Daily Record Financial News &
Monday, November 30, 2015
Vol. 103, No. 011 • Two Sections
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Local Filling a Downtown hole banks on decline in town
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A series of holes in the middle of the Barnett Bank building was created by a previous developer as a demolition chute to help clear debris. Developer Steve Atkins wants to fix the holes as part of his plan for the building.
Seeing the potential in dilapidated buildings By David Chapman Staff Writer
Photos by David Chapman
At a time when community banks keep disappearing from the Jacksonville market, one of the few remaining is now looking at other markets in Florida. Atlantic Coast Financial Corp. announced it is selling off its Garden City, Ga., branch to Queensborough National Bank & Trust Co. That will leave its Atlantic Coast Bank subsidiary with eight branches in the Jacksonville area and just three in Georgia. While that move would suggest a renewed focus on Jacksonville, ACFC also said it is expanding its reach in Florida by opening commercial banking and mortgage origination offices in Orlando and Tampa. “We believe continued expansion in attractive Florida markets will allow us to build our business, increase our visibility with customers and leverage our infrastructure, and we are excited by the opportunities Stephens we see in both Orlando and Tampa,” CEO John Stephens said in a news release. “The sale of our Garden City branch gives us the ability to concentrate on lending in the market area, while streamlining our retail branch operations for greater efficiency,” he said. Atlantic Coast Bank started out as a Southeast Georgia institution. The bank was actually formed in 1939 as a credit union for Georgia employees of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, a predecessor of CSX Corp. It was converted to a savings bank in 2000 and its parent company went public in 2004, as it put more emphasis on growing in the Northeast Florida market. The company moved its headquarters to Jacksonville in 2011.
The 18th floor of the Barnett Bank building could become lofts, one- or two-bedroom units. For now, though, the penthouse is more of a greenhouse.
There’s a hole in the middle of the Barnett Bank building. Seventeen holes, actually. One right after the next, starting on the second floor up to the 18th. The alignment creates an almost hypnotizing pattern for those who peer upward through the historic Downtown building. The holes weren’t for show, though. They had purpose for a former developer. Instead of piping out debris through windows, the thought was to push it down the holes and have it come crashing down into a pile. The idea worked. The plan for the building didn’t. It was scrapped, another stop in a series of starts. When developer Steve Atkins bought Project
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Howell’s mantra: Focus local, think global
By Carole Hawkins Staff Writer
The first time Missi Howell tried to travel afar was when she was 5 years old. She’d gotten into an argument with her two older sisters, who were babysitting her. She packed a little overnight suitcase with pajamas, a blanket and a stuffed animal and walked nearly all the way to the city bus stop. Her sisters secretly followed. Only the memory of seeing her
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mother pay bus fare turned her back — Howell had brought no money. From that day, Howell realized she had no fear of the outside world and one day she was going to go there. Today an agent with Watson Realty, Howell chose this — her second career — for the flexibility and income it would give her to travel. She and her husband have vacationed overseas every year since 2000. On the job, she’s also tied to
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the world. One of Northeast Florida’s most recognizable specialists in global customers, Howell this year finishes her third term as head of the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors’ Global Council. Beginning next year, she’ll rise to the state level, serving as vice chair and after that, chair of the Florida Realtors’ Global Business Committee. A necklace she wears has “wanderlust” inscribed on one
side and a compass on the other. “Ever since I can remember I have loved exploring and learning about other geographies and cultures,” she said. Home to international hotspots Miami and Orlando, Florida is the country’s top market for global buyers. In Jacksonville, though, they make up only 3 percent of transactions. Howell admitted she picks up only one or two foreign-national clients per year. “They’re not my bread and but-
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ter,” she said. But expand the definition of “global” and global training becomes more relevant. A global buyer can be a foreign-born client who is buying his second or third home. Or a second-generation buyer who is still embedded in his or her family’s heritage. Knowing how to work with diverse cultures is just a matter of good professionalism, Howell said. Howell also enjoys the perks of Howell continued on Page A-11
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