by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
When the owners of Adams Street Station bought 25 old railroad cars, remodeled them and positioned them about 300 yards east of Alltel Stadium, they envisioned recreating what goes on in Columbia, S.C. on Saturday afternoons in the fall — tailgating with a twist.
Presales for the cars did not go as well as expected (four have been sold to date), so the ownership has opted to employ one of the area’s biggest names in real estate to kick-start sales before the 2005 football season gets underway.
Ken Kuester and his partners bought the project in early 2004 while much of it was still under construction. Recently, they hired Prudential Network Realty’s Builder Sales & Marketing Division as the site agent for the project.
“We wanted someone with a multi-listing service,” said Kuester. “They are leaders in the Jacksonville community and they have good relationships with people in the construction business.”
In Columbia, it’s called “railgating” and there are 22 railroad cabooses that have been rigged out with sofas, TVs, coolers and plenty of University of South Carolina Gamecock gear. The cars are called Cockabooses and they are the biggest attraction on game day outside the game itself.
They sold quickly and today there’s a waiting list of buyers. In fact, another company built seven similar facilities on the other side of the stadium and those cars sold out at $200,000 in two weeks.
Kuester, who owns the cars at Adams Street along with Tony Weight, Richard Aboud and John Reaves Jr., is hoping that same enthusiasm arises here in Jacksonville where there’s much more football and big business.
He’s counting on 10 Jacksonville Jaguars home games and at least three big college football games a year to attract both buyers and those interested in leasing.
“They are all unique,” said Kuester, an owner of Lumber Unlimited. “Some are parlor cars, some are cabooses. We are hoping to sell some as offices and others as luxury suites. They all have appliances, ice makers and bathrooms.”
The original Adams Street Station idea was hatched years ago by Reaves and his partner Bill Sistare, who is retired and used to own Southeastern Specialties Railroad and Railsouth.
“We ran into each other in Columbia in 1993 at the Florida-South Carolina game,” said Reaves, who owns one of the cars and also owns several construction and engineering companies around town. “We saw the Cockabooses and said, ‘Let’s do that in Jacksonville.’ We had the Jaguars coming soon, so it seemed like a good idea.”
At the time, the plan was to locate the rail cars on Alltel Stadium property, mostly around the pond between the parking lot and TV-12. However, the Jaguars, who were trying to sell skyboxes and club seats at the time, didn’t go for the idea.
“David Seldin was the president of the Jaguars at the time and he said no,” explained Reaves, adding that Cockabooses in Columbia are in high demand and very popular on game day. “In Columbia, it’s the big thing happening on game day. They have all cabooses except for two regular cars.”
Construction on Adams Street Station was completed shortly after Super Bowl and four of the cars have been sold. Heyward Cantrell of Cantrell Real Estate believes once football gets here the cars will sell or lease quickly.
“As soon as the Jags get cranked up, they’ll do well,” said Cantrell, whose company was initially involved in the sales campaign. “It’s like trying to sell a boat after Labor Day. They are unique to Jacksonville and you have to see them to understand.”
Mary Ann Hashem, the director of Prudential’s Builder Sales & Marketing division, says Adams Street Station is unlike any other market in Jacksonville. She’s hoping its downtown location and proximity to the sports complex helps convince buyers that the cars can be used year-round and not viewed as just a game-day experience.
“We are marketing them as office condos as well as a place to tailgate,” said Hashem, adding the asking price is between $250,000 and $300,000, plus a monthly condo fee. “You can use them for any event from family parties to office parties. We have a concierge that can tell you which ones are for lease and which ones are for sale.”
Sherrie Braxton is the site agent for Adams Street Station. In addition to relying on the vast Prudential Realty network in the area for potential clients, the cars are being marketed through the Real Estate Channel, the Downtown Real Estate Council and events designed specifically to attract investors.
“The Prudential family came down here for an open house. I only expected about 40 people and I had about 75 to 85 show up,” said Braxton, who has an office/model on site but doesn’t staff it full-time. “We have 21 cars for sale but none for straight lease. If someone purchases the car, they can lease it out. They are all different and I think they would be ideal for corporate satellite offices.”
Hashem is hoping the for-lease cars will be snatched up by Florida and Georgia fans for the week of the annual late October game. Kuester has already been contacted by a Georgia Bulldogs fan, but his interest is primarily business-related.
“I have gotten a lot on inquiries from people about using them as offices,” said Kuester. “I got a call the other day from a guy in Athens whose business is in Athens. He wants to put an office in Jacksonville and he’d like to look at the cars as a site.”
Because Adams Street Station is zoned light industrial,
permanent living in the cars is
forbidden.