Jacksonville Record & Observer 9/3/20 by Daily Record & Observer LLC

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September 3-9, 2020

Mathis Report: Ulta speeds plans for Jacksonville fulfillment center PAGE 3

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Record & Observer REAL ESTATE JACKSONVILLE

Amazon adding 500-job warehouse

‘GREAT PLACES&TOObserver THRIVE’ Record HOW THE PANDEMIC IS CHANGING HOME DESIGN

North Jacksonville fulfillment center in Imeson Park will open in the fall of 2021.

JACKSONVILLE

Record & Observer BY KAREN BRUNE MATHIS

EDITOR

JACKSONVILLE

With the foundation permit approved in Imeson Park, online retailer Amazon.com Inc. announced Sept. 2 that it will open a 500-job Jacksonville fulfillment center in fall 2021 at 10501 Cold Storage Road in the North Jacksonville industrial center. The Seattle-based company said the more than 1 millionsquare-foot center will pick, pack and ship small items, including apparel, accessories and footwear. “The expansion of Amazon’s footprint in Jacksonville illustrates increased confidence in our economy and reputation as a center for logistics in the southeastern United States,” Mayor Lenny Curry said in a news release. JAX Chamber confirmed no economic incentives are involved for the new center. The city and state approved almost $27 million in assistance for the first two Jacksonville fulfillment facilities that opened in 2017. “Building this site in Jacksonville gives us the opportunity to better serve our customers in the region,” said Alicia Boler Davis, Amazon’s vice president of global customer fulfillment, in the release. In addition to full-time associate positions, the online retailer will hire for roles in human resources, operations management, safety, security, finance and information technology. Amazon said it will pay a mini-

Record & Observer CREATING SPACE FOR EVERYONE A+I Design Corp.

A sliding door can turn a room into a place for work, play or studying while preserving the flexibility of open space for gathering.

BY SCOTT SAILER STAFF WRITER

ome not only is where the heart is. It’s where the office, family, school, meals, exercise, lounging, gardening and even isolation are, and for longer periods of the day. As the pandemic that began in March is forcing people to work remotely if they can, it also is allowing people time to evaluate how and where they live. As a result, COVID-19 is changing the way single-family homes

are designed or renovated. “The pandemic has created a renewed focus on the importance of housing. Not just places to live but great places to thrive,” said Deryl Patterson, architect and president of Housing Design Matters Inc. of Jacksonville. Designers are looking at adjustable walls to allow flexibility in an open floor plan for temporary activity spaces for work, exercise, entertainment and schoolwork. Others promote mudroomtype home entries for sanitation areas and delivery drop-offs. SEE HOMES, PAGE 10

Review & Comment: Don’t expect a ‘V’-shaped recovery PAGE 4 Health & Business: Emergency room traffic remains down PAGE 6 Marbut Report: Federal court plans to resume jury trials PAGE 14

Special to the Daily Record

Deryl Patterson, architect and president of Housing Design Matters Inc. of Jacksonville, said the pandemic has influenced “the idea of acoustical privacy, which is something that there has been a heightened awareness of because working and schooling from home has become different.”

SEE AMAZON, PAGE 7

THE BASCH REPORT

Former APR Energy leader named CEO of Duos Tech Medtronic sales drop 13%, but recovering. PAGE 8 VOLUME 3, NO. 14 • ONE SECTION

WHAT’S TRENDING

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JACKSONVILLE DAILY RECORD / JACKSONVILLE RECORD & OBSERVER 3, 2020 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER

Big news doesn’t break just on Thursday. Here’s a look at some of the top stories published over the past week online at JaxDailyRecord.com and in the Jacksonville Daily Record that you may have missed.

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JWB adds to Downtown holdings

JWB Real Estate Capital added HOW TO REACH US another property Downtown to its St., Suite 150, Jacksonville, FL, 32202 portfolio 121 Aug.W. 26Forsyth by acquiring the 218 W. Church St.Phone: building for $675,000. (904) 356-2466, Fax (904) 353-2628 The five-story, 26,500-square-foot jaxdailyrecord.com vacant office building was developed in 1924 and is landmarked as historic. ABOUT US JWB bought it from investor Atrium Jacksonville Daily Record and Jacksonville Record & Observer are a division of Properties 1 LLC. Observer Media Group Inc. “We are planning on doing a mixeduse project with commercial on the Established in 1912, theresidential Financial News first floor and 24 rental& Daily Record, now the Jacksonville Daily Record, is on published Monday-Friday units floors two to five,” said and JWBis the Official Court Newspaper of the Circuit CourtReal andEstate publisher of public notices in Duval County. Capital President Alex

Sifakis on Aug. 28. Jacksonville Record & Observer a free weekly business newspaper available in He said the apartments willisaverage Downtown Jacksonville and key business about 600 square feet and comprisenodes throughout Jacksonville. To find a location near you, visit one-bedroom andjaxdailyrecord.com/rack-locations. studio units. Photo by Karen Brune Mathis JWB now owns three adjacent build- 218 W. Church St. was designed by archiEditorial focuses on news and trends, with concentration on development, ingscontent on the block. tectaHenry John Klutho. real estate, construction, law, companies, economic and industry trends and how local and state government affects business.

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Jacksonville Daily Record and Jacksonville Record & Observer are a division of Observer Media Group Inc. Established in 1912, the Financial News & Daily Record, now the Jacksonville Daily Record, is published Monday-Friday and is the Official Court Newspaper of the Circuit JACKSONVILLE Court and publisher of public notices in Duval County. Jacksonville Record & Observer is a free weekly business newspaper available in Downtown Jacksonville and key business nodes throughout Jacksonville. To find a location near you, visit jaxdailyrecord.com/rack-locations. Editorial content focuses on news and trends, with a concentration on development, real estate, construction, law, companies, economic and industry trends and how local and state government affects business.

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Director of Advertising / Jay Lesowitz VyStar plans to open breezeway by mid-2021 jlesowitz@jaxdailyrecord.com

Publisher / Matt Walsh mwalsh@jaxdailyrecord.com

Advertising Coordinator / Codi Gildberg email Aug. 31. adassist@jaxdailyrecord.com The city has been reviewing plans

EditorDowntown / Karen Brune Mathis andAdvertising work is underway prepare for headquarters by next year Legal Managerto / Janet Mohr kmathis@jaxdailyrecord.com legal@jaxdailyrecord.com construction. this time. Managing Editor / Monty Zickuhr bought the block comprising “Construction should start in the 4th LegalVyStar Advertising Associate / Rhonda Fisher mzickuhr@jaxdailyrecord.com the 76 S. Laura St. tower, the 100 W. quarter 2020 with a tentative comple- rfisher@jaxdailyrecord.com

tion timeframe mid-2021,” Associate Editor LegalofAffairs / Max said Marbut mmarbut@jaxdailyrecord.com Sandy Baker, vice president of com-

public relations, by Staff munications Writer / Katie and Garwood kgarwood@jaxdailyrecord.com Staff Writer / Mike Mendenhall mmendenhall@jaxdailyrecord.com

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Publisher / Matt Walsh mwalsh@jaxdailyrecord.com

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Bay St. building and a parking struc-

Associate Editor Legal Affairs / Max Marbut mmarbut@jaxdailyrecord.com

way between them.

Staff Writer / Katie Garwood kgarwood@jaxdailyrecord.com

Network Administrator / Erik Wagner ture and is reconstructing the breezewebadmin@jaxdailyrecord.com Court Typeset / Paula Steiner admin@jaxdailyrecord.com Director of Circulation / Anne Shumate subscriptions@jaxdailyrecord.com

Staff Writer / Scott Sailer ssailer@jaxdailyrecord.com

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2020 1 JaxDailyRecord.com

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Publisher Emeritus / James Bailey Jr. VyStar Credit UnionF.anticipates jbailey@jaxdailyrecord.com opening the breezeway project at its

Distribution / Tim Reagan Chan to open ‘dream restaurant,’ close old one distribution@jaxdailyrecord.com

Business Manager / Angie Campbell After initially hoping to open this acampbell@jaxdailyrecord.com

Bamboo location at 3820 Southside Blvd. and consolidating operations summer, Dennis Chan estimates his in the new space. His 20 staffers will second Blue Bamboo will launch by transfer to the Mandarin location and December,PRESS nearly a year and nine RELEASE/INQUIRY/REPRINTS he will hire 20 more. months after he began planning to Submit a press release orat editorial inquiry build the restaurant 10110 San Joseonline “With COVID and everything that jaxdailyrecord.com/submit-news-release or email haseditorial@jaxdailyrecord.com. happened and this growing to the Blvd. Article Chan reprints aretoavailable at jaxdailyrecord.com dream restaurant that we have, we said build what he calls his said OK, it’s time to make the deci“dream restaurant” in Mandarin, he sion,” he said. “It’s too important to us needed to make some sacrifices. HOW TO SUBSCRIBE to make sure everything goes right.” That means closing the original Blue Subscribe online at jaxdailyrecord.com/subscribe or contact our subscription department by phone at (877) 231-8834 or email subscriptions@jaxdailyrecord.com

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PRESS RELEASE/INQUIRY/REPRINTS Submit a press release or editorial inquiry online jaxdailyrecord.com/submit-news-release or email editorial@jaxdailyrecord.com. Article reprints are available at jaxdailyrecord.com

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

Ulta speeds Jacksonville fulfillment center plans RH at Town Center: The city issued a permit Aug. 12 for J.E. Dunn Construction to build the foundation for RH, previously known as Restoration Hardware, at St. Johns Town Center. The $150,000 foundation is planned on a cleared site at 4831 Village Shops Way. J.E. Dunn, of Kansas City, Missouri, is listed as the contractor for the proposed $18 million construction of the three-story, 48,426-squarefoot home furnishings retail store that will offer a rooftop restaurant and bar. The parking lot pavement has been removed and the site is fenced.

KAREN BRUNE MATHIS EDITOR

The beauty supplies company is building-out a facility in the Park 295 Industrial Park in Northwest Jacksonville. Ulta Beauty Inc. said Aug. 27 it is accelerating the opening of its Northwest Jacksonville e-commerce center, but didn’t say when it would start operations other than it would be this year. In its second-quarter earnings report, the Bolingbrook, Illinois-based beauty supplies company said it “continues to take actions to manage the business in response to COVID-19.” According to an Ulta news release, one way is: “Accelerating the opening of its Jacksonville fast fulfillment facility, increasing order processing capacity in existing distribution centers, and expanding ship-from-store capabilities to an additional 100 stores, all to increase shipping capacity in support of continued strong e-commerce sales.” Eileen Ziesemer, vice president of public relations, said Aug. 27 the company is not disclosing an exact opening date. “But we are on track to be operational to support higher levels of e-commerce demand this holiday season,” Ziesemer said. Ulta Beauty distributes and sells cosmetics, fragrances, skin care products and hair care products through its stores and website. In May, Ulta Beauty CEO Mary Dillon told analysts in the company’s first-quarter earnings conference call that the company will open its Jacksonville fast-fulfillment center this year as originally intended rather than postpone the opening until 2021, a delay it announced in December.

Gate in Baymeadows: The city is reviewing a permit application for Gate Petroleum Inc. to renovate its 6,667-square-foot gas station and convenience store at 11350 Baymeadows Road at an estimated cost of $465,000. Photo by Karen Brune Mathis

A sign points the way to the Ulta fulfillment center at 2619 Ignition Drive in the Park 295 Industrial Park in Northwest Jacksonville.

Ulta Beauty is building-out a fulfillment center at 2619 Ignition Drive in the Park 295 Industrial Park in Northwest Jacksonville. Ulta Beauty will lease part of a 552,634-square-foot building at Interstate 295 and Duval Road. NorthPoint Development of Kansas City, Missouri, is developing Park 295. The city issued a permit in July 2019 for Jim Cooper Construction Co. Inc. to improve Dillon 202,471 square feet of tenant space at a cost of almost $3.98 million. A Park 295 master plan shows 203,463 square feet is leased to Ulta. In May 2019, the city confirmed that Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. was Project Flamingo. City Council approved a city grant in January 2019 for Flamingo for $1.425 million. Ulta Beauty intends to invest $37.5 million to lease and equip the center to distribute private-label skin and hair care products. City legislation calls for the project to create 30 fulltime jobs by year-end 2021 at an average annual salary of $46,346. A job posting for material handler at the Jacksonville distribution center said that as a “critical contributor to efficient and effective productivity within our Distribution

Center, you will have responsibility for shipping, receiving, stocking and fulfilling orders of product.” It continued: “With over 300,000 square feet of facility space and thousands of products that are entering and leaving our Center on a daily basis, this role provides the opportunity to make our top-performing location even better, ensuring ever-increasing levels of accuracy, speed, and support to our stores and E-Commerce function. Tasks are typically completed through the use of an RF scanner,” it says. It did not address the difference in square footage compared with the build-out size. Other current job postings include distribution center operations manager, administrative coordinator, clerk, equipment operator and maintenance mechanic. The company likely will be hiring many more workers because only the 30 jobs are tied to the required annual salary to receive the incentives. Lower-wage warehouse jobs are not counted toward the salary threshold. In addition, public documents say the company could hire 400 seasonal workers annually. Fast-fulfillment centers serve only e-commerce orders. Dillon said previously the facilities will be able to fill up to 30,000 orders per day during peak times, “increasing our network capacity and progressing toward our goal of

AutoZones: The city is reviewing a permit application for AutoZone to build a store at 6765 Dunn Ave in North Jacksonville at an estimated cost of $650,000. The St. Johns River Water Management District is reviewing plans for that AutoZone and another along Race Track Road in Bartram Market in St. Johns County.

THE MATHIS REPORT

RETAIL NOTES

7-Eleven to Mandarin: The city issued concurrency reservation and mobility fee calculation certificates for 7-Eleven to develop an almost 1-acre site at 10560 Old St. Augustine Road for a 3,454-square-foot convenience store and gas station with 16 fueling positions. The property, at northwest Old St. Augustine and Hartley roads, formerly was a Bank of America branch with teller lanes. It sits in front of the Crossroads at Mandarin shopping center.

two-day e-commerce shipping by 2021.” Ulta Beauty said Aug. 27 that it temporarily closed all of its stores March 19 in response to the spread of COVID-19. By the end of June, more than 90% of stores were open for retail, and by July 20, all were operational. As of Aug. 1, salon and brow services were available in most stores. It reported second-quarter net sales fell 26.3% to about $1.2 billion from about $1.7 billion the year before, and firsthalf net sales decreased 29.6% to about $2.4 billion from $3.4 billion in the first six months of fiscal 2019. It attributed the decline to the impact of COVID-19. The fiscal quarter and six months ended Aug. 1.

Another $5 million planned for more e-commerce The city is reviewing a permit application for Amazon.com to install a $5 million conveyor system at its Westside Industrial Park sorta-

tion center at 4948 Bulls Bay Highway. Codes-ABC Inc. is providing private code compliance review. The Seattle-based online retailer has eight facilities open or in development in Northeast Florida: two large fulfillment centers, the sortation center, a fulfillment center for heavy bulk freight and a delivery station. Two more delivery stations are in development and another large fulfillment center is under review.

Wayfair adding storage racks The city also is reviewing a permit application for the installation of storage rack systems for online furniture retailer Wayfair Inc.’s fulfillment center at 13483 103rd St. in Cecil Commerce Center at a cost of $2.85 million. MHS Company Inc. of Kentucky is the contractor. KMATHIS@ JAXDAILYRECORD.COM @MATHISKB (904) 356-2466

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JACKSONVILLE DAILY RECORD / JACKSONVILLE RECORD & OBSERVER

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

JaxDailyRecord.com

MATT WALSH PUBLISHER

The $8.3 billion going to Florida and $167 million going to Jacksonville for COVID-19 relief will do little to trigger a quick recovery. Visitors will need to know Florida is safe again. This is such a surreal moment — with the pandemic, anarchic violence, presidential campaigns via Zoom and the economic earthquake shattering so many lives. Taken together, it’s difficult to imagine all of us bouncing back to normal by the end of the next six to nine months, especially economically. Our prediction: Forget the “V” recovery in Florida. When you absorb all that you read, hear and observe firsthand, it’s obvious Florida’s recovery is going to be much like recovering from a direct hit from a hurricane — albeit to the entire state, not just one region. It’s going to take years. Especially in Florida’s all-important hospitality and retailwholesale trade sectors. Those two sectors account for 35% of the private-sector jobs of the state’s economy, and yet they accounted for 312,900, or 63%, of the 497,700 jobs lost from July 2019 to July 2020. Take this sobering pronouncement from the July forecast of the Florida Office of Economic and Demographic Research: “The economy does not recover to the levels expected in December 2019 even at the end of the 10-year forecast horizon, reflecting the permanent economic damage inflicted by the virus. Across

the various elements of the 10-year forecast, some measures of the Florida economy take two fiscal years to recover their pre-COVID peaks and normal growth patterns, while some never reach them at all … “Given the unusual circumstances wrought by the pandemic, jobs in leisure and hospitality are not expected to reach pre-COVID-19 levels within the 10-year forecast horizon … Previous economic studies of disease outbreaks have shown that it can take as much as 12 to 15 months after the outbreak ends for tourism to return to pre-disease levels.” Ugh. All of us know all too well that for Florida’s economy to be humming at full speed, we need tourism, we need our snowbirds. As long as they are skeptical about the safety of their health in Florida, the state’s economy will underperform its pre-COVID-19 levels. That won’t be the only thing holding Florida back. Washington is doing its part in a big way. As a result of our national lawmakers’ urge to do something, to be heroes, they have been prescribing the same medicine that made the recovery from the 2008-09 recession as weak as it was: Printing and borrowing more money and handing it out like Halloween candy. That process hearkens to those ever wise words of the late Milton Friedman: “You know how money is. There’s a tendency for it to grow … And as always when there is more money, prices go up. Inflation … Inflation is when the supply of money is growing more rapidly than the quantity of goods and services produced. “Inflation is just like alcoholism,” Friedman said in a speech in 1976. “In both cases, when you start drinking or when you start printing too much money, the good effects come first. The bad effects come later.” And that’s what is happening now. Washington politicians and the Federal Reserve Bank are printing massive amounts of federal relief money and handing it out to provide relief and recovery aid. Just look at what is pouring into Florida. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act allocated $139 bil-

CARES Act money to Florida counties Federal money was allocated on the basis of population. Here are the top 10 recipients and the Northeast Florida counties’ amounts: County 1. Miami-Dade 2. Broward 3. Palm Beach 4. Hillsborough 5. Orange 6. Pinellas 7. Duval 8. Lee 9. Polk 10. Brevard

OTHER NORTHEAST FLORIDA COUNTIES County Amount St. Johns $46,183,223 Clay $38,257,783 Flagler $20,080747 Nassau $15,464,379 Putnam $12,952,214 Baker $4,920,857

Revised state tax revenue forecasts General fund sales tax collections in millions: FY 2019-20* FY 2020-21 FY 2021-22 FY 2022-23 FY 2023-24

Source: Florida Office of Economic and Demographic Research

lion to be given based on population to 3,143 counties and similar jurisdictions in all 50 states. That’s the same amount that General Motors generates in annual worldwide sales. Florida’s 67 counties are to receive $8,238,221,072.10, with Jacksonville/Duval County already receiving $167 million; St. Johns, $46.2 million; Clay,

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end, all the government is really doing with the CARES Act is taking away Peter’s wealth to pay Pauline. Congress has just saddled future generations with trillions of new debt. What’s more, by flooding the economy with trillions in relief money, adding to the money supply, Congress is lowering the value of the money in your

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$38.2 million; and Nassau, $15.4 million. Altogether: $267 million in Northeast Florida. While you have to believe that money will help, think of Friedman’s “the good effects come first. The bad effects come later.” To that point: Whatever money the government has it takes from taxpayers. In the

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REVIEW & COMMENT

The economy: It won’t be a ‘V’ recovery

JACKSONVILLE DAILY RECORD / JACKSONVILLE RECORD & OBSERVER

JaxDailyRecord.com

pocket now. Too much supply lowers prices. Too much money lowers its value. It’ll take awhile and be subtle, but over time your dollars will purchase less. Your grocery money won’t go as far as it did a year ago. This is the tax consumers seldom notice. Economist Veronique de Rugy at George Mason University put it succinctly July 28 when she wrote: “The empirical evidence overwhelmingly supports the view that a large amount of government debt hurts economic growth, and in many cases the impact gets more pronounced as debt increases.”

How COVID impacted jobs Worst unemployment rates, July 2020

Most job losses, from July 2019 to July 2020

State Rate 1. Massachusetts 16.1% 2. New York 15.9% 3. Nevada 14.0% 4. New Jersey 13.8% 5. Pennsylvania 13.7% 6. California 13.3% 7. Hawaii 13.1% 8. New Mexico 12.7% 9. Alaska 11.6% 10. Florida 11.3% 10. Illinois 11.3% U.S. 10.2%

State Lost jobs 1. California -1,643,600 2. New York -1,345,800 3. Texas -694,400 4. Pennsylvania -541,900 5. Illinois -508,000 6. Florida -497,700 7. Ohio -495,100 8. Michigan -491,400 9. Massachusetts -452,600 10. New Jersey -444,600 Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

ARBITERS OF RATIONING

Just think of this gargantuan process of 3,143 county commissions all over the U.S. spending hours upon hours determining how they will hand out that CARES Act money; who will receive it; how much they’ll receive; what the criteria are; and each commission essentially creating new government operations staffed with county employees and consultants to oversee and coordinate the distribution of this cash. All of these county and city commissioners suddenly are the arbiters of rationing. And you know what that means: Any time government is placed in that position, there are always market distortions, waste and winners and losers. In Jacksonville, the City Council and the mayor’s office devoted hours upon hours determining how to divvy up the $167 million as grants to cover COVID-related expenses:

■ $40 million to provide $1,000 grants to Duval County residents intended for rent, mortgage and utility relief. ■ About $35 million to expand testing access in Duval County. ■ About $10 million was used to roll back and, in some cases, lift permit and other city fees for developers and the construction industry. ■ $12.5 million for a COVID-19 emergency account for response spending not reimbursed by FEMA. ■ $25 million to offset an expected decline in tax and fee revenue due to COVID-19. ■ $20 million to help nonprofit and for-profit businesses that provide services to the city or on the city’s behalf that have lost revenue due to COVID-19. Amounts of these grants varied, based on a scoring system, ranging from $2,500 to The 5 &

Dime Theatre Co. to $630,000 to the Regional Food Bank of Northeast Florida. Is all of that above the most efficient use of the funds? You could quibble forever. And mind you, we’re not secondguessing the Council members. They were just doing their jobs. What’s more, surely that $167 million they divvied up will do some good. THE PIE HAS SHRUNK

But in truth, that $8.3 billion and $167 million injected into Florida and Jacksonville, respectively, will do little to reignite the economy. It will do little to solve this fundamental problem: As a result of the economic shutdowns and quarantines, Florida’s economy has shrunk. The size of the economic pie is smaller. Demand has contracted. After all, Florida’s unemployment rate is 11.3%.

More than 1 million Floridians are not earning a steady paycheck and have less money to spend. The number of tourists coming to Florida shrunk by 68% in the second quarter of 2020. So even if a small business owner receives a CARES Act grant, that money won’t increase consumer demand and sales for the business’ goods or services. If a restaurant is operating at a loss because of a lack of consumer demand or regulations restricting capacity, a grant won’t solve the bigger issue of not enough customers to cover the restaurant’s monthly expenses. Consumer demand needs to be restarted. And that is the crux of Florida’s economic recovery: How to boost demand. To its credit, Florida TaxWatch recently released 29 smart, practical recommendations for the state and Legislature to enact immediately to provide financial and regulatory relief to businesses and property owners. They are a start. TaxWatch, for instance, is recommending a long-standing wish of Florida businesses: To eliminate the sales tax on commercial rents. That would immediately free up cash for businesses; increase the value of commercial properties; and make Florida more attractive for all those businesses that want to flee the Northeast. Or, really go bold: Back in April, supply-side economist Arthur Laffer told us Florida could spur consumer demand if it lowered the state’s 6% sales tax — while simultane-

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

ously eliminating many of the state’s sales-tax exemptions. Lawmakers would loathe lowering the sales tax when forecasts are projecting the state’s sales tax collections — Florida’s primary source of revenue — will decline $4 billion, or 8%, over the next two fiscal years. That lost revenue means the Legislature, local governments and school boards are heading into another period of having to make cuts — just as they did during the 2008-09 recession. The reality is there are few government policy options to kick-start consumer demand in Florida. It comes down to this: That $167 million and $8.3 billion being disbursed in Duval County and statewide, respectively, will do some good, but that money won’t change the drawn-out pace of Florida’s economic recovery. The recovery will speed up only when Florida consistently shows the pandemic is under control and the state is safe to visit once again. Government won’t solve that problem with more devastating shutdowns or restrictions on businesses’ use of space. But personal responsibility and behavior can help solve the problem. That’s the message Gov. Ron DeSantis should deliver every day: The more Floridians do what they can to control COVID-19 — however annoying and overblown it may be, the faster Florida’s economy and jobs will come back. MWALSH@ JAXDAILYRECORD.COM (904) 356-2466

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

JaxDailyRecord.com

ER VISITS FALL

KATIE GARWOOD STAFF WRITER

50%

Hospital leaders say the drops that began after the pandemic do not mean people aren’t getting sick. Despite hospital efforts to let patients know it is safe to come to the emergency room for treatment, health care leaders in Jacksonville and across the country say they are seeing fewer patients in the ER than they should. “It was becoming evident with the drops in volume that people didn’t just stop having strokes, they didn’t stop having heart attacks, they didn’t stop having infections other than COVID,” said Dr. Andy Godwin, UF Health Jacksonville Emergency Department chair. “Where did all these people go?” In May, UF Health Jacksonville and UF Health North hit their lowest ER volumes during the pandemic, Godwin said. The Downtown hospital’s ER volume was down 28% from May 2019 and UF Health

Ascension St. Vincent’s said emergency room volume has dropped by half since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Special to the Daily Record

North’s was down about the same at 27%. Those numbers have increased slightly, Godwin said. In June, the two hospitals were down around 13% to 15%. July was about the same in ER volume, but the hospitals were nearly full with an increase in Godwin COVID-19 patients. In August, emergency department volumes were down around 20% at both hospitals from last August. UF Health has seen fewer pediatric patients, too. At its lowest point in May, pediatric volumes were 52% lower than the year before.

The number of trauma patients remained about the same, but with a slight 4% to 5% drop between May and August. Godwin said that could be attributed to fewer people driving or going outside their homes. Ascension St. Vincent’s also saw a 50% overall drop in its ER volume since the start of the pandemic. Cardiac and stroke patients also are coming in about 50% less than normal, said Dr. Samer Garas, medical director of Ascension St. Vincent’s cardiovascular line. The hospital did not have month-to-month ER data to share. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that emergency room visits dropped as much as 42% nationally during a study con-

ducted between March 31 and April 27. During another study May 24-30, volumes increased but were still 26% lower than the previous year. Garas said a few factors caused the drops. Garas “Patients are very cautious. They don’t want to leave the house because they are afraid of COVID and are afraid they will overwhelm the system,” he said. “They are appropriate reasons, but when they do come in they are either really sick, or it’s too late.” Waiting for care can affect patients’ health, Garas said. Some cardiac and stroke patients can have irreversible

damage if they wait too long for care. With so many patients not coming to the ER, Godwin said at UF Health especially, the entire hospital feels the effects. Around 65% of UF Health Jacksonville’s admissions come from ER patients. “That does impact the hospital bottom line by decreasing those volumes,” Godwin said. The decrease in volume is somewhat made up for by a higher percentage of admissions. Although fewer people are coming into the ER, more of them are being admitted because they are sicker when they arrive. During a COVID-19 spike in July, Godwin said UF Health Jacksonville was nearly full. COVID patients were filling the hospital, and typically, their stays are lengthier than most other patients. That created a backlog in the hospital, which caused nonCOVID patients to stay in the ER, rather than be admitted to another unit. Garas said it is important for patients to know that it is safe to come to the hospital and that they will not overwhelm the system if they do. “Everything is elective until it’s not,” he said. “Patients may have a little chest pain and stay home, however that may lead to a massive heart attack and that makes it harder to treat the patient.” KGARWOOD@ JAXDAILYRECORD.COM (904) 356-2466

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

mum wage of $15 an hour. Fulltime employees receive comprehensive benefits, including full medical, vision, and dental insurance as well as a 401(k) with a 50% company match, starting on the first day. The company offers up to 20 weeks of paid maternal and paternal leave along with benefits that give new parents flexibility with their families. “Amazon continues to be a major driver of jobs and investment,” said Aundra Wallace, president of JAXUSA Partnership, in the release. JAXUSA is the economic development division of JAX Chamber. “Jacksonville’s prime location and infrastructure have made us a natural choice for distribution and ecommerce business and Amazon’s sustained success here demonstrates our regional strength,” he said. Called a Softlines fulfillment center on plans, the facility appears to be at least a $55.5 million development project. JPMorgan Chase Bank of Los Angeles made a construction mortgage and a fixture filing financing statement to developer JI Imeson Industrial Building E LLC for $55,496,000 on July 29. JI Imeson Industrial Building E LLC is part of VanTrust Real Estate LLC of Kansas City, Missouri. It has a regional office in Jacksonville. VanTrust Real Estate is developing the 1.06 million-squarefoot building for Amazon on 51.33 acres in Imeson Park, at northeast North Main Street and Zoo Parkway.

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

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Promotions, hirings and happenings for business people in Northeast Florida. Send items to ssailer@jaxdailyrecord.com Ernst & Young LLP announced Entrepreneur Of The Year 2020 Award finalists from Northeast Florida: Joey D. Batchelor, Guardian Fueling Technologies LLC, Jacksonville Gregg Cohen and Alex Sifakis, co-founders of JWB Real Estate Capital, Jacksonville Craig Mandeville, Forcura, Jacksonville Don Wenner, DLP Real Estate Capital, St. Augustine They are among 21 finalists in Florida chosen by a panel of independent judges from nearly 60 nominations. Award winners will be announced at a virtual event Oct. 8. Regional winners are eligible for consideration for the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards, to be announced in November. The Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner will then move on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year Award in June. The UF Health Proton Therapy Institute added radiation oncologist Eric Brooks to its team of proton therapy specialists. He will treat patients who have lung cancer, breast cancer or lymphoma by using radiation oncology, including pencil beam scanning. Brooks most recently was a resident physician in radiation oncology at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

Bacardi Bottling Corp. in Jacksonville named Darrin Mueller, formerly manufacturing director, as operations director, the site’s top role. The facility employs more than 200 people and is situated on a 92-acre campus at 12200 N. Main St. Mueller joined Bacardi in 2015 as senior bottling operations manager. As operations director, he is responsible for plant operations. Founded in 1972, Bacardi Bottling Corp. bottles rum-branded products in the U.S. for the 158-year old Bermudabased Bacardi Ltd.

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

Amazon

VanTrust owns Imeson Park. JLL Executive Vice President Luke Pope represented VanTrust in the lease negotiations with Amazon. The city approved a permit July 31 for the $5.7 million warehouse foundation after issuing a related foundation permit in November for $100,000. The city is reviewing civil engineering plans and a permit application for construction of the building at a cost of almost $41.2 million. As the eighth Northeast Florida project in three years, the softlines center boosts Amazon’s opened or planned area presence to more than 4 million square feet of space. Amazon has not said how many employees it has in Jacksonville, but a fulfillment center manager said previously it would be at least 5,000. The first fulfillment center, to handle smaller items and electronics, opened in September 2017 in Northwest Jacksonville. The second, for larger goods, opened the following month in AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center in West Jacksonville. Amazon opened a sortation center in Westside Industrial Park and a last-mile delivery station in North Jacksonville. It also launched a fulfillment center in West Jacksonville for heavy bulk items. More last-mile delivery stations are on the way to a former Kmart on Blanding Boulevard in West Jacksonville and to St. Augustine.

Groundwork Jacksonville named Ann-Marie Knight and Steve Swann to its volunteer board of directors. Knight is vice president, community engagement and chief diversity officer for University of Florida Health Jacksonville and Swann is city engineer for Atlantic Beach. The Jacksonville Port Authority appointed Nick Primrose as the port’s first chief of regulatory compliance. He previously was deputy general counsel for Florida Govs. Ron DeSantis and Rick Scott, and general counsel for the state Division of Emergency Management.

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

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MARK BASCH CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Chuck Ferry succeeded the retired Gianni Arcaini at the Jacksonville-based technology company. Duos Technologies Group Inc. last week appointed the former head of APR Energy as its new chief executive officer. After the Aug. 28 announcement, Chuck Ferry became CEO of the Jacksonvillebased technology company Sept. 1, succeeding Duos founder Gianni Arcaini, who announced his retirement in July. Ferry resigned as CEO of Jacksonville-based APR in April, two months after the fast-track power plant company was acquired by Atlas Corp. Besides his experience at APR, Ferry is a former general manager of defense contracting company ARMA Global Corp. and spent 26 years in the U.S. Army. “Between his years in the mission-critical environments of active duty military service and his proven track record in the corporate world over the past decade-plus timeframe, Chuck has shown himself to be a proven operator and a resultsdriven executive,” Ehrman Duos director Ken Ehrman said in a news release. Ehrman is chairman of the board’s nominating and governance committee. Arcaini remains chairman of the board of directors after retiring as CEO effective Sept. 1. “Over the next few months, Chuck and the board will be working together to identify and execute a long-term strategy aimed at positioning Duos effectively for profitable

File image

Chuck Ferry was the CEO of APR Energy and the former general manager of ARMA Global Corp.

growth and expansion in the years ahead,” Ehrman said. Duos provides intelligent security analytical technology, with a focus on railroad industry applications. The company has raised its profile this year, getting its stock listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market and gaining its first analyst coverage. After recording revenue of $13.6 million in 2019, Duos was projecting it to grow to $20 million this year. But the company has said the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting its growth plans for 2020.

Medtronic reports sharp sales drop Medical device company Medtronic PLC last week reported a big drop in quarterly sales, with a particularly sharp decline in its Jacksonville division. The Ireland-based company said total sales fell 13% in its first quarter ended July 31 to $6.507 billion. Sales at its Jacksonville subsidiary, which produces surgical instruments for ear, nose and throat doctors, dropped by a mid-20s percentage, the company said. Medtronic does not break out more specific sales data for the ENT business. The ENT division is part of its Specialty Therapies group, which had a 20% decline in

total sales to $453 million in the quarter. The COVID-19 pandemic has hurt sales of Medtronic products, such as ENT instruments, because many of those surgeries are considered nonessential and are being postponed. However, Medtronic officials said they are seeing improvements in sales trends, according to a transcript of its quarterly conference call posted by the company. “We’ve experienced a faster than expected recovery,” Chief Financial OffiParkhill cer Karen Parkhill said. “On the top line, May was better than April, and June was better than May, and that improvement has continued into July and August.” Medtronic’s adjusted earnings dropped in half to 62 cents a share, from $1.26 in last year’s first quarter.

Advanced Disposal shareholders approve lower price

Shareholders of Ponte Vedra-based Advanced Disposal Services Inc. last week approved a lower price for the company’s proposed buyout by Waste Management Inc.

Waste Management agreed in April 2019 to buy Advanced Disposal for $33.15 per share and stockholders approved the deal last year. But as the approval process for the deal dragged on, the companies agreed in June 2020 to lower the price to $30.30, and shareholders had to vote again on the new price. More than 99% of shares voted approved the lower rice at a special meeting, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The companies hope to complete the deal by the end of September but they still need U.S. Justice Department approval. Waste Management in June announced an agreement to sell $835 million in assets from the merged company to GFL Environmental, which it hopes will satisfy antitrust concerns about the merger of two waste services companies.

sion scheduled railroading) in a weak demand environment,” Long said in his research note Aug. 31. However, he now sees favorable trends including a positive inflection in the freight market and low capital expense requirements that should improve cash flow. “CSX’s stock has also lagged the rail sector year-to-date and its valuation relative to the S&P 500 is near the low end of the historical range,” Long said. He raised his price target for CSX’s stock from $72 to $93, with the stock trading at $77.07 at the time of his report.

Landstar System downgraded on high stock price

Jacksonville-based Fanatics Holdings Inc. said last week in an SEC filing it sold $350 million in preferred stock. The privately held online sports apparel and merchandise company rarely makes public filings, and last week’s document gives few details on the deal. However, CNBC reported on its website the stock sale values Fanatics at $6.2 billion. Fanatics was founded as a retail store in the Orange Park Mall in 1995 by brothers Alan and Mitchell Trager. The Tragers sold the company in 2011 and it is now part of a Philadelphia-based holding company called Kynetic.

Jacksonville-based trucking company Landstar System Inc. reached a record high of $138.55 when the market opened Aug. 31, but Stifel analyst J. Bruce Chan downgraded the stock last week because of its recent run-up. “As the stock paves new peaks, we ask ourselves: is Landstar a fundamentally better company, or this market fundamentally better than in 2018? To both questions, we think the answer is no,” Chan said in his research report. “We view Landstar as a great company now, as it was a couple years ago, and while there are more signs of secular consolidation, insurance is a structural headwind, and we are increasingly aware of macro uncertainty stemming from political, epidemiological, and other sources,” he said. Chan downgraded his rating from “buy” to “hold” and dropped his price target from $127 to $110.

Analyst upgrades CSX on trends

Black Knight acquires DocVerify

Stephens analyst Justin Long upgraded his rating on CSX Corp. from “equal weight” to “overweight,” citing several favorable trends for the Jacksonville-based railroad company. “While we have always viewed CSX as being favorably positioned over the long term, our hesitancy in the past year has been based on the company’s earnings growth being more dependent on the top line (less room for ‘self help’ margin improvement via preci-

Black Knight Inc. last week said it acquired DocVerify, a California-based company that provides digital document signing services. Jacksonville-based mortgage technology company Black Knight said the acquisition helps its goal of digitizing real estate and mortgage document processes. Terms of the deal were not announced.

Fanatics sells $350 million in stock

MBASCH@ JAXDAILYRECORD.COM

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THE BASCH REPORT

Former APR head becomes CEO of Duos

JACKSONVILLE DAILY RECORD / JACKSONVILLE RECORD & OBSERVER

JaxDailyRecord.com

BY SCOTT SAILER • Staff Writer

File image

Courtney Manor Apartments at 5620 Collins Road sold for $35.48 million.

DUVAL

ST. JOHNS

DUVAL

CLAY

$35,476,873

$24,774,750

$8,400,000

$5,518,729

$5,016,620

5620 Collins Road, Jacksonville

5500 Race Track Road, Saint Johns

412 First St. N., Jacksonville Beach

6059 Blanding Blvd., Jacksonville

Hogarth Road, Green Cove Springs

Type: Courtney Manor Apartments Parcel size: 25.34 acres Buyer: SREIT Courtney Manor LLC Seller: VCP-Collins Road LLC

Type: Undeveloped hospital Parcel size: Approximately 40 acres Buyer: Flagler Hospital Inc. Seller: Durbin Creek National LLC

Type: Undeveloped hotel Parcel size: 0.99 acres Buyer: KW JAX Beach Owner LLC Seller: JAX Pier Lodging Group LLC Previous sale: $6,000,000 in 2019

Type: Goodwill Parcel size: 3.14 acres Building size: 16,436 square feet Buyer: SE North Florida Transitory LLC Seller: Blanding Retail LLC

Type: Timberland Parcel size: Not available Buyer: Florida Power & Light Co. Seller: Family Alaska LLC

DUVAL

$4,033,000

$3,450,000

$2,387,500

$1,600,000

$1,300,000

Flagler Center Boulevard, Jacksonville

7540 103rd St., Jacksonville

1451 Louisa St., Jacksonville

Type: Undeveloped apartments Parcel size: 10.01 acres Buyer: Continental 495 Fund LLC Seller: Florida State College at Jacksonville Previous sale: $3,659,100 in 2011

Type: Industrial warehouse Parcel size: 4.01 acres Building size: Two buildings totaling 51,000 square feet Buyer: 103rd Commercial Group LLC Seller: 103rd St. Commercial Park LLC

60 N. Broad St., 632 W. Forsyth St. and West Bay Street, Jacksonville

11221 St. Johns Industrial Parkway, Jacksonville

Type: Undeveloped commercial Parcel size: 1.17 acres Buyer: First Coast Energy LLP Seller: Mark L. Rosenberg

Type: Office Parcel size: 0.36 acres Building size: 15,500 square feet Buyer: Voyage 1 Property Group LLC Seller: Louisa MW Holdings LLC Previous sale: $950,000 in 2007

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE

Top commercial sales of the week Here are the top 10 commercial real estate sales in Northeast Florida, comprising Clay, Duval and St. Johns counties. The sales were recorded Aug. 22-30.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

Type: Industrial warehouse Parcel size: 1.5 acres Building size: 17,167 square feet Buyer: St Johns Group Inc. Seller: Joan E. Galison Previous sale: $1,225,000 in 2018

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

JaxDailyRecord.com

Homes CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

CREATING SPACE FOR EVERYONE Above: A classroom space for children learning at home.

Housing Design Matters

Below left: An outdoor shed can be a place for conversation or a home office. Below right: A Murphy bed can transform an office area into a bedroom.

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Spectacular views of the St. Johns River

Some are adding an area or guesthouse for aging parents or for isolating a sick person. They are upgrading to touchless and smart appliances, fixtures and entries, germ-resistant countertops and flooring, and regulating the indoor environment with systems for air purification and ventilation. Some builders are changing floor plans to make sure buyers have a home office or two, even in smaller models. Patterson is modifying home designs to accommodate the changes necessitated by the pandemic. For example, she talks about a parcel delivery vestibule and space for people who “don’t want to send mom or dad to a congregate care facility so people are going to find ways to age in place longer.” Patterson said the pandemic has influenced “the idea of acoustical privacy, which is something that there has been a heightened awareness of because working and schooling from home has become different.” She also has noticed an increased demand for rental single-family and townhomes where “people are not sharing an entrance and have access to private outdoor space.” People that spend more time at home are taking up gardening and are cooking more in their kitchens. People want more cooking appliances and “larger pantries because the way we shop is different now,” Patterson said. National homebuilder Len-

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JACKSONVILLE DAILY RECORD / JACKSONVILLE RECORD & OBSERVER

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nar Corp. recently introduced a floor plan for a 2,270-squarefoot home in Northeast Florida to address work and school at home. “In today’s landscape, where many people are working from home and having kids school at home, it’s apparent there’s a great need for this. We intentionally designed this plan for the home office, and we see it as the new trend,” said Matt Devereaux, Lennar Jacksonville division president, in a news release. The Lennar floor plan includes rooms for working or school that have separate entrances, share a bathroom and have built-in desks and cabinets. The home also has a dedicated package delivery drop zone. High-end custom builder Shawn Starr, owner and president of Starr Custom Homes LLC in Jacksonville, said the prepandemic floor plans in high-end homes already accommodate many of the spaces influenced by the coronovirus. “The open floor plan still rules the day,” he said, with a great room, kitchen, transitional dining area and outdoor living. “The formal living room is long gone in favor of a study, library and home office areas that are more purposeful. The study or library has become a little more formal and functional as an office,” Starr said. Many high-end homes feature larger rooms, separate work and entertainment spaces, large kitchens with luxury appliances, large butler pantries and laundry areas, storage space, summer kitchens, covered outdoor space, pools and mechanical systems with air purification systems, he said. While design might not have changed, one aspect of the pro-

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

Northeast Florida real estate snapshot From June to July, the median price of an area home increased from $255,000 to $265,999. Closed home sales increased from 3,021 in June to 3,035 in July.

Starr Custom Homes

Shawn Starr, owner and president of Starr Custom Homes LLC in Jacksonville, said that before the pandemic homebuyers already were looking for open floor plans and office areas.

cess has. “We have certainly changed the design process using virtual meetings,” Starr said. Another change is who is buying or leasing. Engel & Volkers Real Estate Advisor Michelle Mousin said 50% of her buyers in the past several months are fleeing the Northeast. “Every full-time Realtor that I talk to that has been doing this a long time says the same thing,” she said. People are relocating to Northeast Florida not only for the weather but because they can work remotely with lower property taxes, no state income tax, relatively reasonable property prices and “there are less people than in the cities, which they are not comfortable with anymore,” Mousin said. Some buyers are moving from South Florida because they say it is too crowded there, too, she said.

July 2019

July Percent 2020 change

Homes for sale

9,905

6,943

29.9%

Supply of homes for sale*

3.8 months

2.5 months

34.2%

Newly listed homes Jan. 1 to July 31

25,941

24,499

5.6%

Median home sales price

$241,250

$265,000

9.8%

Median home sales Jan. 1 to July 31

$230,000

$249,000

8.3%

Homes for sale days-on-the market

64 days

70 days

9.3%

Pending home sales

2,980

3,598

20.7%

Closed home sales year over year

3,035

3,514

15.8%

Closed home sales year to date

18,889

18,689

1.1%

30-year fixed-rate mortgage

3.80%

3.00%

21.1%

*An inventory level between 5 and 6 months of supply is considered balanced. Source: Data from the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors, Monthly Indicators: July 2020

Housing is in demand. The Northeast Florida Association of Realtors reported that home inventory was down almost 30 percent in July from the year before, driving down the supply to 2.5 months from 3.8 months. A balanced market is considered one with a 5- to 6-month supply, meaning it would take that long to sell the current number of available homes. As of July, the median sales price rose almost 10 percent over the year to $265,000. And Bankrate.com reported that the interest rate on 30-year fixed mortgages averaged about 3% as of Aug. 10, down from more than 4% during 2019. Mousin said her current buyers still want open floor plans with up-to-date kitchens and appli-

ances, home offices and a lush backyard. Families usually want four bedrooms. “Pools and outdoor living space is huge,” she said. “If you want a pool built, it will be next summer and the average price is now $80,000 to $85,000 for a medium size pool, where five years ago it was about $40,000,” she said. Mousin said the low existing home inventory along with low mortgage rates has made “everything hot right now. Large homes that sat for a long time, a year or more, are selling. Homes that were not selling and needed remodeling are selling now.” SSAILER@ JAXDAILYRECORD.COM (904) 356-2466

Engel & Volkers Real Estate

Engel & Volkers Real Estate Advisor Michelle Mousin.

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JACKSONVILLE DAILY RECORD / JACKSONVILLE RECORD & OBSERVER

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

JaxDailyRecord.com

RETAIL DEVELOPMENT

Baer’s Furniture to open Jacksonville store

DEVELOPMENT TODAY

The store will debut Labor Day weekend across from Ikea.

These are the largest commercial building permits by job cost issued Sept. 1 by the city of Jacksonville. APARTMENTS Centennial Towers, 230 E. First St., contractor is Auld & White Constructors LLC, 176,150 square feet, 208unit building renovation, $3,261,125.

BY KAREN BRUNE MATHIS EDITOR

Florida-based Baer’s Furniture Co. intends to open its Jacksonville store Labor Day weekend across the street from Ikea. Baer’s Furniture Co. bought property at 7760 Gate Parkway and developed a two-story, almost 85,000-square-foot store that President and CEO Jerry Baer previously estimated as an investment of $15 million. The city approved a permit in December for RLH Construction LLC of Oviedo to build the store at a cost of $7.6 million. Dasher Hurst Architects of Jacksonville is the architect. In January, Baer said the family-owned company studied Northeast Florida to choose the right site for its northernmost store in the state. “We think we have a really ideal location for your market,” Baer said. Construction is being completed at the site, with a large banner that says the grand opening for Baer’s Quality Furniture & Interior Design will be Sept. 5. Labor Day is Sept. 7. Baer’s Furniture Co. paid $3.3 million for 4.12 acres in October 2018, buying the land from the Skinner family. Baer said in January he expected to open the store by

the end of 2020 and employ about 50 people. It will be the Pompano Beach-based company’s 17th Florida showroom. The COVID-19 pandemic shut down much of the economy in March and slowed the retail plans of many businesses. The Jacksonville site, at northwest Gate Parkway and Point Meadows Drive near Interstate 295, is convenient from St. Augustine to South Georgia, Baer said. The nearest Baer’s location to the south is in Orlando. The Jacksonville store is across Gate Parkway from Ikea, the popular Sweden-based selfassembly furniture company. Baer said the stores are different concepts – do-it-yourself vs. full customer service from a Florida-built business. “We focus on taking care of the customer with the best quality furniture,” Baer said. The company operates primarily in the Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Orlando, Naples and Miami areas. Baer said it

also is looking at markets that include Daytona and Tampa. This year is the company’s 75th anniversary. The company employs about 800 people, with one nonfamily member there 57 years and several on staff for more than 40 years. Baer said two members of the fourth generation are working there full-time. Baer’s describes itself as “Florida’s premium furniture and mattress store.” It sells furnishings for living room, dining, bedroom, home office and entertainment spaces. Baer’s Furniture displays galleries of brands, such as Bernhardt, Natuzzi Editions, Tommy Bahama Home and Outdoor Living, Hooker Furniture, Universal Furniture and Century Furniture. It can provide special and custom-ordered products. It also offers interior design services. FurnitureToday described Baer’s as a high-end retailer and ranked it No. 43 on its 2019 Top 100 U.S. Furniture Stores list

Timothy J. McDermott • State and Federal Courts • Certified Middle District of Florida & Florida Supreme Court Circuit Court Mediator • Florida Supreme Court Qualified Arbitrator • Board Certified in both Business Litigation and Civil Trial by Florida Supreme Court • AV Preeminent rating since 1980s

KMATHIS@ JAXDAILYRECORD.COM @MATHISKB (904) 356-2466

Visit Jacksonville, 100 N. Laura St., contractor is Nine Enterprises Inc., two permits for wall signs, $16,182. Metro by T-Mobile, 5100 Sunbeam Road, contractor is Allen Industries of North Carolina Inc., wall sign, $2,200. Metro by T-Mobile, 9268 Lem Turner Road, contractor is Allen Industries of North Carolina Inc., wall sign, $2,200. Duval Charter School at Baymeadows Kindergarten-12, 7510 Baymeadows Way, contractor is Farm Out Design Services LLC, monument sign, $1,950. Compiled by Scott Sailer

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with 2018 sales of $191 million, up 7.2% from 2017. Baer estimates annual sales were about $192 million last year, similar to 2018. The furniture industry news site said Baer’s locations average about 50,000 square feet. Baer said stores range from 28,000 to 100,000 square feet. The company has been family-owned and operated since 1945 when Jerry Baer’s grandparents founded it in South Bend, Indiana. His uncle, Chairman Robert Baer, moved to Florida in 1968 and opened the first Florida store in Dania. The family followed over the next six to eight years.

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The Baer’s Furniture bear will greet customers at the store.

Advanced Boat Trailers Inc., 4347 Philips Highway, contractor is Westmoreland Construction LLC, 5,000 square feet, new building, $370,000.

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INDUSTRIAL

Photos by Karen Brune Mathis

The two-story, almost 85,000-square-foot Baer’s Furniture is at 7760 Gate Parkway.

PUBLIC MEDIA

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JACKSONVILLE DAILY RECORD / JACKSONVILLE RECORD & OBSERVER

JaxDailyRecord.com

BY SCOTT SAILER • STAFF WRITER

Here are the top 10 single-family residential real estate sales in Northeast Florida, comprising Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties. The sales were recorded Aug. 22-30.

ST. JOHNS

DUVAL

$1,550,000

$1,425,000

3412 Lands End Drive, St. Augustine

1232 Windsor Harbor Drive, Jacksonville

Type: Single-family Lot size: 5.24 acres House size: 4,233 square feet Buyer: Janice A. and Archibald B. Kay Seller: Craig S. and Karen Q. Fawcett Previous sale: $700,000 in 2017

Type: Single-family Lot size: 0.84 acres House size: 6,356 square feet Buyer: Arun and Vandana Govil Seller: James GT Nealis, Patrick Nealis and the Arlene K. Nealis Revocable Trust Previous sale: $1,250,000 in 1999

DUVAL

$1,500,000 1729 Maritime Oak Drive, Atlantic Beach

NASSAU

$3,350,000 135 Long Point Drive, Fernandina Beach Type: Single-family Lot size: 0.93 acres House size: 5,968 square feet Buyer: Hugh S. and Stacey J. Garner Seller: Jonathan T. and Diane R. Lord Previous sale: $1,990,000 in 2015

About the property: Long Point at Amelia Island Plantation home on the South Amelia River. Features five bedrooms, five full and two half-baths, deck, screened-in lanai, exercise room, boat dock and pool.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

Type: Single-family Lot size: 0.17 acres House size: 3,750 square feet Buyer: Lee A. and Leah M. Andrews Seller: William H. and Mary K. Morgan Previous sale: $1,054,300 in 2018

$1,340,000 349 First St. S., No. 401, Jacksonville Beach Type: Avenue Four condominium Condominium size: 3,275 square feet Buyer: Charles C. and Carolyn H. Howell Seller: James P. Nault Previous sale: $975,000 in 2017

RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE

Top 10 home sales of week

DUVAL ST. JOHNS

DUVAL

ST. JOHNS

$1,500,000

$1,340,000

$2,700,000

$2,100,000

$1,750,000

2433 S. Ponte Vedra Blvd., Ponte Vedra Beach

109 Pine St., Neptune Beach

405 Royal Tern Road S., Ponte Vedra Beach

293 and 295 N. Roscoe Blvd., Ponte Vedra Beach

Type: Single-family Lot size: 0.48 acres House size: 3,973 square feet Buyer: Joseph and Smita Proto Seller: Jeffrey R. and Kimberly S. Dufresne

Type: Single-family Lot size: 0.31 acres House size: 1,972 square feet Buyer: Michael T. and Sharon R. Porter Seller: Catherine M. and John T. Roberts

Type: Single-family Lot size: 0.88 acres House size: 6,778 square feet Buyer: Steven G. and Nancy S. Miles Seller: Christopher K. and Carrie A. Ortbals, the Ortbals Family Trust Previous sale: $1,675,000 in 2019

Type: Single-family Lot size: 1.38 acres House size: 3,019 square feet Buyer: W. Radford Lovett II Seller: 293 & 295 Roscoe Blvd. LLC

1478 Riverplace Blvd., No. 2101, Jacksonville Type: San Marco Place condominium Condominium size: 3,692 square feet Buyer: Gary Smith and Nancy Faigen Seller: Bradley A. and Annika D. Wallace Previous sale: $1,290,000 in 2008

GRAND OPENING

Celebration

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Saturday, Sep. 19 | Noon–6pm Sunday, Sep. 20 | Noon–6pm

*NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. PURCHASE DOES NOT IMPROVE CHANCE OF WINNING. Eligible Entrants must register at the Annie’s Walk sales model as of 12pm - 6pm on 9/19/20 or 12pm - 6pm on 9/20/20 (“Promotion Period”) to be eligible to enter the drawing for a chance to win (each participant, an “Eligible Entrant”) a total of one American Express® gift card. American Express® is the registered mark of the respective owner with all rights reserved and is not a participant in or sponsor, which Prize remains subject to America Express’s® own terms and conditions for card holders. Need not be present at time of drawing in order to win. Drawing is open to U.S. Legal Residents only who are at least 21 at time of entry. Winner will be randomly selected by 9/30/20 from those who registered during the Promotion Period. If not present, Potential Winner has forty-eight hours to respond to Sponsor’s voicemail or email notice or an alternative Winner will be randomly selected from all other Eligible Entrants. Odds of winning dependent on total number of entries. Not responsible for lost, stolen or expired cards. No cash equivalent or substitutions. Taxes and purchases greater than the value of the Prize are the sole responsibility of Winner. Complete official rules available at event. All information (including, but not limited to prices, views, availability, school assignments and ratings, incentives, floor plans, site plans, features, standards and options, assessments and fees, planned amenities, programs, conceptual artists’ renderings, tax rates and community development plans) is not guaranteed and remains subject to change, or delay without notice. Square footage and dimensions are estimated and may vary in actual construction. As-Built Condition will control. Community improvements, recreational features and amenities described are based upon current development plans which are subject to change and under no obligation to be completed. Prices may not include lot premiums, upgrades and options. Photos are for illustration only and do not necessarily represent actual community. Images do not reflect a racial or ethnic preference. This is not an offering in any state where prohibited or otherwise restricted by law. Please see a Taylor Morrison Community Sales Manager, an Internet Home Consultant or visit www.taylormorrison.com for additional information. © September 2020, AVH North Florida, LLC, Avatar Properties Inc. & Taylor Morrison of Florida, Inc. CBC1254089, CRC1332128. All rights reserved.07/31/20 2385

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www.taylormorrison.com | jacksonvilleonline@taylormorrison.com | 904.600.0855

JACKSONVILLE DAILY RECORD / JACKSONVILLE RECORD & OBSERVER

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

JaxDailyRecord.com

THE MARBUT REPORT

Federal court plans to restore jury trials tuition scholarships to at least five HBCU graduates enrolling at UF Law every year, according to a news release from The Florida Bar. UF Law established the endowed scholarship with lead gifts totaling more than $1.1 million, including an initial gift from Yolanda Cash Jackson. A $1 million gift was made by longtime UF Law supporter Hugh Culverhouse, who said he was moved to make the gift after the recent death of civil rights leader and U.S. Rep. John Lewis. Scholarship recipients will be recognized as John Lewis Scholars and will interact with UF Law’s Black alumni network throughout the nation. The law school will begin a campaign to match the Culverhouse gift and grow the fund to at least $2 million before 2022. For more information on how to make a gift to the HBCU Pathway to Law Endowed Scholarship, call (352) 2730640 or email development@ law.ufl.edu . Prospective students seeking information about scholarship opportunities should contact the UF Law Admissions Office at (352) 273-0890 or by emailing admissions@law.ufl.edu.

MAX MARBUT ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Court processes will be adapted to ensure the safety of all parties in the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, Jacksonville Division is modifying its facilities and processes to allow jurors to safely return to the Bryan Simpson U.S. Courthouse. Federal civil and criminal jury trials were suspended in late March to reduce transmission of the COVID-19 coronavirus. When jurors can safely return to the courthouse, they will be selected for criminal trials involving defendants who want their day in court in front of a judge and jury and whose trials are postponed because of the panHoward demic, said U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard. “For the past five months, we’ve been remote and video only. If a defendant wants an in-person trial, we’ve continued their case,” Howard said. “There is no pandemic exception to a defendant’s constitutional right to a speedy trial,” she said. She said jury trials will resume “as soon as we can do it safely and preserve the judicial process. Jurors have to feel comfortable coming to the courthouse.” The adaptations will begin when people are notified they have been selected as potential jurors. Howard said the summons will include a survey that may allow potential jurors to defer their service to a later date if they explain why they aren’t

Provided by U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, Jacksonvile Division

Clear plastic shields are installed between jurors’ seats in a courtroom at the Bryan Simpson U.S. Courthouse.

comfortable going to the courthouse, such as if they are in a high-risk category or the caregiver for someone at high risk if they contract COVID-19. For people who eventually report to the courthouse for jury selection, face masks and social distancing will be required throughout the building and hand sanitizer will be available at multiple points. New directional microphones will be installed in the jury selection room so potential jurors won’t have to hand a microphone to each other. Inside the courtroom, seats in the jury box will be separated by clear plastic shields. Jurors will wear face masks and shields, Howard said. To maintain social distancing and confidentiality among trial participants, the court is purchasing a two-way, closed circuit communication system with headsets to connect the judge, stenographer, court staff, the defendant and the attorneys. Howard said after the new equipment arrives and is installed, the court will conduct a mock trial to test the system and process before a jury is called. “We’re going to find a way to give people their day in federal court,” Howard said. However, the court will not restore jury trials in Jacksonville until all the new systems and equipment are installed and after federal, state and local health officials determine that it’s safe for jurors to serve

in-person at the courthouse, Howard said.

Vacancy on Judicial Qualifications Commission

There is a vacancy for one attorney to serve a six-year term on the state Judicial Qualifications Commission beginning Jan. 1, 2021, and expiring Dec. 31, 2026. The 15-member commission is authorized under Article V, Section 12, Florida Constitution, to investigate complaints against judges whose conduct demonstrates a present unfitness to hold office and recommends disciplinary action to the Supreme Court. Lawyers interested in applying for the vacancy should call Bar headquarters at (850) 561-5757 to obtain the application form. Completed applications must be received by 5 p.m. Oct. 9. The board of governors will review all applications and may request telephone or personal interviews.

The University of Florida Levin College of Law has launched a scholarship program for graduates of Historically Black Colleges and Universities seeking to enter the legal profession. The program will award full-

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Business & Real Estate INVESTMENTS

Mediate your next Case JBA GOVERNOR SINCE 2013

The Florida Bar disciplined 11 attorneys with orders issued July 28 to Aug. 20 by the state Supreme Court. Four attorneys who practice in Northeast Florida were suspended. ■ Michael Joseph Gabor, 1636 Arrowhead Trail in Neptune Beach, is suspended for three years effective retroactively to Jan. 18, following an Aug. 6 court order. He pleaded no contest to one count of felony aggravated battery causing great bodily harm after a domestic altercation in his home. Gabor also failed to notify The Florida Bar of his felony arrest and charges. ■ Alan Douglas Henderson, 230 Canal Blvd., Suite 3, in Ponte Vedra Beach, was suspended for 30 days and must attend ethics school and a professionalism workshop, effective 30 days following a July 31 court order. Henderson represented a close family friend who had filed a petition for injunc-

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Local attorneys suspended

tion for protection against domestic violence against her husband. Henderson instructed his client to break into a safe containing the husband’s records and after reviewing the confidential medical records, Henderson made copies to use at an upcoming proceeding. ■ Peter Arnold Robertson, 5575 Florida A1A S., Suite 116, in St. Augustine, is suspended for 90 days and must complete ethics school and a professionalism workshop, effective 30 days following an Aug. 6 court order. An attorney and general contractor who owns a construction company, Robertson referred clients of his law firm to his construction company without advising them to seek independent counsel and without putting the terms of the business transaction in writing with the clients’ informed consent. Robertson represented a married couple against the seller of a home for failing to disclose mold and water damage. The husband fired Robertson after discovering an impermissible personal relationship had developed between Robertson and his wife. Despite the conflict of interest, and having been fired by the husband, Robertson filed documents with the court on behalf of both clients. ■ Adrian Shiand WebsterCooley, 8451 Gate Parkway W., Suite 23, in Jacksonville, is suspended for three years followed by one year of probation and must pay restitution, effective retroactively to May 18 following a July 30 court order. Webster-Cooley joined with “The Criminal Defense League,” which solicited clients nationwide via the internet for mostly criminal matters. Staff who were not licensed to practice law handled all aspects of cases, harming clients, and clients had trouble communicating with employees. The Criminal Defense League listed Webster-Cooley as managing attorney though he had no actual involvement in any of the cases. He also created Criminal Defense League Processing Inc. solely for the purpose of receiving client funds and transmitting that money to the nonlawyers.

904-996-0699 | ajr@mktptadv.com www.marketpointadvisors.com 4651 Salisbury Road, Suite #400, Jacksonville, FL 32256

THE BAR BULLETIN

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

Bar Bulletin The

PROTECTING RIGHTS • PURSUING JUSTICE • PROMOTING PROFESSIONALISM

PRO BONO FROM THEPRESIDENT PRESIDENT THE

GAINING PERSPECTIVE ON EVENTS THAT

DEFINE US

INSIDE

COMMENTARY

Small Business Reorganization Act

Like 9/11, COVID-19 is an opportunity to create unity and gratitude.

There is a new bankruptcy tool that was made available by Congress just before the pandemic hit. PAGE 16

YOUNG LAWYERS

Balancing history and progress The Downtown Investment Authority has put forth a plan to invest in adaptive reuse of Jacksonville’s most historic buildings. PAGE 17

M MICHELLE BEDOYA BARNETT JBA PRESIDENT

ost of us remember where we were and what we were doing on Sept. 11, 2001, when we witnessed the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York City – the deadliest terrorist attack in history on American soil. I was in Nashville, three weeks into my first year of law school. I remember walking out of my criminal law class at 9 a.m. after an interesting discussion of retributive versus restorative justice. Students and professors were gathering around televisions in the hallways. I

vividly remember watching as the second plane crashed into the South Tower. At first it seemed it had to be a replay. That is until the New Yorkers in the crowd shouted to each other and confirmed it was the other tower. I locked eyes with my brother in the hallway as he was heading to his next class. I called my parents. I called my sister. In a matter of minutes, everyone in the U.S. knew nothing would be the same again.

COMMENTARY

The military and malpractice Active duty military personnel now may file claims against the federal government for medical malpractice because of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. PAGE 18

SEE BARNETT, PAGE 19

PRO FROMBONO THE PRESIDENT

Pro bono service is more important during COVID-19 Volunteer attorneys are needed to help renters who may be facing eviction.

SARAH SULLIVAN THREE RIVERS LEGAL SERVICES PRO BONO DIRECTOR

Many times when I have been at networking events with attorneys, when I explain my job as pro bono director for Three Rivers Legal Services Inc., people ask, “What exactly is pro bono?” or “What about those cases where the attorney never gets paid ... is that pro bono?” Pro bono legal service is defined as direct free legal

assistance to an eligible client or client group or free legal services to charitable, religious or educational organizations whose overall mission and activities are designed predominantly to address the needs of the poor. Eligible clients include people with low income, even if they have jobs. A good-faith determina-

tion should be made that the financial situation is such that access to the legal system will be unavailable without volunteer assistance. In the early 1990s, the state Supreme Court ruled that Florida attorneys should aspire to perform 20 hours of pro bono work annually; in lieu of service, attorneys are asked to contribute at least $350 to a legal aid program. Although the aspirational goal is not mandatory, Florida attor-

neys are required to report their pro bono hours and/or contributions. Since the court’s ruling, the number of attorneys licensed in Florida has grown but the number of hours donated is fairly unchanged. Our legal community in Jacksonville always has been generous with their volunteer time and fundraising efforts. For that, we are extremely grateful SEE PRO BONO, PAGE 19

THE BAR BULLETIN

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

JBA CALENDAR UPCOMING MEETINGS For all meetings, register at jaxbar.org SEPT. 8 Judicial Relations Committee

Noon, virtual event

SEPT. 22 Advertising 101 for Attorneys Noon, virtual event

OCT. 7 Family Law Seminar presented by Soberlink

8:15 a.m., hybrid event

UPCOMING EVENTS

COMMENTARY FROM THE PRESIDENT

Bankruptcy bubble: Will it soon burst? ADINA POLLAN THE FLORIDA BAR BUSINESS LAW SECTION EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

High-profile reorganizations and liquidations will have a trickle-down effect. On Aug. 12, Stein Mart announced it filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11. The Jacksonville-based fashion specialty retailer followed an extensive list of prestigious retail brands that have done the same in 2020: Tailored Brands, Lord & Taylor, Neiman Marcus and Brooks Brothers, to name a few. However, unlike most of the retail bankruptcies of 2020, Stein Mart is planning on closing all of its almost 300 stores. While changing consumer habits initiated the decline of many brick-andmortar brands in 2019 (i.e., Payless and Gymboree), the unprecedented demise of so many brands in 2020 can be blamed on the coronavirus pandemic. Even with limited reopenings, numbers still are stagnating. Disney’s third-quarter earnings show a net loss of $4.72 billion, resulting from almost $1

billion less in expected revenue. Retail is not the only sector suffering, as many restaurants also are on the brink of permanent closure as well. What does this mean for Jacksonville? With any large Chapter 11 case, there often are trickle-down effects with local impact. For example, Stein Mart employed more than 8,000 people prepandemic and, according to a notice filed with the state, will lay off 134 employees from its Jacksonville headquarters alone. There also are the landlords that counted on Stein Mart’s rent, as well as vendors that supplied merchandise and services. With the loss of income that accompanies the loss of employment or of a large client, the next round of bankruptcies may start. For lower-income people, Chapter 7 may be the proper vehicle for shedding excess debt to have a fresh start. But what about the landlords and local vendors? Fortunately, there is a new tool that was serendipitously made available by Congress just before the pandemic hit. The Small Business Reorganization Act, signed into law by President Donald Trump on Aug. 23, 2019, became effective in February 2020, just one month before the U.S. economy was impacted by COVID-19. Under the SBRA, a new Subchapter V was created under Chapter 11. Many changes were implemented to make bankruptcy a more viable option for small businesses and high net worth individuals. The goal of the SBRA was to facilitate the development of a consensual plan

THE JACKSONVILLE BAR ASSOCIATION LEADERSHIP President Michelle Bedoya Barnett, Alexander DeGance Barnett President-elect Michael Fox Orr, Orr | Cook Treasurer Fraz Ahmed, Coker Law

Secretary Blane McCarthy, Blane McCarthy Young Lawyers Section President Ashlea Edwards, Akerman Executive Director Craig Shoup

of reorganization, with the process streamlined and costs reduced. A Subchapter V trustee acts more like a mediator, aiming to get the debtor and creditors to agree to a plan that works, and then ensures the debtor makes timely payments under the plan, similar to a Chapter 13 trustee. There is no payment of quarterly fees to the U.S. Trustee, which often can push a teetering business over the edge. A debtor is required to file a plan of reorganization within 90 days of the petition date (filing date). Lastly, a small business owner’s personal assets can be protected by Subchapter V. According to the statistics published by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida, in July 2020, Jacksonville had only 292 new filings, compared to 468 new filings in July 2019. There appears to be a downward trend in local filings, as the gap in year-todate filings for calendar year 2020 is increasing with each month. But coming off a record-shattering 11th year of expansion, coupled with the fastest recession in American history, the bankruptcy bubble may be prepared to burst. As with any trickle-down effect, the results may be slow, but without new employment opportunities for those laid off, and without fresh sources of revenue for vendors, bankruptcy may be a forthcoming conclusion.

SEPT. 25 Virtual Coffee at the Courthouse with Judge Bruce Anderson

7:30 a.m., virtual event

SEPT. 30 JBA Member Golf Tournament

Noon, Deerwood County Club

Registration for this year’s Captain’s Choice JBA Member Golf Tournament is open and limited to 60 registrants. Fees include boxed lunch, range balls, refreshments, greens fees, cart and an awards reception immediately following the tournament. Lunch and practice rounds start at noon, with a shotgun start at 1 p.m.

Adina Pollan is the owner of Pollan Legal. Her practice includes bankruptcy and commercial litigation.

BOARD OF GOVERNORS MEMBERS Brian T. Coughlin Bedell Firm

Shannon Schott Plata Schott

Christian P. George Akerman

Asghar A. Syed Gunster

Jamie Karpman U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Cyndy Trimmer Driver McAfee Hawthorne & Diebenow

Adina Pollan, Pollan Legal

Lindsay L. Tygart Coker Law

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Editor-in-chief Iana Benjamin Cordell & Cordell Editors Ashlea Edwards Akerman Kirsten Oliver Law Offices of William W. Kurtz, Jr.

THE BAR BULLETIN

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

YOUNG LAWYERS FROM THE PRESIDENT

Reuse is path to revitalization DAVE CHAUNCEY YOUNG LAWYERS SECTION TREASURER

The city has a plan to save Downtown’s remaining historic buildings. The Downtown Investment Authority has put forth a plan to invest in adaptive reuse of Jacksonville’s most historic buildings. It is a plan that makes economic sense and should be supported. In 1901, the city burned to the ground and nearly 2,400 structures were destroyed. From the ashes, people from all walks of life rebuilt their lives and this city. Sadly, over the past 50 years, many of the historic buildings Downtown that provided a glimpse into its resurgence more than a century ago were demolished. It was not long ago that Main Street was lined with historic buildings from the Main Street Bridge all the way to Springfield. Bay, Forsyth, Adams and Ashley streets were dense and walkable with entertainment and business. Although times change, and evolution with market demands is a must, the demolition of sound structures has left Downtown filled with a patchwork of vacant lots and surface parking spaces. If you stand at the corner of Laura and Adams streets, you can almost feel the former glory of Downtown with its architecture, hotels, apartments and offices. In 2016, there was a step in a positive direction when City Council voted to create a Downtown Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.

City of Jacksonville

We still are blessed with some remaining historic stock in buildings worth preserving and reusing. Historic structures often are more architecturally significant while providing a shared sense of place and identity. Most historic structures cannot be replicated except at exorbitant cost. Without a doubt, some buildings are so dilapidated and costly to reuse that they must come down. Likewise, there are buildings that outlive their usefulness or there is a higher and better utilization. The economics of preservation and adaptive reuse tell us that rather than the city investing millions of dollars into demolitions, that rarely are in response to actual market conditions, it should reinvest in its historic buildings as the DIA plan provides. In 2002, Tim McLendon, who I worked for as a research assistant at the University of Florida Center for Governmental Responsibility while a law student, co-authored a statecommissioned study concerning

the economic impact of historic preservation and adaptive reuse in Florida. The study quantified the impact of preservation and reuse at $4.2 billion per year. For example, nearly 60% of tourists said they want to visit a historic district or site while visiting Florida. The study discussed the preservation and reuse efforts in Springfield in the late 1990s spearheaded by then-Mayor John Delaney that helped property values double in only a few years. Property values in Springfield continue to skyrocket, which has positively impacted the city’s bottom line. Other local historic neighborhoods have seen similar results. St. Johns County was held up as an exemplar by the study after decades worth of preservation and reuse efforts reaped economic success. Texas and Utah conducted similar studies that found that for every state dollar invested in reuse, there was at least $4 of private sector investment.

You do not have to go far to see other successes. Known for years as “God’s Waiting Room” with little to no development, Downtown St. Petersburg has been revived with a mix of reuse and infill development. Orlando, Sarasota, Savannah and Greenville, South Carolina, are a few regional successes. Jacksonville has failed to see a new high-rise built on its Northbank since The Plaza Condominium at Berkman Plaza & Marina in 2002. However, we have seen preservation and reuse succeed with the restorations of historic high rises such as The Barnett Building, The Carling, and 11 East Forsyth that are currently at or near capacity in tenants. These buildings were provided a new life through the Historic Preservation Trust Fund that was established in 2002 but currently has no funds available. Home runs, like the plans discussed at the Shipyards (which will require a lot of government subsidy), would be progress if they happen but, to use another baseball analogy, we need to also

keep hitting singles and doubles with complementary uses that keep momentum going. Eventually, we will score a lot of home runs including new infill development as the market works. Historic preservation and reuse is an essential part of revitalizing an urban core. The DIA’s plan is well crafted as it seeks to invest in historic preservation while helping developers through nonmonetary means by streamlining the bureaucratic regulatory process. There are several projects in the works such as the former Ambassador Hotel, former JEA/ Independent Life Building, and the Laura Street Trio that can support momentum with a hopeful economic resurgence. The plan will help revitalize Downtown while preserving historic sites for us and future generations. Dave Chauncey is an attorney at Alexander DeGance Barnett and chair of the Jacksonville Historical Society Historic Sites Committee.

LEGAL BRIEFS

Need CLE hours? Check out the JBA website The Jacksonville Bar Association has a CLE video library where you can purchase online CLE presentations and get those CLE credits you need in the convenience of your home or office. You may choose from as few as 0.5 CLER hours to as many as 8.0 CLER hours, including various certification hours. Just select the videos that correspond with the CLE credits you need, purchase them, watch online and submit for credit. Topics include family law, technology law, transactional law and professionalism for new practitioners. Visit jaxbar.org/store

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THE BAR BULLETIN

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

COMMENTARY FROM THE PRESIDENT

Service members now may seek justice for medical malpractice

SEAN CRONIN PARTNER AT CRONIN & MAXWELL

An exception to the Feres Doctrine allows active duty personnel to file claims against the federal government. Active duty military personnel now may file claims against the federal government for medical malpractice, thanks to the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act President Donald Trump signed into law. This is a huge victory for soldiers and sailors who are injured or killed because of negligence happening off the battlefield at military facilities. Previously, the Feres Doctrine, which is based on a 1950 U.S. Supreme Court decision, barred military personnel from suing the federal government for medical malpractice. However, the Feres Doctrine allows the spouses and children of service members, as well as military retirees, to file claims against the federal government in cases of medical malpractice. The 2020 National Defense Authorization Act includes a provision that allows active military personnel who are injured by medical malpractice at military medical facilities to

file claims – not lawsuits – with the Department of Defense agencies. Generally, claims must be filed within two years. Claims involving medical malpractice that happened in a combat zone are specifically excluded. This change in law is good news for our service members. In the past, because of the Feres Doctrine, I turned down numerous heartbreaking, meritorious medical malpractice cases involving active duty service members. Now, because of the change in the law, there is a potential avenue for recourse. TOO LATE FOR NATHAN HAFTERSON

Unfortunately, the change in the law is too late for the parents of Nathan Hafterson. In 2006, the 21-year-old Navy P-3 radar operator died at Naval Hospital Jacksonville after being treated for a blood sugar problem Hafterson after he was intubated to help him breathe. During the intubation, he had an allergic reaction to the anesthetic agent. Unfortunately, the medical staff did not immediately recognize the allergic reaction. They eventually administered an antidote, but it was too late. Nathan developed malignant hypothermia and died from cardiac arrest. After a wrongful death suit was dismissed by the U.S. District Court in Jacksonville in 2008, our team appealed the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, which denied the appeal. After petitioning the U.S.

U.S. Navy

Supreme Court for certiorari review, the court ultimately denied reviewing the case. While it is too late for the Hafterson family, troops who are harmed by medical malpractice now have peace of mind knowing they may pursue claims for justice. CLAIMS PROCESS ONLY

An injured service member has two years to file a standard claim

form 95 with the respective military branch where the alleged medical malpractice occurred. Each branch has a torts unit comprising attorneys and staff. They have six months to investigate the claim to determine whether it is meritorious. If the claim is deemed meritorious, it will be adjudicated through the agency, which will determine the appropriate award for the injured party. However,

the ruling cannot be appealed. If the claim is denied, the service member has no further recourse. Thanks to the change in the law, troops now have more protection if they become injured at a military medical facility. Sean Cronin is a retired Navy commander and P-3 pilot, and a partner at Cronin & Maxwell, representing victims of medical malpractice.

COMMENTARY FROM THE PRESIDENT

Preserving wealth with Uniform Partition Heirs’ Property Act Florida has taken a more justice centered, equity-based step toward remedying the disparities that affect minorities. BY LATONYA LIPSCOMB SMITH & TRINITY TURINETTI THREE RIVERS LEGAL SERVICES

The principal asset of people in the bottom two-thirds of the socio-economic strata is real property. While owning a home is an essential component in accumulating wealth, many low-wealth individuals neglect to create an estate plan for their property. While 55% of white Americans die intestate (without a will), 72% of non-white Americans die without an estate plan. Based on historical data, the pattern of disenfranchisement

Smith

Turinetti

and stripping minorities of their property has ultimately had a substantial diminishing effect on generational wealth and capital accumulation. African Americans were granted permission to own real property following the Civil War, but attempts to purchase property were systemically stifled by white landowners and government policies. Southern white landowners responded to the loss of their stronghold on land and changes in the economic and social status quo with discrimination and racial violence. The effect of more than a century of stifling Southern

African American homeownership is evidenced by the fact that only 40.6% of African Americans own their homes and 77% neglect to create a plan for their principal asset upon their death. As a result, a disproportionate percentage of African Americans in the South are faced with heirs’ property issues and they have historically not seen justicebased outcomes. Fortunately, with the enactment of the Uniform Partition Heirs’ Property Act on July 1, Florida has taken a more justicecentered, equity-based step toward remedying the disparities that plague minorities. The UPHPA helps preserve family wealth passed to the next generation. If a landowner dies without a will, the real property passes to the heirs as tenantsin-common. This is a vulnerable form of ownership because any individual heir can force a partition sale. Historically, an investor has

been able to usurp their way into purchasing a small fraction of the heirs’ property, which then allowed them to file a partition action and force a sale of the real property. With families in this vulnerable position, the investor can acquire the entire parcel for a price far below fair market value, further depleting the family’s wealth. The enactment of the UPHPA assures a series of due process protections including notice, appraisal and right of first refusal. It also allows for co-tenants to choose not to exercise their right of first refusal, thus a commercially reasonable sale, supervised by the court, will be conducted. Our communities face a moral imperative to address historic wrongs and their resulting present-day disparities. Three Rivers Legal Services offers access to the legal system through the Home Sweet Home

Project. It seeks to help family members save their heirs’ property through probate litigation, estate planning and community outreach. With 18 states having enacted the UPHPA and seven more states introducing the bill, the nation is acknowledging the historic systemic problems and taking steps to address them. If you are suffering from an heirs’ property issue or would like more information on the topic, call (904) 423-8966 or visit trls.org. LaTonya Lipscomb Smith is a staff attorney at Three Rivers Legal Services Inc. focusing on probate litigation, estate planning and community outreach. Trinity Turinetti is a legal intern at Three Rivers Legal Services, a student at Tulane Law School and 2022 J.D. candidate.

THE BAR BULLETIN

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

COMMENTARY FROM THE PRESIDENT

COVID-19 and the lawyer-mom

KIMBERLY WOODS ATTORNEY AT BOYD & JENERETTE

The struggle to keep up with daily life seems to change every day. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, I have seen multiple articles about the challenges facing the lawyer-mom.

Whether it’s making the decision whether to send kids to day care or school, how to balance the ever-present billable hour requirement or the mental gymnastics involved with working from home, the lawyer-mom is facing serious issues. The struggle to keep up with daily life seems to change every day. Pre-pandemic, there already was the struggle to get the job done while being pulled in different directions - carpool, school activities, doctors appointments, etc. In the COVID-19 era, this has become a more daunting task. It may be just me, but I feel that working from home pressures me to complete more nonwork-related tasks. Instead of being able to ignore my messy living room by going to the

office, I am forced to stare at it while I am trying to type my umpteenth report. Then there is the thought that I can squeeze in one load of laundry during lunch. I have felt a sense of needing to accomplish it all but being at home all day has made that even worse. Still, people ask me, “Why can’t you cook dinner if you have been at home all day?” The line between work and home has become so blurred that it can be difficult to tell where one ends and the other begins. My daily commute used to allow me to separate one from the other, but that’s gone. This causes even more late nights when actual work has to be done. For those who have to homeschool their children, this is substantially worse. During the day, they are forced to juggle the

responsibility of their children’s education and their job requirements. Inevitably, that results in long days. It also has become difficult to find outlets to relieve the stress caused from working from home. Most of our Bar meetings and luncheons are limited in attendance for social distancing or conducted remotely via Zoom. While these still are great opportunities to get away from “work,” there is a degree of social interaction that is missing. I am not sure what drives the working mom to do it all, or how we continue to persevere, but somehow, we do. It helps to know that you are not alone. There are times that I reach out to a fellow lawyermom at 2 a.m. when I am trying to review medical records and I

just want to commiserate. At the end of the day, it is important to be conscious of what the people around us are going through. The lawyer-mom is not the only one with this struggle and it is seen in almost every work environment. This is our shared experience and with each other and we can overcome these struggles. If you see someone you know who has children or other people who depend on them, make sure to check on their mental health and share a kind word. As we all continue to navigate this new normal, we must be continue to support and encourage each other. Kimberly Woods is an associate attorney with Boyd & Jenerette.

Barnett: Pandemic impacts us just as 9/11 attack did CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14

The moments that define a country and alter its course of history forever can be shocking, abrupt and conspicuous like the horrific events of 9/11. Some catastrophic events, however, move slowly. They sneak up on us until the reality no longer can be ignored. That is the case with the hurdle currently facing our society, the novel coronavirus. The epidemic and the terrorist attacks on 9/11 differ in many ways, the former being shocking, violent and hatefully motivated; the latter moving slowly, even-

Pro Bono CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14

to all of you who provide advice, brief services, representation, mentorship and financial contributions on behalf of our lowincome residents. During this exceptional time in our history when many people have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the related financial meltdown, people that may have been ineligible for services at the beginning of March now are facing unemployment, eviction, foreclosure or bankruptcy. Only lawyers have the skills and knowledge needed to secure access to justice through the legal system. For low‑income people, whose unmet legal needs are well documented, volunteer attorneys

tually exerting its influence over our lives with no clearly identifiable culprit or malice. Coronavirus, and the impact it would have on the whole country’s way of life, did not strike me until that day in March when my children were sent home from school not knowing when they would return. With a good dose of flexibility, and an even larger dose of patience, parents somehow became teachers and IT experts and made it through the rest of the school year. Despite the frustrating limitations COVID-19 has placed on our lives, there is much we can learn from this pandemic.

The adjustments we have made allow us to create a society that can continue being productive while minimizing face-to-face contact. Perhaps the most important lesson to be learned is that we must be flexible. For lawyers in particular, in a profession that demands constant communication, meetings and social interaction, adapting to the changes caused by the pandemic is vital. Despite the difficulties and complications coronavirus has caused, there are silver linings: more time with family and a generally slower pace of life.

Virtual access to meetings and events means greater accessibility to all. In fact, online accessibility has increased participation in Jacksonville Bar Association events. Being flexible and seeing the good in situations that seem to have no positive angle is what will allow us to continue and persevere. After 9/11, Americans experienced a sense of unity, the desire to help our neighbors, to spread positivity and to feel grateful just to be alive. Often, unity is born of tragedy. This is a sentiment our nation direly needs. Despite a polarizing

political and economic climate, coronavirus impacts us just as the terrorist attack 19 years ago did and still does. Remembering the events of 9/11 and honoring those who lost their lives that day provides us with perspective. Our young country has experienced loss, hardship and tragedy, but it will continue to adapt, advance and prevail.

who work with legal services programs have the ability to help bridge the gap. Legal services programs reach out to the low-income communities to let them know about help available. Social service agencies refer those in need to legal services offices. Most lowincome residents will not contact a private attorney to ask for pro bono help; they will contact a legal services agency. According to the American Bar Association, at least 40% of low- and moderate-income households experience a legal problem each year, yet studies show that the collective civil legal aid effort meets only about 20% of the need. Steps are being taken to provide advice through Florida Free Legal Answers and self-help centers at courthouses across the state, but for the majority of the poor, these services are not enough.

Three Rivers Legal Services created a pro bono opportunity to meet the needs of residents enduring significant legal issues because of the pandemic. Volunteer attorneys are needed to assist renters who have been impacted by COVID-19 to negotiate with landlords to extend or terminate leases. These clients are not in the eviction process. They are individuals and families who need to extend or terminate their leases because of job loss, illness, change of plans, etc., because of COVID-19. Attorneys will negotiate on behalf of renters who either have leases that are set to expire during the pandemic and need to extend their lease (i.e. if they are in quarantine or in a high-risk category), or need to terminate a lease for housing because they can no longer afford to pay rent because they lost income.

Others cannot take possession of a home they have leased because of COVID-19. Three Rivers provides volunteer attorneys with training materials and a fact sheet about COVID-19 protections. The client’s information will be provided and we ask that you assist the client in a negotiation with the landlord. We will run conflict checks with you and our staff attorneys will be available to answer questions. All interactions with the clients can be handled virtually, primarily by telephone. We provide confirmation of Three Rivers’ malpractice insurance coverage for those who do not carry their own or need confirmation for their employer. We also cover volunteer attorneys assisting referred clients. This project provides the pro bono attorney a way to positively impact people facing major

hurdles related to COVID-19 and keep them housed at a time when our community is facing a difficult recovery. Understanding and serving the legal needs of low-income people, particularly in this exceptional time in history, fulfills The Florida Bar’s recommended pro bono service. It also provides a vital component of the social safety net that can lift our neighbors out of their current crisis toward a more certain future. Interested in this new project? Contact sarah.sullivan@trls.org. To review cases in need of placement, go to floridaprobonomatters.org and type your county in the general search field.

Michelle Bedoya Barnett is a founding partner of Alexander DeGance Barnett, focusing on labor and employment law.

For information on projects and clinics, contact Missy Davenport, chair of the JBA Pro Bono Committee at missy. davenport@jaxlegalaid.org

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

JaxDailyRecord.com

CHIP BACHARA BY MAX MARBUT • ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Chip Bachara is founding and managing partner of Bachara Construction Law Group, board certified in construction law by The Florida Bar, a member of the 4th Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission and a JAX Chamber trustee. Who or what inspired you to be a lawyer? My parents first sparked my interest in the law. I grew up wanting to become a general contractor like my father. While I was pursuing my degree in building construction at UF, however, he and my mother suggested that law school might be a good backup plan, given the changeable nature of the construction business. As always, they gave me great advice. I worked in the construction industry for several years after obtaining my degree and contractor’s license. Then I went to law school and put that practical experience to use as a construction lawyer. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the best of both worlds. Someone (other than my wife) who inspires me: My father. He relied on his own moral compass regardless of what others said or did. He simply knew right from wrong and refused to deviate or allow any of us to do so. How do you relate your undergraduate degree to your practice of law? The ability to read plans, understand specifications and most of all, understand the dynamics of an active construction site, allows me to understand the client’s issues on day one. I use the knowledge I gained in my undergraduate education every day. What has been the biggest change in your practice area since you passed the Bar? From my vantage point, the influence of the insurance industry on the handling of construction claims. Before a 2007 Florida Supreme Court decision, my practice rarely involved insurance. Today, a huge amount of legal work arises from construction defect claims, which are now covered by insurance, and construction lawyers have had to

bination of new research platforms and the increasing demand for lower-cost services has apparently made this practice too tempting for many to resist. But in addition to being plagiarism, lawyers using other lawyers’ work results in clients not receiving the level of representation they’d have received if their lawyer had drafted a pleading with the client’s specific issues and facts in mind.

Special to the Daily Record

respond to the insurance industry’s business model and behaviors. What do you think will be the next biggest change in your area of law? The internet has had an impact on the practice of law, including construction law. When a potential client calls for guidance, they have already researched the issues on Google and have picked up some of the terminology. I can frequently find answers to some issues with a Google search, but posting on the internet does not make you a lawyer. There is a push to replace research by lawyers with research using artificial intelligence. That may be closer than we think. If I could change anything in the legal system, I would: Prohibit lawyers from using briefs and filings written by other lawyers, in other cases, in their own filings. The com-

What community service have you pursued and why that? My professional and community service has varied over the years. I have served on and chaired The Florida Bar’s Standing Committee on Professionalism, as well as chairing and continuing to serve on the Judicial Nominating Commission for the 4th Judicial Circuit. I have been active in local, state and national building organizations, including the Northeast Florida Builders Association. I have also served on and chaired the St. John’s Cathedral Properties Committee, which oversees and directs the finances and maintenance of the historic cathedral that anchors the Cathedral District. What’s your advice for new lawyers? Work hard and give yourself a few years to learn how the law functions in the real world. Treat every person with respect until they give you a reason not to. Learn to communicate and build relationships with clients, opposing counsel, judges and their respective staffs; you can learn from all of them and good relationships will help you immeasurably in accomplishing your clients’ goals. Finally, if you don’t work for a lawyer that you respect as a mentor, find one to mentor you. I hit the mentor jackpot when I was hired by Warren Tripp at the Bedell Firm in 1987.

CHIP BACHARA Managing partner, Bachara Construction Law Group Age: 60 Education: University of Florida, bachelor of building construction; Mercer University School of Law, J.D.; Harvard University, Program on Negotiation Hometown: Jacksonville Family: Wife, Carrie; daughter, Blake; son, Hank Favorite book: A three-way tie between “Space” by James Michener, “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell and “The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto” by Mitch Albom. Websites or apps I can’t live without: Google Maps and Pandora Favorite nonwork activities: Engaging in great conversations about politics and the world with my wife and our two grown kids, shooting sporting clays and going out with friends. Traveling abroad would be listed here, but …

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