THURSDAY
September 20, 2018 jaxdailyrecord.com • 35 cents
DIA backs incentives for Downtown resort PAGE 10 Public
legal notices begin on page 1B
Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
The Rail Yard District
Thomasville furniture closing at Town Center
Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
‘Invisible’ neighborhood seeks revival
Community near Downtown that’s home to Eco Relics and the Jacksonville Farmers Market wants the city to fix its infrastructure issues.
Daily Record Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
BY KAREN BRUNE MATHIS EDITOR
BY JAY SCHLICHTER ASSOCIATE EDITOR
J
Parent company filed for bankruptcy in July.
ust west of Downtown Jacksonville there’s a neighborhood that some of its inhabitants call invisible. Some streets are lined with potholes. There are vacant buildings. Storms combined with drainage issues can make the roads impassable. But that doesn’t mean everything is negative in the industrial and residential community that’s been named the Rail Yard District after the active railroad tracks that run through it. Business owners in the 4.5-square-mile zone say they believe they can turn the district into the region’s next prosperous area if they can get financial support, particularly in the form of new infrastructure funding, from the city. The entrepreneurs recently formed a nonprofit called the Rail Yard District Business Council with help from the Jacksonville chapter of the Local Initiatives Support Corp. “The city has kind of forgotten about this neighborhood, even though it is so close to Downtown,” said Annie Murphy, the council’s vice president and co-owner of Eco Relics, a 50,000-square-foot architectural salvage, antique and curio shop and custom woodworking operation. North of Riverside and Five SEE RAIL YARD, PAGE 8
JACKSONVILLE
Photo by Jay Schlichter
Michael and Annie Murphy, the owners of Eco Relics. Annie Murphy is vice president of the Rail Yard District Business Council, a group working to improve the neighborhood.
Thomasville posted signs on its furniture store and along Town Center Parkway that it is closing at 4853 Big Island Drive in St. Johns Town Center. The signs state that everything is on sale from 30 to 50 percent off. “Store closing,” says one window sign. “Entire store on sale!” says another. A store manager referred calls to a spokeswoman, who declined to comment. Parent company Heritage Home Group LLC filed July 29 for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization to pay down $280 million in debt. The company, based in High Point, North Carolina, has three business units. One of those, Thomasville & Co., comprises the Thomasville classic line; the Drexel contemporary brand; and the Henredon deluxe banner. The 13,000-square-foot St. Johns Town Center store, built in 2007, is owned by a Charlotte, North Carolina, investor. On Sept. 13, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware issued an interim order approving store closing sales. The order includes a list of 25 Thomasville, Henredon and Heritage Home Group stores in 14 states, including the Jacksonville location. There also are six distribution centers involved, with five in North Carolina and one in Vietnam.
KMATHIS@JAXDAILYRECORD.COM @MATHISKB (904) 356-2466
LEGAL COMMUNITY
State constitution revision: Hank Coxe offers insight Plus: The Marbut Report & more. PAGE 12 VOLUME 105, NO. 216 • TWO SECTIONS