Daily Record Financial News &
Friday, July 8, 2016
Vol. 103, No. 170 • One Section
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Belk closing presents possibilities
By Karen Brune Mathis Managing Editor Belk Inc.’s closure at Roosevelt Square makes way for redevelopment at the Westside shopping center. “Belk’s exit opens the door for the owner to upgrade and redesign this portion of the shopping center,” said Carrie Smith, regional managing partner of the Franklin Street real estate company. Belk said Thursday it will close its store at 4535 Roosevelt Blvd. in January, affecting more than 50 jobs. The 63,000-square-foot stand-alone building was part of
the original Roosevelt Mall. Smith said the closing presents an opportunity for property owner Dewberry Capital Corp. She expects a lot of retail interest in the site because there is no available big-box space in that part of the Westside and a number of stores make sense there. Roosevelt Square is near the established Riverside, Avondale and Ortega neighborhoods. “Sporting goods, home improvement or even a theater would be great,” Smith said. Vice President Collis McGeachy at the CBRE Inc. commercial real estate company anticipates the property owner will take down
IDO plans HQ move Downtown
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Belk will close its Roosevelt Square store in January, affecting more than 50 jobs.
Growing ‘up for health, nutrition ‘
YMCA expanding vertical gardening
By Max Marbut Staff Writer
Photo by Max Marbut
International Décor Outlet is negotiating a lease to move its headquarters to One Enterprise Center in Downtown. Chief Operating Officer Bill Connerly said IDO signed a contract and is in final negotiations to relocate its offices from Baymeadows. He said IDO will lease the 21st floor of the 22-story tower at 225 Water St. Landlord representative Oliver Barakat, senior vice president of the CBRE Inc. real estate firm, said the deal is “very, very close.” He said IDO will lease 10,700 square feet. Connerly said IDO, which is represented by NAI Hallmark Partners, wants to take occupancy in August. “Jacksonville has been good for our investors,” Connerly said, and they want to be a part of the city’s revitalization. “Our culture is taking areas and making them fresh again,” he said. IDO is a relatively young company. International Décor Outlet LLC was registered with the state in April 2015. Its managers are Karin Jia Lee and Warren Hickernell. International Décor Outlet Corp., designated in state records as the LLC’s president, was created in 2013. The company is based at 7807 Baymeadows Road W. It describes itself as a directto-consumer outlet for manufacturers and retailers of interior décor and homeimprovement materials. Its website, idooutlet.com, says global manufacturers, including from China, will sell from the storefronts they lease. It plans several locations. IDO is recruiting international and domestic décor-related manufacturers for its first two leased locations — the Darien Outlet Mall in Georgia and the 200,000-square-foot West Mall of Regency Square Mall. Connerly said IDO has 18 employees.
the Belk building and redevelop that area. “More than likely, they will do one or two mid-size boxes along with some shop space,” he said, also suggesting a theater could be an option. A representative from Dewberry Capital did not return a phone call Thursday afternoon or Friday morning. Charlotte, N.C.-based Belk filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Notice with the state that 52 jobs would be cut Dec. 30 through Jan. 15. The company said it notified 51 employees of the closing and was Belk continued on Page A-4
Photo by Karen Brune Mathis
Brokers say Roosevelt Square ripe for redevelopment
The First Coast YMCA has established an urban garden at its administrative offices in the Jessie Ball duPont Center Downtown along Forsyth Street.
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If you ask someone who works at the YMCA of Florida’s First Coast administrative offices Downtown how their garden grows, they might reply “straight up.” Six “tower gardens” are in operation along Forsyth Street at the Jessie Ball duPont Center. Each can produce enough kale and lettuce every four to six weeks to make salad for nearly 250 people — or provide food for hungry families — said Sara Glenn, YMCA’s director of strategic development of healthy living innovations, nutrition and obesity. The project, “SEEDifferently,” is a partnership between the YMCA and Atlantic Beach Urban Farms, a commercial aeroponic farming operation. Since the first tower was planted about one year ago, the program has grown to include more than 20 towers at 11 YMCA branches in Northeast Florida, several public and private schools, and at JEA’s Downtown headquarters. Thousands of seedlings have been planted, leading to about 140 harvests that resulted in providing nearly 700 meals for children and families. “It’s a way to reach the community and we want to bring something new to health improvement education,” Glenn said. The concept behind the aerial agriculture is similar to Downtown real estate in that when it’s vertical, more office or residential space can be created on the same amount of ground. Crops in vertical gardens grow on average 30 percent faster than those grown in soil, use 90 percent less land and water Nutrition continued on Page A-3
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