by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
Friday was moving day for Raymond Rodriguez of the Real Estate Strategy Center of North Florida Inc. The 10-year-old company opened its new offices in the 550 Water St. building.
“It’s a great time for smaller businesses to come downtown. The leasing rates are very economically beneficial.” said Rodriguez, who founded and continues to operate the Real Estate Strategy Center. “Plus, when I was doing my research, I looked very closely at Jacksonville’s continued growth. I found that downtown is the center of it. Downtown is, and should be, the center of any city. This is where business originates.”
Prior to the current location, the Real Estate Strategy Center was based out of Rodriguez’ home.
So what exactly does Rodriguez do?
“I track real estate, to put it simply,” he said. “I do market research for companies who are considering a move to Jacksonville by monitoring everything that has to do with the industry from sales to construction projects to market values. Basically, I research and report anything and everything you can think of.”
In addition to the over 40 companies to which he provides market research and data services monthly, Rodriguez has also been involved in large scale projects, including an airport runway expansion study and a housing statistics study for The Strand residential project on the Southbank.
“If a developer wants to know what’s happening in the area, they call me,” he said. “Anytime you see something happening in the paper involving new businesses and new trends in the area, I probably contributed in some way.”