Daily Record Financial News &
Friday, August 28, 2015
Vol. 102, No. 205 • One Section
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Keep it or dump it?
Whitehall moving HQ to San Marco
Whitehall Realty Partners intends to relocate its headquarters today from Riverside to San Marco, moving it much closer to the long-awaited East San Marco project that should bring the area a new Publix. Whitehall Realty managing member John Carey said that proximity isn’t why the company is making the move, although he acknowledges it’s convenient. “We think San Marco is going to get better and better,” he said. The building sits in the re-developing corridor from the Interstate 95 Overland Bridge under construction into San Marco Square. Whitehall Realty Partners and Indigo South Capital Inc., an investment partner, bought the building at 1721 Atlantic Blvd. in March. The group is renovating the two-story, 7,741-square-foot office building inside and out. It also bought a house behind the building for demolition and redevelopment for parking. Whitehall and Indigo will move their 10-12 employees onto the top floor. The bottom floor will be available for lease to one or two tenants. The exterior will be refreshed, re-landscaped and renamed as 1721 Atlantic. It will be repainted with a new color scheme of two shades of taupe with a white accent band, and the group will add new awnings and a new entry. C. Harrison Construction Inc. is the contractor. Carey and Whitehall manager Marc Munago estimate the investment in the project will reach about $1.5 million, including the building acquisitions, interior and exterior improvements, tenant renovations and the parking lot. Whitehall’s main offices now occupy leased space at 1022 Park St. in Riverside’s Five Points area.
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JTA has expensive decision to make about Skyway By David Chapman Staff Writer
Overhaul
Total: $70.2 million Lifespan: 20 years
New vehicles Total: $85.1 million Lifespan: 25-40 years
Decommission
Total: $72.7 million-$78.5 million Payback obligations: $38.1 million (comprising, federal state, local)
Repurpose
Total: $64.8 million-$67.8 million Payback obligations: $38.1 million (comprising federal, state, local)
Since its first runs back in 1989, the Skyway has had its share of critics. The people mover has had nicknames like the “Riderless Express.” Some have deemed it a waste of taxpayer dollars. The Downtown service also has had its share of supporters, evidenced by upward-ticking ridership in recent years. By the end of this year, it’s expected almost 1.4 million people will use the service this year — almost 1 million per year than just five years ago. That’s been boosted by free ridership since Sept. 1, 2012. Despite the ups and down, the Skyway has arrived at a critical juncture in its lifetime. The infrastructure is mostly solid. The vehicles used to ferry people throughout Down-
town are not. But, only six of the 10 vehicles remain in service and have a lifespan of another five years or so. That means the Jacksonville Transportation Authority has a tough question to answer — one with a high price tag, regardless of the direction it goes. “It’s one of the most challenging questions this team faces,” said Nathaniel Ford, JTA’s CEO. An answer, the JTA has determined, can come in one of four forms: overhaul it, buy new vehicles, decommission the system or repurpose it. There’s an overhaul of the current vehicles. The ones passengers use today would be rehabilitated, including the obsolete operating system. That would buy the Skyway another 15-20 years for an estimated cost of just over Skyway Continued on page A-4
Art student focusing on photography at MOCA UNF student building exhibit on fly
Amanda Rosenblatt, a senior at the University of North Florida, is setting up her first photography studio at the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville.
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Photo by Max Marbut
By Max Marbut Staff Writer With a penchant for creating art but little affinity for guiding a pencil across a piece of paper, Amanda Rosenblatt at age 14 picked up a camera and a roll of film. “I have always been into art, but I can’t draw,” she said. “Photography was artistic and I understood it.” Thousands of shutter clicks later, Rosenblatt has a studio and a deadline for an exhibition of her work. A senior in the Art and Design
Department at the University of North Florida, Rosenblatt is the recipient of the 2015 Student Residency at the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville. For the next three months, she’ll be working three days each week in her studio on the fifth floor of the museum. The space along the north side of the building is where she was this week setting up backgrounds and arranging props, planning to take advantage of the large windows that line one wall of the room. “It has beautiful natural light,” Rosenblatt said. That light will be used to add
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to her portfolio and to create an exhibit that will open Dec. 13 in the museum’s Florida Blue Education Gallery. Rosenblatt’s theme will be the symbolism found in the Major Arcana of the Tarot deck. She’ll be photographing professional models — and some friends — to create images such as the sun, the moon, the hermit, the lovers and the magician. Interacting with museum guests as she works, Rosenblatt will display images in progress and answer questions about her creative process and the technical MOCA Continued on page A-2
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