Daily Record FINANCIAL NEWS &
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2016
Vol. 103, No. 220 • oNe SectioN
Bottling up anticipation
Downtown distillery ready for public to see, taste its vodka By David Chapman, Staff Writer
Scott Kennelly and David Cohen, two founders of Manifest Distilling, will open their facility Downtown in the Sports Complex on Sept. 25.
Photos by David Chapman
The founders of Manifest Distilling weren’t exactly in the mood for vodka by early Thursday morning. David Cohen, Scott Kennelly and Trey Mills spent much of Wednesday evening bottling the first batch of potato vodka at their Downtown facility. Sure, it was a milestone among many that come with jumping through months of regulatory hoops — permits, floor plans, leases and more — to make it to that point. But there was a slight mishap. The process was going well, the new equipment was working until a gasket blew. Vodka everywhere. On the walls, on the ceiling, on their clothes. A fine mist of potato vodka filled the air. Given the situation, though, panic didn’t ensue. Just laughter. “We just all started cracking up,” said Cohen. Then they grabbed towels to start wiping the place and themselves down before fixing the problem and getting back to work. The opening of Downtown’s first distillery Sept. 25 should go a little smoother. It will be the first chance for the public to taste the group’s mission to bring small batch vodka to the area, just in time for the next Jacksonville Jaguars home game. Football fans looking to imbibe will be able to sample Manifest’s initial offering — potato vodka — and buy tailgate packs to make their own mixed drinks. There will be tours of the 9,000-squarefoot facility that features a retail store, tasting area and production facility. It’s the culmination of almost three years of work started by Cohen, a Jacksonville native who went to Los Angeles to work in documentary filmmaking before returning to his hometown. His family had a background in the hospitality industry and he was inspired by Matthew Crawford’s “Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work” about the resurgence of craftsmanship and working with your hands. Distilling was a fit, but it meant a lot of learning. Cohen went to different distilleries across the country to become knowledgeable through internships and conferences. It’s a hard industry to make money in, he was told. But he’s the type of guy who has to see for himself. MANIFEST CONTINUED ON PAGE A-3
Barrels of rye whiskey comprising organic rye berries and red winter wheat were crafted at a Chicago distillery last September. It’s the first batch Manifest Distillery founders created and will be available to the public in late 2017.
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University Club will become offices
Closure of the private 48-year-old University Club of Jacksonville opens the door for prime room-with-a-view office space in one of the city’s signature towers. Dallas-based ClubCorp Holdings Inc. told members Wednesday night it would close the club on the top two floors of the 28-story Riverplace Tower on Dec. 20, citing but not elaborating on “a business decision.” That prompted building owner Lingerfelt CommonWealth Partners to make a decision of its own — to convert the floors into about 22,500 square feet of premier office space. “It’s a really, really good opportunity for us,” said John Mason, senior vice president of asset management for the Glen Allen, Va.-based group. Leasing agent Kaycee Gardner said Thursday the club’s location would be “the best office space in town” as it provides 360-degree views of Downtown, San Marco and beyond. “It’s going to be very unique space,” said Gardner, senior vice president with JLL, which handles the building’s leasing and marketing on behalf of Lingerfelt CommonWealth. It also is a structure without a lot of fullfloor availability. Other than the club, just one full floor remains available for lease — the sixth floor, with 17,500 square feet. Oliver Barakat, senior vice president of the CBRE Inc. real estate firm, said the building has had success leasing to national and local companies. Mason and Gardner said the tower is 80 percent leased. Tenants include Ameris Bank, the anchor tenant whose name is on top of the building, as well as Adecco Group North America, Macquarie Group, Gatlin Development Co., the Rogers Towers law firm and, soon to move in, St. John & Partners. Gate Petroleum Co. sold the property to Lingerfelt CommonWealth Partners in late 2014. It was built in 1966 as the Gulf Life Tower at 1301 Riverplace Blvd. MATHIS
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JEA proposing base electric rate decrease
By Max Marbut, Staff Writer Part of your electric bill would go up. Part of it would go down. Ultimately, a proposal JEA will present its board Tuesday would save customers monthly while helping the authority pay down debt and deal with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan. That plan is forcing utilities nationwide to shift toward natural gas, nuclear and solar energy generation. “It’s a comprehensive financial plan,” said Ryan Wannemacher,
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JEA director of financial planning and analysis. The utility is required to evaluate its rate structure every five years and adjust the base rate to reflect the true cost of providing electricity. The latest study showed the base rate, which includes costs other than fuel, should be slightly increased for residential customers and somewhat decreased for most commercial customers. On the fuel charge side of the bill, all customers would see a reduction. That would eliminate the annual
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or semiannual fuel charge rebates JEA has been issuing to customers totaling about $170 million the past four years. Instead, there would be a monthly decrease in the charge. According to the proposal, the net bill reduction for a residential customer would be 0.2 percent, or about $1 per month. A large demand commercial customer could see a reduction of 4.9 percent, about $3,500 a month. Another part of the plan is paying off $190 million of JEA’s bond debt ahead of schedule, which would reduce principal and help the utility refinance remaining
debt at a lower interest rate. Wannemacher said if the plan is implemented, it would reduce JEA’s revenue requirement in the next eight years by more than $100 million and protect customers from a base rate increase for five years. The proposal also includes an element that would allow JEA, in conjunction with the JAX Chamber’s JAXUSA Partnership economic development division, to negotiate a lower electric rate as an incentive for a commercial customer who is considering setting up an operation in the utility’s Northeast Florida service area.
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That could happen only if the prospect is being offered a lower electric rate by another city and the negotiated rate would be “economically positive” to JEA’s existing customers. The proposal will be presented at noon Tuesday at JEA headquarters, Downtown at 21 W. Church St. If the plan is approved by the board, there will be a public hearing — and likely a vote — when the board meets Oct. 15. mmarbut@jaxdailyrecord.com (904) 356-2466
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