APRIL 7 TO APRIL 13, 2022 | JAXDAILYRECORD.COM
BUSINESS & LEGAL NEWS IN BAKER, CLAY, DUVAL, NASSAU AND ST. JOHNS COUNTIES
CONVENTION COMEBACK
INSIDE
Visit Jacksonville is focusing on smaller groups, offering incentives to boost the city’s hospitality business after the pandemic slump. MEET YOU IN JACKSONVILLE
Meeting groups that worked with Visit Jacksonville over the past five years: 270
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RESTAURANTS
City Grille & Raw Bar is taking Wine Cellar space PAGE 3
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IN THE PIPELINE Jacksonville conventions under contract as of April 1: Room Month Groups nights Visit Jacksonville photo
BY MAX MARBUT ASSOCIATE EDITOR
J
ust a few months into the slow return to life as it was before the coronavirus pandemic, Jacksonville hotels are returning to a level of business not seen for more than two years. Weekend leisure travel is putting Duval County at the front of the trend. In February, hotel room occupancy was 75.1% and room revenue was $40.5 million, the highest on record for the second month of the year. When the final numbers are tabulated, March occupancy and revenue are expected to surpass February and set a record.
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Michael Corrigan, president and CEO of Visit Jacksonville, attributes the strong local recovery to multiple factors, including that Florida led the nation in terms of lifting pandemic restrictions Corrigan that hindered leisure and business travel months before other tourist destination states. “Jacksonville and the state have been open for business for a while,” Corrigan said. Leisure travel accounted for 62.4% of business in February, reflecting the national post-pandemic trend.
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6,212 9,681 193 6,389 7,356 465 453 8,022 1,247 1,830
2023 Room Month Groups nights January February March April
SEE VISITORS, PAGE 14
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7,485 3,704 5,650 8,245
Source: Visit Jacksonville
THE MATHIS REPORT
True Storage Jacksonville converting charter school True Storage Jacksonville intends to redevelop a former charter school site into a two-level, climate-controlled storage center at an estimated construction cost of $1.5 million. PAGE 6
UF Health North breaks ground on expansion PAGE 10 GOVERNMENT
Davis backs Downtown parks JAX Chamber President Daniel Davis added his voice to a growing group of city officials and advocates pushing for an interconnected park system on the Downtown riverfront. PAGE 4 THE BASCH REPORT
Redwire releases earnings report Almost six months after going public, Redwire Corp. released its first earnings report that disappointed investors with revenue forecasts below its initial projections. PAGE 8 REAL ESTATE
Top 10 home sales of week Fired Jacksonville Jaguars head coach sells house. PAGE 11
VOLUME 109, NO. 46 | TWO SECTIONS | PUBLISHED SINCE 1912