Speculation no doubt will heat up now that the Skinner family is harvesting timber and grading land along Gate Parkway.
The family has been cutting timber at other sites, but this job includes harvesting on a 29-acre site between the PHH and FBI buildings.
The significance of that is the site has long been one of speculation that Deutsche Bank might want it for development of a Southside campus.
It’s not far from the five-building Meridian Business Park, which the bank leases for the bulk of its expanding Jacksonville functions.
The Skinners also submitted site plans to the city for timber harvesting on 18 acres at southwest Gate Parkway and Deerwood Park Boulevard, next to Meridian.
Chip Skinner, a member of the family, said the activity is timbering, “as we have been doing on all our other properties.”
He referred questions regarding Deutsche Bank to the company, whose response didn’t specifically address the Gate Parkway sites but did sound intriguing for economic developers.
Deutsche Bank is a major Jacksonville employer, with at least 1,400 area workers and plans for up to 1,800 by 2016.
Last week, the Germany-based bank announced a major strategic shift to refocus its global footprint over the next five years. It said more details would be released within 90 days.
Jacksonville leaders are paying attention.
While Deutsche Bank said it would reduce the number of countries or local presences by 10-15 percent, it also said it would actively invest “in markets and urban centers which are most relevant to international and multinational clients, play to the bank’s existing strengths, and offer the most attractive growth prospects for the bank’s core businesses.”
That makes Deutsche Bank’s Monday statement of great interest.
“We will continue to strategically invest in the region across all business divisions and infrastructure functions and further focus our efforts as an active member of the Jacksonville community,” said Deutsche Bank spokeswoman Catherine Wooters.
“Jacksonville continues to be a critical component of our location footprint in the Americas,” she said.
Jerry Mallot, president of the JAXUSA Partnership economic development division of the JAX Chamber, said Monday the company has had “a very successful experience” in Jacksonville.
“We are confident that Jacksonville will be a key part of their future development,” he said.
Piccadilly slated for Nu-Well Physicians
Arlington-area businesses in the Regency area continue revolving and evolving as one of the area’s oldest suburban neighborhoods deals with changing needs.
The former Piccadilly Cafeteria at 200 Monument Road is one of the latest structures targeted for renewal.
Nu-Well Physicians, owned by North American Physician Consultants LLC, is shown on the city permitting website as a tenant for the 14,000-square-foot structure, which is held by the Regency Square Mall ownership and sits just north of the regional shopping center.
While no one involved would comment, records show the venture would provide what appear to be nutritional blends.
In October, North American Physician Consultants applied for a trademark for Physicians Fresh, whose goods and services include medically oriented products that include juice-based products.
A trademark search for Nu-Well Physicians finds it was filed March 19. Its goods and services include fruit and vegetable juices.
North American Physician Consultants LLC was formed in October, state records show. Its initial registered agent was Dr. Saumil Oza. In January, Jacksonville-based Axioun Strategic Planning LLC became the registered agent.
Axioun and Tyson Ventures LLC, whose address is Oza’s, are the managing members.
Oza is chief of cardiology at St. Vincent’s Medical Center Riverside. He referred questions Monday to Axioun, which works with companies that want to grow, sell, turn around, expand or find equity. It is led by Pat Mulvihill, James Johnson and Patricia Johnson.
Mulvihill said Monday he could not comment.
Axioun says its typical client base includes corporations with a strategy to grow through acquisitions or repositioning; old-line family-owned operations that are assessing growth or exit strategies; private equity funds that are investing in new ventures, evaluating turnaround situations or have reached the exit cycle of their investment; and, entities that are assessing international business opportunities, including entry into the U.S. market.
Axioun’s clients also are typically in aerospace and defense; business-to-business services; hospitality and medical tourism; life science; logistics; manufacturing; technology; and transportation.
Register General Contractor LLC generated a building-permit application number online, but no plans were submitted as of Monday. The permit application, in temporary status, indicates plans to renovate the former Piccadilly building at a job cost of $210,000. The site is taped off.
That work will include remodeling to add administrative and receiving offices and to update plumbing and electrical systems for a new business.
Steadman joining Danis
Gordon Steadman, a 15-year executive at Elkins Constructors Inc., left the company April 29 to join Danis Building Construction as vice president of business development. He was vice president of development at Elkins.
Steadman will join Danis on Monday.
Steadman also is past president and director of the Associated Builders and Contractors of Florida First Coast Chapter and a past president of the NAIOP Commercial Real Estate Development Association Northeast Florida chapter.
He’s a Jacksonville native and a graduate of Robert E. Lee High School. He earned a bachelor’s degree in communications with an emphasis on public relations and organizational management from Valdosta State University. He completed the Executive Education Program at University of Pennsylvania’s The Wharton School.
(904) 356-2466