Daily Record Financial News &
Thursday, December 3, 2015
Vol. 103, No. 014 • One Section
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Slow sales stall condo projects
Aphora, Beacon Riverside fail to hit presales targets
Developers of Aphora at Marina San Pablo will no longer pursue a condo tower and instead will offer fee-simple coach houses, which are like townhomes.
Special to the Daily Record
By Carole Hawkins Staff Writer A still-timid luxury condo market has put two high-profile Jacksonville projects on hold. Beacon Riverside, a high-rise on the St. Johns River by NAI Hallmark Partners, suspended its marketing in October. Also, developers of Aphora at Marina San Pablo reported the tower project is no longer active. Aphora is a high-rise on the Intracoastal Waterway by Bove and Remi Property. In both cases, presales fell short of 50 percent of the units, the
threshold needed for regular construction financing. Beacon Riverside began sales in 2013. Prices for the tower’s 45 units ranged from the $700,000s to $2.3 million. Hallmark presold a quarter of the units, but couldn’t overcome the 50 percent hurdle. “We kept hearing the same thing over and over again, ‘We’d like to see the building under construction and then we’re in,’” said Hallmark principal Bryan Weber. “It wasn’t worth an aggressive marketing effort to keep going.” Weber will seek gap financing, perhaps from international and
New York hedge funds, in order to get construction started. In tight financing times, it’s a strategy that’s been pursued successfully in South Florida markets. With no such deal imminent, though, Hallmark released funds placed in escrow by buyers. “It didn’t cost us anything to return the money,” Weber said. “It was the right thing to do.” Aphora at Marina San Pablo has “changed its focus,” said developer Gabe Bove. Instead of a condo tower, developers will now deliver fee-simple coach houses, which are like townhomes. Condos continued on Page A-4
Campaign A story from the first lady Innovation will trickle District to down to spotlight groups resources
New effort targets startup community
Davis: ‘This is the foundation of who we are’
By Carole Hawkins Staff Writer
Taking the truJAX campaign to the community will begin in earnest in January. Business and community leaders and representatives from the city Office of Economic Development, Visit Jacksonville, Jacksonville Community Council Inc. and the JAX Chamber will comprise the “Endorser-Drivers Cabinet.” That group will work to expand truJAX with the assistance of advocacy groups, cultural and arts organizations, neighborhood associations, the nonprofit sector, faith-based groups and environmental and conservation interests. Those steps were announced after the community image program was formally introduced Wednesday at the chamber. “We challenge this community and ask people to embrace and use these concepts as they market Jacksonville,” said Will Ketchum, president of BurKetchum dette Ketchum creative agency and truJAX coordinator and volunteer chair. He presented the program to the media and many of the people who helped develop the program. Ketchum introduced the “DNA statement,” the distillation of how Jacksonville should represent itself to the global market: “The power and beauty of our natural environment inspires an unstoppable, wide-open exchange of products, ideas and opinions that drives an attitude of possibility and opportunity,” he said. The high points from Ketchum’s nearly one-hour presentation are available at truJAX continued on Page A-4
Public
Molly Curry, wife of Mayor Lenny Curry, reads “Minions: Snow Day” to children gathered around the Christmas tree at City Hall during the fourth annual Holiday at St. James on Wednesday. See more photos on Page A-3.
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Photo by Fran Ruchalski
By Max Marbut Staff Writer
At One Spark 2013, Ed Baldwin met other entrepreneurs and felt energized about launching his tech startup, Profile Gorilla. Then, he spent the next year working out of his house while he built up his company. “It was extremely disconnecting,” he said. “You’re lonely and looking at four walls.” Today, he’ll unveil a platform to connect creators outside of One Spark. Baldwin and other volunteer partners will go live today with a website that promotes an Innovation District in Downtown Jacksonville. The group plans to announce the district’s formal name at 5 p.m. at the Hemming Park Beer Garden. Its website — sparkdistrict.com — will go live at the same time. The website will be a landing page/web portal showing the location of Downtown entrepreneurs and the organizations that serve them. It’s a map that has about 10 pins in it so far, Baldwin said. “It’s to put a spotlight on the large number of resources we have Downtown for startups,” Baldwin said. The list of those resources has gotten larger recently. Four years ago, there was only CoWork Jax and Startup Weekend, an event that ran annually at the University of North Florida. Both venues taught entrepreneurs how to pitch ideas to investors and CoWork offered them low-cost office space Downtown. This year saw the launch of the Jax Community of Entrepreneurs, a network that provides programming for startups. Also CoLab Jax, a machine shop-electronics lab where entrepreneurs use communityowned equipment. It’s progress, but the city still has a way to go to equal the innovation communities Innovation
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