FRIDAY November 16, 2018
Public legal notices begin on page 3
jaxdailyrecord.com • 35 cents
Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
Curry raises convention center questions
Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
The mayor suggests in a letter to DIA that Jacksonville may not be ready for the project because of cost and timing.
BY DAVID CAWTON STAFF WRITER
Mayor Lenny Curry says he is concerned about the timing and financial requirements of building a new Downtown convention center. In a letter sent Wednesday to Downtown Investment Authority Chairman Jim Bailey, Curry
asked the DIA to prioritize other projects to d eve l o p more amenities Downtown before Curry embarking on what could be one of the most expensive projects for the city to date.
“The timeline for development and the substantial investment of public dollars would represent a dramatic shift in our capacity to participate in other pending public/private partnerships,” he wrote. Curry cited a 2017 convention center feasibility study that indicated building a new convention center may not be financially sustainable in Jacksonville.
The study suggests that convention planners don’t believe Downtown has developed enough amenities or hotel space to accommodate large groups, compared to other cities in the region. He said the study raised important questions about the cost, size, location and timing of a new facility.
Daily Record Former Jags punter, wife plan to open CoolRoom Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
SEE CURRY, PAGE 2
THE MATHIS REPORT
JACKSONVILLE
KAREN BRUNE MATHIS EDITOR
The Tapestry Park business will offer CoolSculpting, a procedure to reduce a patient’s fat cells by freezing them. Former Jacksonville Jaguars punter Adam Podlesh, now a private wealth manager, and his wife, Miranda, a former emergency room nurse, are launching CoolRoom. The CoolSculpting process focuses on a technological procedure that freezes a patient’s fat cells so that the body can shed them naturally and permanently. Miranda Podlesh is the operator of CoolRoom while Adam Podlesh functions as the business financial officer. Adam Podlesh, a private wealth adviser with Merrill Lynch since May 2017, said the couple considered several endeavors. “Nothing really made sense to me as far
as being a realistic way of delving into the business world until now. Looking at the business model, it just made sense,” he said. This, he said, could really work, “especially after analyzing the legitimacy of the science technology, the business plan, and considering the ability to successfully execute it while maintaining our values and goals.” Podlesh, 35, calls himself a finance guy. “I’m dollars and cents.” Miranda Podlesh, 34, is the operator. “Since I met her, I knew she had a keen entrepreneurial mindset, that she would thrive in that world,” said Adam Podlesh, They declined to estimate their investment into the startup; it is not a franchise. “It is an investment that her financial adviser is OK with,” quipped Adam Podlesh. “We’ve spent a lot of time on the front end to research and make sure it was worth that step because it is such a big risk to take, but it’s been fulfilling and rewarding,” said Miranda Podlesh. “We love helping patients and making them feel good about themselves, and this has provided me with an unexpected and very different way of fulfilling that from what I was previously used to, which was helping very sick people,” she said. The CoolRoom is being built-out in about 1,500 square feet of space in Tapestry Park at 9823 Tapestry Park Circle, units 6-7.
SEE MATHIS, PAGE 2
Jordan Keenan Photography
Adam and Miranda Podlesh partnered to open the CoolRoom at Tapestry Park. The former Jacksonville Jaguars punter remains a private wealth manager with Merrill Lynch.
Tax collector takes office Monday Duval County Tax Collector-elect Jim Overton will be sworn in at 8:30 a.m. Monday in his new office in the Yates Building Downtown. Overton defeated Mia Jones in the Nov. 6 special election to replace his predecessor, Michael Corrigan, who resigned in June to become CEO of Visit Jacksonville. Overton and Jones have filed as candidates in the March 19 election for a full four-year term.
VOLUME 106, NO. 2 • ONE SECTION