Daily Record FINANCIAL NEWS &
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2017
VOL. 105, NO. 003 • ONE SECTION
35¢
www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Jacksonville Landing erupts into legal fight
Battery Source coming to town Georgia company to open two locations, will also sell EZ-GO golf cars. Georgia-based Battery Source wants to expand into Jacksonville with two retail stores in spring 2018. The company sells batteries and chargers and also carries EZ-GO golf cars and accessories. Its online “golf car showroom” lists new and used golf cars ranging from $5,399 to $10,799. It sells batteries for automotive, marine, commercial, laptop, cellphone, cordless phones, camcorders, wheelchairs, watches, hearing aids and computers, for example. Battery Source Vice President C.R. Glass said it chose Jacksonville because of its proximity to its Thomasville headquarters and the growth of Northeast Florida. “We believe there is a great need for our business model by the community and Jacksonville’s large population fits within our internal demographics profile,” Glass said by email. Plans show Battery Source wants to build stores of almost 4,500 square feet each on almost 1 acre at 12420 Beach Blvd. and on 1.4 acres at 11913 San Jose Blvd. Ray Glass Batteries Inc. is listed as the owner and builder of the $320,000 construction jobs. Glass predicts each location will cost about $1.5 million to develop and he expects they will open in the spring. Battery Source will own the property and the building and also will use mostly local subcontractors for the construction, he said. “These locations seem to have high growth and population density,” Glass said. That provides a long-term opportunity for Battery Source. Battery Source will hire up to
Photos by Monty Zickuhr
Sleiman Enterprises spokesman Mitchell Legler said the city has failed to maintain the area around the Jacksonville Landing, stating the Riverwalk and docks are in poor condition.
City accuses mall owner of failing to maintain property; Sleiman Enterprises files suit, saying city has blocked efforts to redevelop property. By David Cawton Staff Writer When Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry spoke with the Daily Record in August, he said the city wanted the Jacksonville Landing back in the hands of the taxpayers. “Like right now,” Curry said at the time. To do that, he said “all options are absolutely on the table,” while hinting that conversations between the two sides would continue into the last quarter of the year and into 2018, with the hope that a “negotiated transaction” could prevail over any legal action. On Oct. 17, the city decided to take the legal route. In a letter sent to Sleiman Enter-
prises Inc. subsidiary Jacksonville Landing Investments LLC that day, the city outlined how it believed Sleiman the development group was breaching the terms of its lease agreement. Jacksonville Landing Investments, a Sleiman entity, operates the Landing. In response, Sleiman Enterprises announced Thursday it filed suit against the city, claiming the city was the party in breach of contract, not the other way around. The company, led by President LANDING
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Plywood covers a door inside the Landing. Sleiman Enterprises owns the buildings, while the city owns the land beneath them.
MATHIS
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You should know ... Matt Mannick Forking Amazing Restaurants president doesn’t sit in an office from 9-5. PUBLIC
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