses for their income-earning potential. It then presents
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its “buy” recommendations to clients across the U.S. as candidates for their portfolios. The process works the same as it does for a mom-andpop investor. Except that the homes are bought by investors at a distance, with HomeUnion acting Hovland as a consultant and portfolio manager for the life of the investment. What made the business attractive here, said Steve Hovland, market analyst for the
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company, was Jacksonville came late to the recovery. Home prices haven’t skyrocketed yet, thus, there’s more upside potential for clients. “When we looked at Jacksonville, the economic story we could tell our investors is one of growth,” he said. “Other places in the country are kind of leveling off.” HomeUnion viewed the possible arrival of a new aircraft carrier to Jacksonville, the widening of the Panama Canal and long-term plans to deepen Jacksonville’s shipping harbor as signs homeownership would grow. Employment also looked strong. CEO Dan Ganguly said HomeUnion’s effect on Jacksonville’s real estate market Investor continued on Page A-2
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