Academy Sports & Outdoors was cleared for construction in Southside at 9041 Southside Blvd. in space vacated by Circuit City and Linens 'n Things.
T.D. Farrell Construction Inc. is the contractor for the $1.01 million project, which will create a 78,150-square-foot Academy Sports & Outdoors.
As reported in March, Academy Sports & Outdoors plans to open in the Southside Square shopping center. The property owner is Shamrock Land Trust LLC, whose trustee is Property Management Support.
Academy Sports & Outdoors has area stores at 11901 Atlantic Blvd. in Jacksonville and at 661 Blanding Blvd. in Orange Park.
The Texas-based company operates more than 160 stores in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.
The academy.com site describes Academy Sports & Outdoors as one of the nation's largest sporting goods and outdoor stores. It is owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P., a global investment firm, and is led by CEO and President Rodney Faldyn.
Academy recent opened a 71,000-square-foot store in Madison, Ala., that employs 150 people.
SunGard AvantGard construction OK'd
Office space is under renovation for SunGard AvantGard LLC in the Prudential Building at 701 San Marco Blvd.
The City approved a construction permit for Tenant Contractors Inc. to build-out 28,580 square feet of space on the 11th floor at a project cost of $850,000.
The business software and technology provider intends to move from 4901 Belfort Road, Suite 160, to the space. The company applied for $1.02 million in City and state incentives to create 170 jobs and consolidate its Jacksonville operations in the move. City Council approved its portion of the incentives.
SunGard AvantGard has 80 employees and wants to add 170 in an expansion of its hosting and managed services function, according to documents filed with the incentives request.
The company is a subsidiary of SunGard Data Systems Inc., which was organized in 1982.
SunGard Data, based in Wayne, Pa., ranked No. 480 on the Fortune 500 list for 2012, with annual revenue of $4.5 billion. The company did not place on the Fortune 500 list for 2013, but first-quarter revenue totaled $1 billion, according to the documents.
According to its sungard.com website, the company has more than 17,000 employees and serves about 25,000 customers in more than 70 countries through software and processing solutions for financial services, education and the public sector.
For the expansion, the company requested $1.02 million in the form of a Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund, with the City obligated to pay no more than $204,000, or 20 percent. The state would pay the remaining $816,000, or 80 percent.
The funds would be used to offset a portion of costs for the company to consolidate and expand within the Prudential Building, according to the documents.
SunGard estimates it will spend $4.4 million in private capital investment over the next five years to increase the employee base from 80 to 250.
The average annual wage of the created jobs would be $54,719 plus a benefit package valued at $12,200.
The Prudential Building is within an Enterprise Zone, which allows the company to receive an additional $3,000 for each job it creates in addition to the tax refund of $3,000 per job, for a total of $6,000 per job.
The company has until Dec. 31, 2016, to create the jobs.
Fanatics renovations continue
Fanatics Inc. won approval for a $190,000 renovation at its 6800 Southpoint Parkway customer center. Williams & Rowe Co. Inc. is the contractor for the project, recently approved by the City.
The project follows the recently approved $600,000 renovation of 21,499 square feet, also by Williams & Rowe Co., at the building.
Jacksonville-based Fanatics Inc. is an online retailer of officially licensed sports merchandise as well as sports collectibles and memorabilia.
It says it also powers the e-commerce sites of the NFL, NBA, NHL, NASCAR and PGA along with ESPN, NBC Sports, CBS Sports, FOX Sports and more than 200 collegiate and professional team properties.
Its websites include fanatics.com, fansedge.com and mountedmemories.com.
The company's primary warehouse is in West Jacksonville at 5245 Commonwealth Ave.
Permit records show Williams & Rowe previously renovated at least 24,000 square feet of call center space for Fanatics since January 2011 at 6800 Southpoint Parkway, at construction costs exceeding $350,000.
According to a company overview at investing.businessweek.com, Fanatics engages in the online retail of sports apparel, merchandise and fan gear. It provides NCAA and college sports apparel, baseball caps, sports collectibles and memorabilia, and T-shirts. The site says the company also operates retail stores in malls.
Fanatics Inc. was formerly known as Football Fanatics Inc.
A Fanatics spokesman has said the expansion reflects a growing company. Asked about speculation that Fanatics is looking for headquarters office space, he said it was too early to comment.
Hospice Thrift opening along Beach Boulevard
The City has approved a building-permit application for the Hospice Thrift Shop to benefit Community Hospice of Northeast Florida in Southside at 11173 Beach Blvd., the former location for Maron's Furniture.
Auld & White Constructors LLC is the contractor for the $270,000 project to renovate almost 15,000 square feet of space.
The City also approved banner signs for "Northeast Florida Community Hospice Thrift Shop" and "Donation Center." Brown Enterprises is the sign contractor.
The communityhospice.com website shows that Community Hospice sells new and gently used clothing, jewelry, antiques, collectibles, furniture, ap-
pliances, housewares, books and other items at its two Community Hospice Thrift Shops.
"At 8,000 square feet each, our Beach Boulevard store in Jacksonville and our Blanding Boulevard store in Orange Park are mini-department stores, selling new and gently used merchandise at reasonable prices," it says.
The existing Beach Boulevard shop is at 10771 Beach Blvd., No. 406. The Orange Park store is at 680 Blanding Blvd.
According to its website, Jacksonville-based Community Hospice of Northeast Florida was created in 1979 to provide hospice services and serves patients with advanced illnesses residing in Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties.
It provides care to about 1,300 patients a day and has served almost 82,000 adults and children since it was founded.
Marshalls renovations OK'd
The City approved renovations for the Marshalls store in Mandarin at 10993 San Jose Blvd.
R.D. Michaels Inc. is the contractor for the $75,000 project, which is a remodeling of the existing dressing rooms and interior store finishes.
Church donation
From the Immaculate Conception church bulletin:
Father O'Malley answers the phone. "Hello, is this Father O'Malley?"
"It is!"
"This is the IRS. Can you help us?"
"I can!"
"Do you know a Ted Houlihan?"
"I do!"
"Is he a member of your congregation?"
"He is!"
"Did he donate $10,000 to the church?"
"He will."
@MathisKb
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