Daily Record Financial News &
Thursday, October 8, 2015
Vol. 102, No. 234 • One Section
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Changes coming to grant council
“I feel like it’s Christmas.”
Danny Becton, City Council member
Special to the Daily Record
By Max Marbut Staff Writer
IKEA stores feature rooms that are set up to show customers how furnishings can be paired together.
How IKEA’ s no became yes
Popular furnishings store will spur other development $80M
Total investment
250
Employees
294,000 Square feet
25
Acre site
1,200
Parking spaces
500
Construction jobs
10a.m.9p.m. Daily hours
Public
Council
IKEA has had its eyes on Jacksonville for at least 10 years. The international retailer that sells affordable home furnishings, often assembly required, usually needs an area population of about 2 million people. Jacksonville’s seven-county region won’t reach that until 2030, according to state projections. But Northeast Florida’s postrecession growth caught IKEA’s attention. The search was reactivated two years ago. “We saw the potential here in Jacksonville,” said spokesman Joseph Roth. It’s not just the 60-mile distance that IKEA considers as the core customer access. It’s also the larger media market and trade area. In fact, Roth said more than 30 percent of IKEA’s sales come from customers visiting from beyond that hour’s drive. Roth and Jacksonville leaders announced Wednesday morning the Sweden-based company would open a megastore at Gate Parkway and Interstate 295 in the fall of 2017. City Council President Greg Anderson said the project is an investment of more than $80 million. IKEA, which is privately held, doesn’t disclose its spend-
legal notices begin on page
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Study to show how to spend Journey money
By Karen Brune Mathis Managing Editor
By David Chapman Staff Writer
Mayor Lenny Curry talks about how IKEA’s values of always trying to do better mirror those of Jacksonville. The mayor was among a handful of people who knew about the company’s push toward Jacksonville, but he couldn’t tell anyone, including his wife, Molly. He said she wasn’t pleased about that. Also pictured are City Council President Greg Anderson, left, and IKEA spokesman Joseph Roth. ing plans but did not disagree. The store will feature nearly 10,000 exclusively designed items, 50 room-settings, three model home interiors, a supervised children’s play area and a 350-seat restaurant serving the store’s Swedish specialties. Moving from “reactivation” two years ago to confirmation Wednesday involved many steps and multiple visits. There was the internal deci-
Photo by David Chapman
IKEA at gate & I-295
The city Public Service Grant Council is poised for comprehensive changes before the next round of applications from nonprofits are submitted. The grant council each year identifies the community’s needs and the needs of “priority populations,” groups of people with common challenges that may be addressed by social service providers. Over the past few years, priority for grants has been given to organizations serving homeless people, people with low incomes and elderly people who are homebound. Last year, $2 million in grants were awarded to 25 nonprofits. The same amount will again be disbursed in the 2016 Brosche cycle. The City Council Special Committee on Public Service Grants met for the second time Wednesday to discuss elements of the program that should be improved and how to implement changes before the grants are awarded next year. One of the issues to be addressed is appointing the number of volunteer grant council members stipulated in the ordinance.
sion to move forward and start its due diligence. Roth said the company does not disclose when it makes such decisions. The main move was to identify a site. IKEA looks for highly visible 25- to 35-acre locations along major highways and interstates that provide easy access for customers. It also looks for a site near a metropolitan area’s growing population center. IKEA continued on Page A-3
Published
for
It’s rare for money to be earmarked for yet-to-be-determined ideas. But this year, there’s a $2.5 million pot ready and waiting for Jacksonville Journey, the city’s anti-crime initiative. Mayor Lenny Curry’s administration hasn’t decided the best way to spend it, yet. It’ll have until about the end of the year to determine what programs — those helping ex-offenders and juveniles among them — that need funding. “Violent crime is going up,” said Kerri Stewart, Curry’s chief of staff. “We have got to get this money on the street to solve a problem.” Curry campaigned on keeping the public safety, teaming with Sheriff Mike Williams on the issue. Forty additional police and 40 community service officers are being added, but tackling the issue requires more than just enforcement. It’s the prevention and intervention pieces officials say Journey offers that impact crime rates, which still are high. There has to be a plan to spend the $2.5 million by the end of the year. If not, City Council might be a little
26,764
Journey
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consecutive weekdays