Daily Record Financial News &
Friday, September 18, 2015
Vol. 102, No. 220 • One Section
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
s a long way up there’Steins ‘ That’
want $3.38M refund
Brewmaster making leap from lights after Khan’s challenge By David Chapman Staff Writer It was a tall challenge that took Bryan Derr a moment to picture. Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan had just asked Derr, the Anheuser-Busch senior brewmaster, if he’d jump from EverBank Field’s light tower. The 34-year-old brewmaster has been to many Jaguars games. He’d remember seeing Jaxson de Ville perform high-flying stunts. And in a moment with so many thoughts running in his head, it suddenly became clear. “That’s a long way up there,” he thought. His response? Challenge accepted. The leap will be done Sunday, but what led to it was part of the “craziest day of work” Derr’s ever had.
Couple sues federal government over rejected tax deduction By Mark Basch Contributing Writer
Last Friday was like many others for Derr, who’s served as Anheuser-Busch’s senior brewmaster for the past couple of years. He arrived in the morning. Had a cup of coffee. Checked in on the crew to ensure all was well with production. Then he received a phone call, one that set everything in motion. “I picked up the phone and they said ‘Mr. Khan wants to come to the brewery,’” Derr recalls, “And he’s bringing a camera crew.” He was shocked. And he only had about 15 minutes to prepare. He thought Khan wanted a tour, so he gathered the crew in the plant’s tap room to share the news. They were a little nervous, Derr said, so he told them to relax. Have a beer. Khan arrived with cameras in tow and Derr led the tour area, showing how the company made its beer. Back at the tap room, though, the two shared a beer with cameras rolling. That’s when Khan asked if Derr was “up for whatever,” a recent Bud Light campaign slogan that results in atypical encounters. Khan’s challenge: He wanted the “freshest beer ever” for fans at Sunday’s game against the Miami Dolphins. That is, making and selling beer at the stadium in the same day. Logistics immediately came to mind. Budweiser
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Photo by David Chapman
A trip to the brewery
Bryan Derr, senior brew master for Jacksonville’s Anheuser-Busch plant, will leap from the light tower (top right) at Sunday’s Jacksonville Jaguars game. He was challenged by team owner Shad Khan.
Jay Stein and his wife, Deanie, are suing the United States of America to resolve a tax dispute. The Steins filed the suit against the government last week in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, seeking to recover $3.38 million in taxes they were forced to pay last year after the Internal Revenue Service disallowed a tax deduction. The deduction was for 500,000 shares of Stein Mart Inc. stock the couple donated to the Jay Stein Foundation Trust in 2005. Jay Stein is chairman and CEO of Stein Mart, the company founded by his grandfather Stein more than a century ago. His family controlled about 14.9 million shares of the Jacksonville-based fashion retailer when Stein Mart filed its proxy statement in the spring, representing 32.8 percent of all outstanding shares. According to the lawsuit, the fair market value of the 500,000 shares donated to the foundation was about $12.67 million when the Steins made the donation 10 years ago. The suit says the Steins were unable to deduct the full amount of the donation on their 2005 tax return, under federal tax law, so they deducted a portion of the donation each year from 2005 through 2010. In October 2014, the IRS sent the Steins a notice of deficiency saying the agency was disallowing the deduction and ordering Steins
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Investor Llorens buys more in Jacksonville South Florida-based investor Ramon Llorens continues to add to his area holdings, buying more land in North Jacksonville. Llorens, through Amkin Dames Point LLC, paid $1.2 million to buy almost 7.9 acres at 9348 and 9353 New Berlin Road. The property is next to 47 acres of vacant land he bought in February. Llorens declined to comment. Amkin Dames Point made the latest purchase from New Berlin Road Jacksonville LLC. The deed was executed Tuesday and recorded with the Duval County Clerk of Court on Wednesday.
Public
Tyler Newman and Jacob Horsley of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller, Comcar Industries Inc. Newman said the land was surplus property that Comcar had not occupied for years. He said he did not know what Amkin intended to do with the land. Llorens, based in Miami, continues to accumulate property in Jacksonville. So far, he has invested almost $58 million and is expected to buy several acres next to the Lexington Hotel & Conference Center Jacksonville
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Riverwalk. He began his series of acquisitions a year ago. In September 2014, he bought EverBank Center Downtown for $47.4 million. In February, he bought more than 30 acres in Talleyrand, including the former Ford Motor Co. factory, for $4.4 million. That
was the same month he made the first New Berlin Road land purchase. His next purchase could be the property near the Southbank hotel. Llorens, as manager of the family-owned Brickell South Miami Developments LLC, has a contract on property that Riverfront Jacksonville Development LLC of Miami is selling as part of its bankruptcy reorganization. Riverfront Jacksonville’s disclosure statement filed in July states that on June 18, it entered into a purchase, sale and settle-
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ment agreement with Brickell South. That agreement includes what are called the Riverplace Parcel and the west parking lot, with the closing expected on or before Aug. 15. No sale has been recorded with the Duval County Clerk of Court. Llorens has been making the Jacksonville purchases under LLCs with the Amkin name. He filed Amkin OPJ LLC with the state Aug. 26, but it’s not clear what deal might be connected with the name. Mathis continued on Page A-4
consecutive weekdays