Daily Record Financial News &
Thursday, March 22, 2018
Vol. 105, No. 089 • One Section
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
NAHB executives call future bright More new homes needed to meet Jacksonville growth demand. By Andrew Warfield Associate Editor Top national homebuilding leaders contend the political and financial climate suggests continued economic recovery through 2019.
That looks even brighter for Jacksonville. Robert Dietz, chief economist of the National Association of Home Builders, said the Jacksonville region is among the healthiest in the nation for home sales, construction and pricing. Dietz and James Tobin III, the builders’ chief lobbyist, spoke this month to members of the Northeast Florida Builders Association. They spoke separately and then together on a panel discussion moderated by JAXUSA Partner-
ship Senior Vice President of Strategy & Business Development Cathy Chambers. Their pre- Dietz sentation at the Prime Osborn Convention Center preceded the Builders and Remodelers Showcase on March 8. The topic was homebuilding profitability and the impact of politics.
“Things are really positive for homebuilders going forward,” Dietz said. That optimism doesn’t come without some obstacles. Historically low unemployment, flight from high-tax states and population growth in Northeast Florida will exacerbate the area’s tight housing supply, while rising materials costs and unmet demand will continue to adversely affect affordability, Dietz and Tobin said. Available labor also is a concern.
But hope is on the horizon. Tax reform is expected to bring more workers to the market who had given up looking for employment. Those workers may be older, though, as the bulk of those who abandoned the job market during the Great Recession were baby boomers. “The tax reform bill should boost labor supply,” said Dietz. “We have a labor shortage right now, but we think for the next 10 years, if these rules remain in Economy
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Jaguar Land Rover dealership permit in review New center in East Arlington makes way for Porsche to move to existing property. Fields PAG Inc. applied for a permit to build its new Jaguar Land Rover Jacksonville dealership at 11211 Atlantic Blvd. in East Arlington. No contractor is listed for the $3 million construction job, creating a 34,293-square-foot dealership with another 2,700 square feet of unenclosed space on 6.72 acres. The project is a relocation of the Jaguar Land Rover dealership at 11216 Atlantic Blvd. next door. Jaguar Land Rover owns the property. The Jacksonville Planning Commission approved a land-use change and rezoning for the dealership. The land use amendment related to the vacant eastern 5.85 acres of the 12.1-acre property. The existing Jaguar Land Rover dealership is on the western portion of the site. Garry Redig, vice president
Photo by Karen Brune Mathis
Cross Development LLC seeks approval to redevelop the former Brite Lite Signs property along St. Augustine Road into a Caliber Collision Non-Drive repair center for seriously damaged vehicles.
Caliber Collision wants St. Augustine Road site Shop would create 20 jobs, “help property values.” By Karen Brune Mathis Editor Cross Development LLC of Carrollton, Texas, wants to buy and redevelop a vacant warehouse at 3633 St. Augustine Road into a Caliber Collision Non-Drive auto and
truck collision body repair center, plans show. It would create 20 jobs. The facility is designed to restore “unsafe, inoperable, seriously damaged vehicles” as opposed to Caliber Collision’s other shops that repair less damaged “fender benders,” according to a zoning application for administrative deviations. A damaged vehicle stays in a conventional shop for less than a week while a car
or truck could remain in a no-drive facility for three to four weeks because of the extensive amount of repair work needed and the large number of replacement parts that need to be ordered, the request states. Caliber Collision entered the Jacksonville market in 2015. Since then it built two centers at 7208 Golden Wings Road in Westside and 2079 Mayport Road. Caliber
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The Cawton Report: Brosche shares about JEA City Council leader says past presidents “know how things work.” Public
legal notices begin on page
7
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