by Sean McManus
Staff Writer
About twice a year, Richard Shaffer, head of research for CB Richard Ellis, writes and publishes a glossy, 12-page newsletter called “Jacksonville: A City of Growth on Florida’s First Coast,” a snapshot of life here from the perspective of the people who buy and sell much of the commercial real estate.
The newsletter, which also appears on the company’s website, highlights topics like transportation, population, income levels, employment, key industries, taxes, quality of life, climate, housing and education. There’s a brief paragraph on entertainment, it mentions beautiful golf courses, the “pro-business” environment, and casually in the introduction, the newsletter charts the First Coast’s population changes, which grew an average of 31 percent a decade since 1970.
And the research that CB Richard Ellis, and other local commercial real estate firms, conducts plays a pivotal role in the overall economic development efforts of Jacksonville.
“We aggregate data from property appraisers, corporations themselves, Hoovers [an online business resource] and other primary sources to make sure we have the most current and accurate data we can get,” said Shaffer, whose training in military intelligence and work doing background checks for the police department led him to a career in real estate research. “When you do it yourself, you know it’s right.”
Doug Blair, research head for Colliers Dickinson, called the relationship commercial real estate firms have with the City “cooperative and collaborative,” noting that they are all working toward the same end — to attract companies to Jacksonville. Blair, who publishes two quarterly reports — one that is fed to Colliers International as part of their firm-wide analysis and one for the local market — said that often the City will rely on data from his firm to guide decisions ranging from incentives to infrastructure.
“They know our data is honest and accurate,” said Blair. “Since we handle a lot of clients who are developers, we know the logistics of what’s going on and where, sometimes very early.”
Kirk Wendland, executive director of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission, said he depends on the efforts of local commercial real estate firms to supply his organization with data which saves him from having to buy it.
“We need to know this stuff so that we can do our job,” said Wendland, “and many local firms are very generous with the information they give us.”
Wendland said when he and other members of the JEDC are out in the field talking to corporations about Jacksonville, they need hard facts to back up what they already know — that Jacksonville is a growing market that is ripe for major growth.
“We stay away from talking about individual parcels,” said Wendland, “but generally, we can talk about what areas are moving and what is available for specific companies.”
Blair added that sometimes information has to be kept confidential, especially in situations where a company can’t yet disclose to employees that it is moving.
In addition to Shaffer’s City of Growth newsletter, CB Richard Ellis also publishes two quarterly market index briefs — one for office space and one for industrial space — as well as an annual retail market index.