Brian Shell and Jason Finley, co-owners at GO Auto Recycling in Northwest Jacksonville at 12270 New Kings Road, bought the salvage yard 31/2 years ago, improving sales and boosting employment from four people to 30 people.
Shell, talking about the company's growth, said the next venture is in West Jacksonville with partner Mervis Industries Inc., creating another 10-15 jobs in the first phase.
Property records show Mervis paid $2 million for 50 acres along Commonwealth Avenue, west of Interstate 295 and Pickettville Road.
"We've run out of room and we think this has a lot of potential," Shell said. "We needed additional facilities and that piece of property was zoned" for their use.
The New Kings Road operation encompasses 11 acres, records show.
Mervis bought the Commonwealth Avenue property Nov. 5 from Florida Rock Properties Inc. Shell said he and Finley will have more information after the first of the year because they still are completing regulatory reviews.
Site plans filed with the City and the St. Johns River Water Management District show a three-phase development on the property.
Shell expects to break ground by the first of the year and open an auto recycling operation there next year that would employ up to 15 people in the first phase. They would start the first phase "and then see what else we can do."
Mervis is an Illinois-based family- owned recycling company that buys and sells materials and operates in four states. President Adam Mervis said last week the company would not be putting its core business, a full-service scrap yard, on the site and referred questions to GO Auto Recycling.
"We have a real estate investment portion of our business. This for us is much more of a real estate investment rather than an operating business," Mervis said.
Shell said he and Finley are the operating partners in the project.
"They were interested in expanding their line of recycling into the auto side," Shell said of Mervis. "Jason and I have run the business down here and have partnered with Mervis from the beginning on the GO Auto brand."
Shell said the first phase at the new site represents a $4.5 million to $5 million investment, including the purchase price.
"There is a lot of opportunity for us," he said. "With a piece of land zoned heavy industrial, there are a lot of uses we can do in the recycling area. We wanted to find a piece of property with the room to do that."
Shell said GO Auto Recycling also will remain in operation along New Kings Road.
"Auto recycling in general is countercyclical," he said, explaining it is not necessarily affected by the economy.
"It's not discretionary that you wreck your car. You don't choose to have your motor go bad or damage your car," he said.
Shell said insurance covers a portion of vehicle damage, but people "are looking for an alternative to buy new parts."
Shell said he and Finley don't approach the business like a junkyard. "We use a lot of data and a lot of statistics," he said.
Shell cited the company's large inventory and its "significant" business with major repair facilities and dealerships in North Florida.
As the Daily Record reported last week, Mervis bought the property and plans were filed to build a surface water management system to serve a 50-acre development. Bueme Engineering Inc. of Green Cove Springs is the project agent.
Site improvement documents show development of the first two phases will use 33.2 acres and the third phase will be 4.3 acres. The conservation area is shown as 12.5 acres for a total of 50 acres.
A closer look at the site improvement plans shows a first phase that includes a 7,650-square-foot building and a second phase with a 19,200-square-foot building. The bulk of the developable land consists of recycling and storage yards.
The New Kings Road site is about 9 miles north of the Commonwealth Avenue property.
The goautorecycling.com website says GO Auto Recycling offers recycled original equipment manufacturer auto parts, including engines, transmissions, body parts, sheet metal, truck beds, bed liners, wheels, seats, radios and new and used head lights, tail lamps and radiators.
GO Auto Recycling is part of Team PRP, which stands for premium recycled parts, a group of independent auto recyclers.
Shell, Finley, Adam Mervis and Michael Mervis are listed as managers in the articles of organization for Go Pull-It LLC, filed in September with the Florida Department of State. The mailing and street address for the limited liability company is shown as 12270 New Kings Road.
In May, Shell, Finley and manager Michael Stanley added Adam Mervis and Mervis 2006 LLC as managers to Green Oak Investments LLC, which does business as GO Auto Recycling.
Shell and Finley first applied in May 2009 to do business in Florida as Green Oak Investments LLC, listing the original date of organization as 2006 in Delaware. It listed the nature of business in Florida as auto parts and scrap metal.
According to mervis.com, William Mervis and his sons opened scrap yards in the late 1920s in Arcola, Ill., and Veedersburg, Ind. "Since then the scrap business has progressed from basic handling of iron, metals, hides, rags, and paper to the total recycling of many industrial byproducts," it said.
Mervis.com said the company has grown into a four-state network of 16 corporate divisions and eight affiliated companies, with operations in 12 cities throughout the Midwest and in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Jacksonville is not shown on the website.
"Throughout the nation the Mervis family has put new life into unused land and abandoned facilities, creating innovative ways to add services and avoid waste," the website says.
Mervis.com says the company "specializes in creating complete scrap management programs for our industrial customers."
It says its services range from in-plant training programs to the placement of recycling receptacles. Mervis uses in-plant hoppers, roll-offs, semitrailers and dump trailers to collect and remove scrap.
"Mervis stands ready as a truly full-service provider for iron, metal, plastics, fiber and all other recyclable products," it says, also saying it works with its large industrial customers to develop customized recycling programs for plastics, metals, electronics, fiber and used machinery and equipment.
"In meeting the specific requests of our industrial partners, we have often built new facilities, expanded into new regions, and reached new heights in state-of-the-art processing," it says.
220 Riverside foundation being installed
The City gave its OK for Doster Construction Co. Inc. to put in the foundation for the 220 Riverside apartment and retail project. It's a $4.7 million foundation project. NAI Hallmark Partners, Bristol Development and MAA are developing the seven-story, 294-unit multifamily rental community around an elevated central courtyard. It will include 18,000 square feet of retail space, a community area and other amenities. It should be completed in the summer of 2014.
Cass Information build-out approved
Build-out was approved for Cass Information Systems' space in the Deerwood Park office center, clearing the way toward the company's relocation there during the last week of the month.
The City OK'd a permit for Dav-Lin Interior Contractors to renovate the space at 10401 Deerwood Park Blvd. at a project cost of $320,000.
Gary Langfitt, president of Expense Management Services with Cass Information Systems, said in mid-November the company would move its Waste Reduction Consultants business during the last week of December from Jacksonville Beach to the Capital Plaza at Deerwood Park office center.
He said the company has 44 employees and is planning for 63 in the new offices.
"We're growing out of our Beach location," he said.
Langfitt said the Jacksonville operations will gradually take on the Cass Information Systems name, with some services continuing as Waste Reduction.
The building permit application shows Dav-Lin Interior Contractors will renovate about 9,700 square feet of space on the third floor of a four-story building at 10401 Deerwood Park Blvd.
Cass Information Systems says it provides expense management and related business intelligence services. It announced Jan. 9 that it bought Jacksonville-based Waste Reduction Consultants, which provides environmental expense-management services.
Erickson speaking to ACG reception
The Association for Corporate Growth North Florida Chapter plans its holiday reception and program 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday at The River Club. Dick Erickson, founder and owner of Sun Tire, is the keynote speaker. The event is a fundraiser for the Wounded Warrior Project. For information or to register, visit acg.org/northflorida/events.
UNF commencement to be streamed online
Easy Edit Video President David Zuckerman said his company will be providing the University of North Florida's commencement ceremonies Friday live on the Internet and feeding the event on the Web. It's the first time the ceremonies will be streamed online, he said.
"The ceremony will be streamed in real time and is designed so multiple users can go to the same site simultaneously," he said. "Anyone can watch it live, anywhere they choose, without having to go to the UNF arena."
Zuckerman said UNF has two fall commencement ceremonies, one at 11 a.m. for the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Computing, Engineering and Construction, and one at
3 p.m. for the Brooks College of Health, Coggin College of Business and the College of Education and Human Services.
To view the commencement ceremony, visit unf.edu/commencement and link to "Commencement/LiveStream."
After commencement, the ceremony will be archived on the server for about two weeks, he said.
Family Dollar under way on Monument Road
The gas station at 1556 Monument Road was demolished in preparation for a Family Dollar store. The demolition permit was $80,000. The permit approved Tuesday shows plans for HJB Construction will build a 8,320-square-foot Family Dollar on the site at a project cost of $350,000.
Addison Commercial announces tenants
• Addison Commercial Real Estate Inc. announced a lease for 14,420 square feet of office-warehouse space in Interstation Distribution Center, at 8475 Western Way, for CopyFax. Addison represented CopyFax and Patrick Thornton of Hallmark Partners represented the landlord, EastGroup Properties LP.
• Addison also announced a lease for 6,933 square feet of office-warehouse space in Avenues North Commerce Park at 9655 Florida Mining Blvd. W. for Atlas Copco Compressors Inc. Addison represented Atlas Copco and Bart Hinson of Colliers International represented the landlord, Group IV Avenues LLC.
CoreLogics reports higher prices
The CoreLogics research firm reports Jacksonville home prices, including distressed sales, increased by 2.4 percent in October compared to October 2011 and rose 1.6 percent over the month.
Excluding distressed sales, year-over-year prices fell 0.6 percent in October and dropped 2.9 percent from September.
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