FREE
Swanky Orlando lounge buys building next to Florida Theatre
June 28-July 4, 2018
PAGE 3
jaxdailyrecord.com
JACKSONVILLE
Record & Observer Warehouse proposed across from Amazon
REALJACKSONVILLE ESTATE
Record & Observer
NorthPoint Development plans 553,000-squarefoot speculative facility in North Jacksonville.
JACKSONVILLE
Record & Observer WHO’S BY KAREN BRUNE MATHIS EDITOR
BUYING UP Record & Observer BROOKLYN? JACKSONVILLE
Photo by David Cawton
Park Street at Jackson Street in Brooklyn, the neighborhood where a group of companies has spent more than $4.4 million to acquire property.
A group of companies, all linked to the same law firm, has spent millions acquiring the vacant, run-down and aging properties in the neighborhood on the edge of Downtown.
BY DAVID CAWTON STAFF WRITER
A
group of companies is quietly purchasing property in Brooklyn. Since 2014, the group has amassed entire blocks along Park Street, between Forest Street and Myrtle Avenue, totaling at least 11.6 acres. The investment so far tops $4.4 million. Altogether, 13 companies have invested in Brooklyn. Each is tied to three other Jacksonville-based groups — Contega Business Services LLC, North Platt LLC and Ascona LLC. The common denominator is a Jacksonville law firm. All share an address with the Driver, McAfee,
Hawthorne & Diebenow PLLC law firm at One Independent Drive, Suite 1200, in the Wells Fargo Center. Attorney Steve Diebenow said his client was not interested in discussing the purchases. “I am afraid you are going to have to write from the public records,” he said. While the buyer’s identity is private, what is planned is surfacing. “They’re looking to do mixed-use development similar to what’s started in Brooklyn already,” said Downtown Investment Authority Chief Executive Officer Aundra Wallace. That means more residential, retail and office space, he said. “Not like you see already in the area,” he said of potential office tenants. “But more tailored to the SEE BROOKLYN, PAGE 10
A Missouri-based company wants to develop an almost 553,000-square-foot warehouse in North Jacksonville. NorthPoint Development, based in Kansas City, proposes to build the center at the Park 295 industrial park. No tenant is identified, indicating it is a speculative building. “It is NorthPoint’s plan to deliver a 553,000-square-foot speculative building in the first quarter of 2019,” said Ladson Montgomery, senior vice president and principal of Newmark Grubb Phoenix Realty Group. Newmark Grubb Phoenix Realty Group represents the current ownership and is working on the deal with NorthPoint. Montgomery deferred further comment until the property is purchased. The 167-acre business park is along Interstate 295 at southwest Duval and Armsdale roads, across the interstate from the Amazon. com fulfillment center that handles small consumer items. The site is about 2.5 miles south of Jacksonville International Airport. It is west along I-295 from the Dames Point and Blount Island marine terminals. A city Concurrency Reservation Certificate signed Tuesday describes the NorthPoint project as a high cube warehouse, which is a distribution center primarily used for the storage or consolidation of goods before distribution SEE WAREHOUSE, PAGE 5
The Cawton Report: Anna Brosche reflects on year as president PAGE 6
Web.com CEO: Buyout is positive
The Mathis Report: Tenant looking at closed Best Buy space. PAGE 4
The company’s largest shareholder sells its shares. PAGE 8
OBSERVER MEDIA GROUP
VOLUME 1, NO. 4 • ONE SECTION