TUESDAY July 23, 2019
Public legal notices begin on page 3
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Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
JACKSONVILLE City seeking council approval to buy old fire station from FNF
Murray Hill self-storage facility draws opposition
Daily Record
Project is planned at site of former Jones College.
Daily Record Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
BY SCOTT SAILER STAFF WRITER
opportunities to residents of the area.” The document also states the city would realign Forest Street with the old Fire Station No. 5 property, providing better access to the firehouse parcel and surrounding properties, as well as improve parking for Sidney J. Gefen Riverwalk Park. If approved by council, the bill would amend Curry’s proposed 2019-20 Capital Improvement Plan released July 15 as part of the mayor’s proposed $1.3 billion budget. The legislative fact drafted by the city Finance and Administration Department says deferring the amendment to the CIP until the next budget year “will be detrimental to the best interests of the community” and “impede redevelopment of a vacant property in the Northbank area and allow blight conditions to persist.” The move to sell comes as Fidelity National Information Services grows.
Murray Hill residents filled a City Hall meeting room Friday to oppose the proposed Jacksonville Storage development at 1195 Edgewood Ave. S., near Roosevelt Boulevard. The residents said 5,000 people signed a petition opposing the project on the grounds of aesthetics, neighborhood compatibility, reduction in property values and the developer’s intent to delay the retail phase of the project. Almost 50 people appeared at an Administrative Deviation meeting to speak against the project. Jacksonville-based Silverfield Group Inc. proposes to demolish the buildings on the site to redevelop the property into a three-story, 97,000-square-foot self-storage facility and later add a 4,845-square-foot retail space. The site is northeast of Edgewood Avenue South and Plymouth Street. It includes what was the Edgewood Avenue Theater that became Jones College, which closed in 2017. The property is next to commercial, single-family residential and Nelson Street to the north and east. A self-storage facility is allowed under the current commercial community/general-1 zoning district but must meet additional standards. The property owner, which would sell the land to the developers, seeks relief from those standards by requesting deviations from the zoning code. Attorney Steve Diebenow, representing the property owner, Riverton Tower Senior Center Inc., seeks to:
SEE FIRE STATION, PAGE 2
SEE STORAGE, PAGE 2
JACKSONVILLE
Photo by Monty Zickuhr
The former Fire Station No. 5 on Riverside Avenue was built in 1910 and used until 2008. The city wants to acquire the station and its property from owner Fidelity National Financial Inc. as part of a plan to redevelop the area.
Legislation seeking to purchase the Riverside Avenue parcel for $2.6 million will go before City Council on Tuesday. BY MIKE MENDENHALL STAFF WRITER
City officials want to purchase the old Fire Station No. 5 property on Riverside Avenue from Fidelity National Financial Inc. Ordinance 2019-527, filed Friday by City Council President Scott Wilson at the request of Mayor Lenny Curry, would authorize $2.6 million from the city’s debt management/loan repayment fund to buy the former fire station property on 1.21 acres at 347 Riverside Ave. FNF, a Jacksonville-based provider of title insurance services, owns the adjacent parcel to the north at Alfred Dupont Place.
The city also is making other land deals on Riverside Avenue. The Downtown Investment Authority approved a deal with Florida Blue Inc. on June 19 to make its 4.5-acre riverfront surface parking lot bordering the two Fidelity properties available for development. In return, the city would provide Florida Blue with a $3.5 million grant to build a $22.5 million parking deck on available city property along Magnolia Street at the site of an existing retention pond. Combined, the land deals would free up 5.71 acres for development along the St. Johns River. The former firehouse on Riverside Avenue was built in 1910 and used until 2008 when the city relocated the service to 234 Forest St. A fact sheet attached to Ordinance 2019-527 says: “The purchase will assist in redeveloping a vacant property in the downtown Northbank, eliminate blight conditions in the area and provide job
Fleming Island Business Park - Phase I sold Fleming Island Business Park – Phase I, at 1845 Town Center Blvd. in Fleming Island, was sold for almost $9.18 million, or $121 per square foot. The buyer was RLFED Fleming LLC. Daniel Burkhardt, Keith Goldfaden and Luke Feldman with NAI Hallmark represented the seller, Interra Sky Fleming Island LLC. Built in 2002, the 7.01-acre park comprises two single-story office-flex buildings totaling 75,669 square feet of rentable space.
VOLUME 106, NO. 174 • ONE SECTION