Daily Record Financial News &
THURSDAY, JANUARY 21, 2016
Vol. 103, No. 049 • oNe SectioN
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
4 battling for council VP spot
Bowman denies chamber pushing his bid By David Chapman Staff Writer Four men are now vying to be City Council vice president. Three of them have a common bond — they’re each in their second consecutive term. Two have experience beyond their two terms, having also served in the 1990s. And one is being pegged by a competitor as having his influential employer generate support for his early run. In the days after John Crescimbeni and Matt Schellenberg submitted letters of intent to their peers about becoming council vice president, Aaron Bowman and Doyle Carter did the same. One-on-one
meetings between candidates and potential supporters have since dotted the calendar as each tries to secure 10 votes. Schellenberg said he wasn’t surprised so many candidates had entered the race — it’s democracy in action. However, he was surprised by Bowman’s candidacy. The leadership position demands experience, Schellenberg said, and Bowman is a first-term member in his seventh month on council. Schellenberg believes Bowman’s early run is being fueled by his employer, the JAX Chamber, as a way to push its agenda. And it could get that through the 11 new members, many of whom the chamber supported. Bowman is senior vice president of busi-
Hemming funding remains a question
ness development for JAXUSA Partnership, the business development arm of the chamber, a position through which he helps bring jobs to Jacksonville. The retired Navy captain served as Commanding Officer of Mayport Naval Station. “I’m sorry Matt doesn’t recognize my 30 years of leadership as a key attribute,” Bowman said Wednesday. In an interview earlier this week, Bowman said he keeps his chamber and council roles separate. He said he was running for vice president his first year of office because it’s an opportunity to step up to lead a majority of new council members. Bowman said he wants the current class to have leadership experience before at COUNCIL CONTINUED ON PAGE A-4
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150 years and counting for Edward Waters
Nearly 17 months and $1 million into the city’s 18-month agreement for private management of Hemming Park, the discussion of the future of Friends of Hemming Park began Wednesday. City Council member Bill Gulliford said improvements in amenities and programming have been made since the nonprofit took over the one-square-block public park. “I think most of us — if not all — would agree Hemming Park has been successful,” he said. But there are opportunities to make it better and Gulliford is concerned about the city’s level of continued funding. He also brought up unacceptable behavior of some park users, which was one of the main factors that led the city to turn over management of the park to the Friends. Gulliford Vince Cavin, CEO of Friends of Hemming Park, said the nonprofit anticipates needing about $800,000 a year to continue operations. He said the organization can raise about $400,000 a year and would need for the city to match that amount. The agreement expires Feb. 29. The city appropriated $250,000 in the 2015-16 general fund budget for the park, but that won’t be enough to sustain the organization, said Wayne Wood, president of the Friends. “We run out of money six months from now,” he said. Gulliford wants the nonprofit to clearly define its sources of revenue and provide within two weeks projections of sponsorship revenue and income from concessions and cost of operations. “It’s all nebulous until we see some real numbers,” he said. HEMMING CONTINUED ON PAGE A-4
Public
Edward Waters College kicked off its 150th anniversary Wednesday with a balloon release and celebratory cake-cutting. The event also included performances by the Triple Threat Marching Band and the school’s concert choir, as well as the release of 150 purple and orange balloons. The college was founded in 1866 by the African Methodist Episcopal Church to educate newly emancipated slaves. The anniversary celebration will continue throughout the year.
Special to the Daily Record
By Max Marbut Staff Writer
Rimrock Devlin sells JU dorm for $17.5M By Karen Brune Mathis Managing Editor Rimrock Devlin Dorms LLC partners Micah Linton and Wally Devlin said Wednesday their sale of the new Jacksonville University residence hall to a New York global investor frees up capital and allows them to do more deals. New York investor W.P. Carey Inc., through Flipper (FL) LLC, bought the JU dorm north of the Arlington campus for $17.5 million on Jan. 8. It bought the five-acre property from Dolphin Dorms LLC, whose manager is Rimrock Devlin Dorms LLC. The deed was recorded Tuesday with the Duval County Clerk of Court.
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W.P. Carey announced Thursday morning that CPA:17 – Global, one of its managed non-traded REITs, bought the building. Zachary Pasanen, W.P. Carey vice president, said in a news release the company is attracted to assets in the student housing sector that address a supply-demand imbalance and offer long-term income generating investments. W.P. Carey said JU is a highly regarded academic institution with increasing enrollment. It said the university has been named by U.S. News & World Report for more than 10 years as one of “America’s Best Colleges” in the South. Between 1997 and 2015, total student enrollment increased 87.8 percent, repre-
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senting a 3.56 percent compound annual growth rate, W.P. Carey said. Also, it said the state-of-the-art residential hall is the first new freshman dormitory at JU since 1968. It includes high-tech amenities and modern features and is fully occupied. W.P. Carey also said the hall was part of the first stage of a multiphase development for the riverfront property adjacent to JU. Dolphin Dorms LLC, whose manager is Rimrock Devlin Dorms LLC, bought the land in July 2014 and developed the fourstory, 274-bed North Hall as a three-wing, 70,000-square-foot project. First-year students moved in last fall. Linton and Devlin said in an interview JU CONTINUED ON PAGE A-4
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