Daily Record Financial News &
Friday, September 25, 2015
Vol. 102, No. 225 • One Section
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Gate may buy Brooklyn site soon Property owner trustee Chris Ware expects to sell the 400 block of Park Street in Brooklyn, a site best known for housing the popular Two Doors Down restaurant, to Jacksonville-based Gate Petroleum Co. within four or five months. That opens the gate to Brooklyn, Riverside and Downtown for the company, which operates and supplies fuel for almost 200 locations in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. “We do have an agreement with Gate and we expect to continue the next phase of due
diligence next week,” Ware said Thursday by email. The site is a little less than 2 acres and should be vacant by the end of December. Gate confirmed Ware’s information but said it hasn’t begun its due diligence, which would include the details of the site layout and the architecture. The property is within the Brooklyn/Riverside Downtown Overlay District and subject to Downtown Development Review Board approvals. A Gate spokesperson said the company has negotiated a con-
tract on the property but has not executed it. It expects to close the deal in the coming weeks. The spokesperson said the company is new to the redeveloping area. Its nearest convenience store is about a mile away along Stockton Street. Norm Abraham, a partner in Two Doors Down, said Monday
he would close the restaurant Nov. 25, the day before Thanksgiving. Abraham learned this summer his lease would end Dec. 29. Unable to find a workable site nearby with adequate parking, the 74-year-old Abraham has decided to retire. He has operated Two Doors Down at 436 Park St. since 2009, the latest venture in his 40-year career. Printing & Promotional Partners next door at 444 Park St. also will move. Owner Jennifer Miller said Monday she was narrowing down sites.
Ware’s business, Johnstone Supply, also has an operation on the block but is consolidating that by the end of December to the 500 block. He is trustee of Ware Family Realty LLC, which owns the 400 block of Park Street. It’s a convenient location, just off Interstate 95, for contractors around Northeast Florida coming to Johnstone Supply. Gate also would be able to draw traffic off of the interstate as well as serve local customers. Mathis
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Homeless center closing today
Waiting their turn to check out the library
No funding, site to extend program By David Chapman Staff Writer
Photo by Max Marbut
Students from Garden City Elementary School lined up Thursday morning to wait for the Main Library to open. They were there for story time and to check out books with their new “virtual” library cards. See story and more photos on Page A-3.
Sharing ideas, goals through TEDx Local conference first to stream live on TED YouTube channel By Marilyn Young Editor Sabeen Perwaiz knows the power of TEDxJacksonville. It made her fall in love with the city. Perwaiz moved here from her beloved New York City after her husband proposed. “Initially, I was not excited,” she said. But getting involved with TEDxJacksonville opened her eyes to what her new Southern home was really about. It made her embrace Jacksonville and become a cheerleader for the city. Perwaiz is executive producer of TEDxJacksonville, whose events give speakers a platform to share their ideas, their passions and their solutions. The group started in 2012, after Doug Coleman saw a TEDx program in Mus-
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kegon, Mich. There were five volunteers in Jacksonville the first year, Perwaiz said. Now there are 25 who typically work full-time schedules to organize events such as the Oct. 24 conference, “Into the Machine.” Perwaiz’s real full-time job is project manager of Earn Up, a JAXUSA Partnership program to increase the percentage of adults with higher education degrees. The nearly sold-out TEDx event at WJCT will have a much bigger audience than those in the studio or at two library branches where it will be broadcast, as well. It was announced Friday the Jacksonville conference in October will be the first TEDx event to be streamed live on the TED YouTube channel. That adds a potential audience of about TEDx continued on Page A-4
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It’s been a place for the homeless to beat the heat. To take a shower, do some laundry and use the restroom three days a week. The Jacksonville Day Resource Center opened just under two years ago as a pilot program. At about 4 p.m. today, the experiment is ending. Despite pleas from one group Monday to City Council members to keep it open, the center had run its natural life, said Dawn Gilman, CEO of Changing Homelessness. Grant funding wasn’t there. Private sector support isn’t available. The building’s owner wanted it back. The center’s time was just up. “We did learn from Gilman it,” said Gilman, “And for that reason alone it was a success.” For services like showers, meals and a brief escape the center provided, Downtown’s homeless service providers say they are stepping up. Showers for men will be available each day from 10-11 a.m. at Sulzbacher. City Rescue Mission offers the same for women. Sulzbacher’s Hope Team, which provides health services, will make trips to Clara White Mission. And Clara White will still provide its veterans clinic. “I think the key in this kind of program was finding out what kind of services were needed,” said Penny Kievet, City Rescue Mission executive director. “And I think we accomplished that.” When it opened in October 2013, the center’s goal was twofold: Connect people to services and reduce misdemeanor homeless arrests. Gilman, Kievet and Sulzbacher President Day Center continued on Page A-4
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