Daily Record Financial News &
Friday, August 26, 2016
Vol. 103, No. 205 • One Section
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Mayor Lenny Curry went to a town meeting July 28 with City Council President Lori Boyer to talk about the pension reform referendum. It’s one of almost 80 such stops he’s made on city time to sell pension since late April.
taking show on the road Curry has traveled city to sell his pension plan
By David Chapman Staff Writer Mayor Lenny Curry has been to the JAX Chamber. He’s been to Gate Petroleum Co. He’s even visited the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens. He’s been to San Marco, Mandarin and Northwest Jacksonville. He’s traveled just about all over Jacksonville the past four months to sell the merits of his pension reform proposal. The first-term mayor has been busy since Gov. Rick Scott signed off on allowing Duval County voters to determine whether to extend a half-cent sales tax dedicated toward trying to solve the city’s $2.8 billion pension quagmire. That vote is Tuesday, but there’s
been much effort in the sales job along the way. It may be paying off. A University of North Florida Public Opinion Research Laboratory poll released Friday morning shows 51 percent of likely voters support Curry’s plan, up from 41 percent in June. The poll shows 32 percent oppose the plan, compared to 33 percent in June, and 18 percent are undecided, down from 26 percent two months ago. Curry’s calendar since April shows he’s taken part in close to 80 forums, luncheons, civic club meetings, City Council town halls, meetings with city employees and media visits as part of his citywide pension sales job. Pension
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On July 27, he took part in Beaches Watch forum with council member Bill Gulliford.
Photos by Wes Lester/ City of Jacksonville
Tesla to open on Philips Highway
Philips Highway has long been known as a corridor for auto dealerships and service centers. Add Tesla to the route. Tesla Motors Inc., which makes and sells electric cars, intends to develop a sales and service center along Philips Highway, which would be its second presence in the market. It already operates a small showroom in St. Johns Town Center and will relocate to a larger one there. Tesla applied for a permit to renovate 18,180 square feet of space at 7818 Philips Highway at a construction cost of $250,000 to accommodate a service and sales center. No contractor is specified. Plans explain that Tesla, based in Palo Alto, Calif., will operate an electric automobile repair, sales and service center. Servicing an electric automobile is different from servicing a gas-powered car, plans explain. Tesla’s vehicles have no internal combustion engine. They are exclusively electric and are not hybrid. Electric motors require little to no maintenance, the plans say. MBH Architects of Alameda, Calif., is the architect. The site plans depict a 2,755-square-foot showroom and a 16,248-square-foot service center. That adds up to slightly more than the permit states. The building is at the front of Perimeter Commerce Park. Tesla, incorporated in 2003 and traded publicly, designs, develops, makes and sells high-performance fully electric vehicles and energy products. It operates subsidiaries in North America, Europe and Asia.
Hillwood seeks permit to clear Cecil site Curry didn’t just meet with outside groups. He had a series of city employee town hall meetings, too. He has a couple more Monday.
Hillwood Industrial Properties Inc. doesn’t seem to be wasting any time applying for permits for a 1 million-square-foot Mathis continued on Page A-2
District developer to have final say on designs
The latest concept rendering for The District, the 33-acre mixed use development Downtown along the Southbank.
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Special to the Daily Record
By Max Marbut, Staff Writer And now, for something completely different. The Downtown Development Review Board took a step Thursday toward relinquishing its authority to approve the site plan for and architecture of every new construction project on a 33-acre site on the Southbank. Elements Development of Jacksonville LLC has under contract the former JEA Southside Generating Station site east of the Duval County School Board building and plans to build The District, a
planned community that includes residential, commercial and retail space, a 200-room hotel and a 125slip marina. “We realize we are breaking new ground here,” said Elements partner Michael Munz. He and developer Peter Rummell unveiled the plan more than one year ago when they agreed to purchase the land for $18.5 million. Build-out cost is projected as high as $500 million. Downtown Investment Authority Development Coordinator Jim Klement said the intent is to “get to a set of guidelines” that estab-
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lish overall design standards that would be reviewed by staff for the site layout and architecture for each structure. The developers would not be required to bring specific designs to the board for its approval. He said after the master design is approved, “we may never see them again.” Project planner and architect Kent Knight said the project will create a new skyline for the Southbank through various heights of buildings and different roof shapes. “We don’t see The District as one DDRB continued on Page A-4
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