Daily Record Financial News &
Friday, April 22, 2016
Vol. 103, No. 115 • One Section
Curry kills payments to illegal fund
$234,000 to $187,000. In addition, Curry asked that the city’s lawsuit over the legality of the fund board’s creation of the Senior Staff Voluntary Retirement Plan be dropped. Curry asked Gabriel for the opinion April 14, seeking it “in light of the City’s pension reform efforts.” The mayor is pushing a halfcent sales tax extension to pay down the city’s more than $280 billion worth of unfunded pension liabilities in the coming year. He wants voters to decide that in August, but said Thursday the legal opinion and his decision aren’t about “taking a hardline stance” to help sell the measure. “This action is about protecting taxpayers,” said Curry. “It’s about doing the right thing.” Council members have wrestled with the issue since 2012, when former General Counsel Cindy Laquidara opined the pension fund board didn’t have the authority to create the special plan. Gabriel’s opinion issued Wednesday strongly backs that up. “I think he’s taking the right course of action,” said council continued on
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BofA office park to be ‘Gramercy Woods’ Owners of the Bank of America office park in South Jacksonville are repositioning the 90-acre business campus as Gramercy Woods, reflecting the property’s move toward additional tenants. New York-based Gramercy Property Trust Inc. has put two of the former Bank of America buildings on the market for lease, with one of them already landing a two-floor tenant, Tax Defense Network. As those buildings are leased, Bank of America wants to consolidate into the remaining buildings. Gramercy, through GPT GIG Portfolio Owner LLC, has applied to the city to modify the project’s Planned Unit Development to erect several signs at the 9000 Southside Blvd. property. The campus will be posted as Gramercy Woods, 9000 Southside Blvd., with the GW logo. The Rogers Towers law firm is the applicant for the modification. Rolland, DelValle & Bradley is the architect for the project.
Public
Don Mullinax
Longtime banker finds business niche in extending lines of credit between sales Allan Rothschild, managing director of the ownership LLC, said by email the company “is not at liberty to comment at this time.” Bank of America has occupied the park through predecessor companies since it was built for Jacksonville-based Barnett Banks Inc. in 1989. The campus has expanded to almost 1.24 million square feet of space. The Jacksonville Operations Center consists of seven office buildings, two parking garages, a school and child care center and an amenity building. Gramercy seeks approval for up to two campus-entry monument signs along Southside Boulevard and several other signs. It wants to identify owners and Mathis continued on Page A-4
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It gives Realtors an option, so they don’t have to park their business on the sidelines until another transaction comes along. Don Mullinax On extending credit to Realtors
By Carole Hawkins Staff Writer Restaurants, gift stores, trucking companies and even builders can apply for a line of credit to keep their businesses running when receivables hit a dead zone. Realtors? It turns out they can, too. Once a home under contract passes inspection, the Realtor’s pending commission becomes an asset, Don Mullinax said. His company, Commission Express, is able to lend against it. “It gives Realtors an option, so they don’t have to park their business on the sidelines until another transaction comes along,” Mullinax said. For sales closing within 30 days,
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Photo by Carole Hawkins
Pension
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When City Council decided in February to indefinitely postpone a settlement about John Keane’s hefty retirement payments, it left the door slightly open for more negotiations. On Thursday, Mayor Lenny Curry essentially kicked that door off the hinges. Armed with a legal opinion from General Counsel Jason Gabriel, Curry ordered the city stop paying into a benefit plan illegally created by the Police and Fire Pension Fund Curry board. The plan has three members: Keane, the fund’s longtime administrator who retired last year; the widow of former deputy director Dick Cohee; and a fund employee. Instead, Curry wants the three to receive retirement payments as if they were in the General Employees Pension Plan. For Keane, it means a drop in annual payments from about
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Bridging gap for Realtors
Keane’s annual pension will drop by about $47,000 By David Chapman Staff Writer
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Commission Express will advance up to 82 percent of the commission to the Realtor. After closing, the Realtor pays the money back, plus a 9.7 percent fee on the amount borrowed. It evens out the Realtor’s cash intake, so he or she can continue to market and pay other business expenses while waiting for the close. Mullinax is conservative in the way he lends. He’s seen companies like his on the Internet that will advance money as soon as the Realtor has a listing. “You kind of scratch your head. What happens if the property doesn’t sell?” he said. Mullinax though, is comfortable with real estate finance and Mullinax continued on Page A-2
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