Investor Carl Stoudemire said Wednesday his $6 million Jacksonville investment in a five-building project on 12 acres at the EastPark Office and Industrial Park was driven by its proximity to the St. Johns Town Center.
"This is really the Town Center area, so I am going to lease the office and showroom and warehouse space and be a part of the growth of that area," said Stoudemire.
The 600-acre EastPark property began developing in 1980 at Beach Boulevard and St. Johns Bluff Road.
Since then, the Interstate 295 East Beltway was completed near the park and the St. Johns Town Center shopping and lifestyle complex was completed south at I-295 and Butler Boulevard.
Stoudemire said he would market the property as EastPark at Town Center.
"This is part of Town Center now and you can be in here and be one mile from the Town Center, without the traffic. That is what so intrigued me," he said, referring to the heavy traffic that develops around the regionally popular shopping complex.
The EastPark property also is located between two colleges — sitting directly south of Florida State College at Jacksonville's South Campus and just north of the University of North Florida.
A limited liability company led by Stoudemire paid $6 million Monday for the 12 acres, including five buildings and a parking lot, at EastPark.
The 2013 Central Park IV LLC, formed April 2 and whose managing member is Stoudemire, bought the property from NW-EastPark LLC, in care of Nationwide Life Insurance Co. in Ohio.
Central Park IV also took out a $2.75 million mortgage from TD Bank on Monday.
The property comprises three parcels.
• A 4.99-acre parcel with two warehouse buildings at 11655 and 11657 Central Parkway. Duval County Property Appraiser records show the warehouse-flex buildings, constructed in 2000, are 29,452 square feet and 40,700 square feet. The 2012 taxable value on the property is $2.6 million.
• A 4.93-acre parcel with three warehouse-flex buildings at 11760, 11762 and 11764 Marco Beach Drive. All were built in 1997. Property appraiser records show they are 27,355 square feet, 27,303 square feet and 24,501 square feet in size. The 2012 taxable value is $3.2 million.
• A 2.11-acre parking lot with a taxable value of $426,049.
Phoenix Realty Group brokers Ladson Montgomery, J.R.
Richardson, Bryan Bartlett and Bobby Gatling represented Nationwide in the deal.
Montgomery said his team will continue to represent
Stoudemire's property as the leasing and management representative.
He said Stoudemire represented his side of the deal.
Montgomery said the five buildings, known as EastPark Center, comprise about 140,000 square feet and are 74 percent leased. He refers to its new name as EastPark Center at Town Center.
He said tenants include BAE Systems, 26.2 with Donna, and others.
"The goal is to continue to provide good quality space in a great location with easy access to Southside and Town Center and take advantage of the growth of the Town Center," Montgomery said.
He said Stoudemire already owns two buildings, comprising 60,000 square feet of space, in the park along St. Johns Bluff Road.
"It allowed him to expand his holdings," he said.
Montgomery also said the deal was "truly an investment sale. It was arm's length, which is nice to see in the marketplace," explaining that it was not a distressed sale.
Property records show that in November, the three properties were deeded to NW-Eastpark LLC by Tolemac Inc. The
deed was given in lieu of foreclosure.
The deed consideration was $5.19 million.
Winn-Dixie says some jobs lost, some created, in logistics transition
Winn-Dixie spokesman Brian Wright said Wednesday that some of the company's support center jobs will be eliminated, and others will be created, in the logistics transition to C&S Wholesale Grocers.
Bi-Lo Holding LLC, the parent company of Jacksonville-based Bi-Lo Winn-Dixie, said Tuesday that C&S would provide warehouse, transportation and most procurement services for all 480 Winn-Dixie stores in addition to the 206 Bi-Lo stores it already serves.
It said the distribution jobs would be transitioned to C&S.
"Within our store support center, there is a smaller number of positions that support the distribution centers," Wright said in an email.
"Some of these positions will be eliminated and others will be created – all with varying transition times," he said.
"We've already notified individuals in those positions and have encouraged anyone impacted by this change to apply to any open positions for which they are interested and qualified."
Winn-Dixie has not said how many employees will be moved to C&S or how many jobs would be affected in the store support center.
Wright would not comment on additional details, saying that staffing is a private matter between the company and its associates.
The two store chains merged in March 2012 and Bi-Lo moved its headquarters to Winn-Dixie's corporate offices in Jacksonville.
The news release Tuesday said that as part of the C&S agreement, employees in Winn-Dixie's six distribution centers and the functions that support them will become employees of C&S "with minimal change to existing associates or their wages and benefits."
The transition is expected to be completed by year-end.
After media reports that no jobs would be lost, Wright sent the clarification Wednesday, saying the release announced that "C&S will operate our six distribution facilities. We also communicated that the distribution center associates will become employees of C&S. This was the intended scope of yesterday's release."
Sawgrass Country Club refurbishing golf course
The St. Johns River Water Management District was notified that Sawgrass Country Club plans to refurbish nine holes of its golf course each summer over the next three summers.
An email to the district from engineer Doug Miller of England-Thims & Miller Inc. said work began this week on the west nine holes.
The work consists of re-grassing, minor re-grading, bulkhead replacement, bunker reconstruction and drainage system improvements.
Sawgrass Country Club, in St. Johns County, features an oceanfront resort, including 27 holes of championship golf, a racquet club and "a pristine uncrowded beach fronting our $7 million beach club," according to its sawgrasscountryclub.com site.
The site says the club" has been synonymous with great golf ever since it played host to The Players Championship in 1977."
"The premier PGA Tour event was played on our East-West Course through 1981, when it moved to its nearby current site at the Tournament Players Club (TPC) at Sawgrass," it says.
The golf course was designed by Arnold Palmer Course Design architect Ed Seay, according to the site.
It also says Sawgrass has been included in Golf Magazine's Top 100 Courses in the U.S., Golf Digest's Best Courses in Florida, and Golf Week Magazine's Top 100 Courses in America.
According to the site, the three nines provide three different rotations and include five tee boxes to accommodate players of all abilities.
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