by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
The City Council will hear legislation Tuesday designed to expedite lease approvals at Cecil Commerce Center. The proposal’s only perceived negative, say some on the Council, is that by speeding up the process, they’ll be cutting themselves out of the negotiating loop entirely.
Offered at the request of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission, the bill would allow Mayor John Peyton and the JEDC to target businesses, establish a payment plan and seal a deal without further Council approval.
“As it stands now, we are delayed almost two months while we wait for the Council to look at the bill, send it to committee and finally approve it,” said Andy Eckert chief of the Cecil Commerce Center Development Office. “It’s a lengthy process even though the Council has approved the last 11 leases we’ve negotiated without amending them at all.”
Of the nearly 140,000 square feet still available at Cecil, Eckert said, it may prove beneficial to move quickly on development deals before potential businesses grow restless and ultimately move on.
“In the past few years since we began marketing Cecil,” he said, “there have been instances where businesses wanted to move in right away, but the current process wouldn’t allow that to happen.”
Those failed deals, he said, have resulted in the City losing out on millions.
“We don’t want to give companies time to look somewhere else,” he said. “In the private sector you can negotiate at a much quicker rate, which is hard to compete with.”
Especially when the Council usually just wants to be sure that space at Cecil is being marketed at or near market value.
“I know that is a major concern for a lot of people,” said Eckert. “But I can say we’ve always worked toward cutting deals fairly and that we’ve been very close to market value for some time. Our last four leases have actually been at market value.”
Eckert declined to speculate on whether or not the bill would be approved, but said the Council would likely have a hard time giving up control at Cecil.
“We anticipate they’ll be asking a lot of questions, which is fine,” he said. “However, we feel we’ve developed a standard and a solid business plan that both the JEDC and the mayor’s office are very comfortable with.
“At this time we feel we’ve found a way to negotiate and cut deals fairly at Cecil, only much more quickly than we have been able to in the past. We’ll just have to wait and see if the Council will allow that to happen.”
Council president Lad Daniels said he’s had little contact with the proposal but welcomes the opportunity to explore it further on the Council floor.
“I understand where this is coming from, but I’m not sure if we’re going to abdicate our Council responsibility at Cecil just yet,” he said. “We can possibly look into setting up some new guidelines to streamline the process, maybe look at the different levels of deals under discussion.”
Though the Council likes to take its time while performing due diligence, Daniels said it can also serve as a watchdog of current market trends.
“Look at LaVilla,” he said. “I’d like to think we’ve had a hand in making sure we’re not just going to give it away for bargain basement prices. The JEDC is obviously going to do its best to make smart deals, but I don’t know if it’s time to do this yet. We have to be very careful.”
The Council earlier this year tripled the City’s asking price for a West Adams Street land parcel. The move was credited by City officials and area property owners with helping establish the low end of the real estate market around the new Duval County Courthouse.