Daily Record Financial News &
TUESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2017
Vol. 104, No. 056 • oNe SectioN
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Trader Joe’s store likely for Mandarin Location would be second in the area
Carlotta Landschoot is the oldest of William Watson Jr.’s three children. But that didn’t give her an automatic job in his real estate firm. She proved herself at an accounting firm before joining Watson Realty Corp. By Clifford Davis Contributing Writer With her soft-spoken, almost meek manner, it seems unlikely Carlotta Landschoot would become a driving force behind a sprawling real estate corporation. But her outer deference belies an inner tenacity, fondness for number-crunching and keen business sense. “I’m so glad she’s on my team,” said her brother, Bill Watson III. “When it comes right down to looking at the details, she’s a grinder and she’s going to win. I can’t imagine having to compete against her.” A 1980 graduate of The Bolles School who is executive vice president of Watson Realty Corp., she began life as an admittedly dutiful child who made her bed every morning and caused few problems for her parents. “From a parental standpoint,
Making her own pathway Landschoot had to prove herself before joining family’s real estate firm
Photo by Clifford Davis
By Karen Brune Mathis Managing Editor
the rules were a little more stringent for me,” she said, alluding to her position as the oldest of three children of William Watson Jr., the founder of the company. “Mom and Dad wouldn’t let me go to a concert. They would drive Bill to them. “I guess they were tired by that point,” she said. But the eldest Watson was tireless in his insistence that his children make their own way. For Landschoot, the drive seemed to come naturally. From college sororities to her business career, she took on leadership roles wherever she went. It’s not necessarily a drive for success, she said, but a drive to make a difference. “It makes me feel really good when someone asks me to be a part of their team because they know I’m going to do something that needs to be done,” she said. LANDSCHOOT CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
Trader Joe’s appears to be coming to Mandarin. Documents filed with building plans show the California-based grocer wants to open in Claire Lane Center at 11112 San Jose Blvd. It would be the second area location for the popular chain, which bills itself as a neighborhood grocery store with food and beverages from around the globe. The first opened in 2014 in Jacksonville Beach. The Mandarin site is at Claire Lane and San Jose Boulevard, south of Interstate 295. Sleiman Enterprises owns the shopping center, where 13,746 square feet would be renovated for Trader Joe’s. The city is reviewing plans for a shell and facade renovation to the building, including loading dock modifications, demolition and mechanical, engineering and plumbing work. It would split an existing tenant location into two spaces. Build-out specifically for Trader Joe’s would be permitted separately and include new doors, a new storefront and façade improvements, among other work. Trader Joe’s is identified in the compliance certificates filed with the building plans. A Claire Lane Center site plan on the Sleiman Enterprises website shows a large space available near the Miller’s Ale House Mandarin. Trader Joe’s opened its first area store in October 2014 at the South Beach Regional shopping center at northwest Florida A1A and Butler Boulevard in Jacksonville Beach. The privately held Monrovia, Calif.based company announced a year earlier it signed a lease to open the 12,500-squarefoot store, whose décor includes traditional Trader Joe’s elements, such as cedar-covered walls and Hawaiian motifs. Its products include more than 3,000 items under the Trader Joe’s private label. kmathis@jaxdailyrecord.com @MathisKb (904) 356-2466
Council may increase travel budget to promote interests By Max Marbut Staff Writer Since the city is spending $200,000 annually on dues for membership in three organizations, there should be some benefit. And there should be people designated to promote the city’s interests at the organizations’ functions. That’s the concept behind legislation being drafted that would provide $20,000 a year for City Council members’ travel expenses to attend meetings of the
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Florida Association of Counties, Florida League of Cities and the National Association of Counties. The organizations function as lobbying firms to make sure issues involving city and county governments are at the forefront in the state Legislature, and in the case of the national association, in Congress and the federal government. City Council President Lori Boyer, Vice President John Crescimbeni, Finance Committee Chair Anna Lopez Broche and council member Matt Schellenberg met Monday with mayor’s
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office staff, city attorneys and auditors to begin drafting legislation to appropriate the additional travel expense fund. Council members currently are entitled to up to $3,000 a year for travel. But that’s not enough to cover travel to Florida Association of Counties meetings, said Schellenberg, who’s been volunteering as Jacksonville’s representative to the group for nearly four years and using his council travel fund to cover expenses. “The additional funds would allow us to get the most out of our memberships,” he said.
Annual membership in the counties association is $100,000, for the cities league it’s $50,000 and $40,000 for the national county association, he said. “You shouldn’t spend the money for dues if you’re not going to spend the money to participate,” Schellenberg said. “If these organizations are that valuable, we need to be participating,” Crescimbeni added. Schellenberg said attending the group’s regular meetings is more than a weekend at a nice hotel in Orlando or Tampa. It’s how COUNCIL CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
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