By David Chapman
Staff writer
Jacksonville Jaguars Coach Jack Del Rio might know a thing or two about real estate.
“I’ve been a part of eight different teams, four as a player and four as a manager,” said Del Rio. “The residential side loved me.”
Del Rio was the keynote speaker at the June luncheon for the Commercial Real Estate Women of Jacksonville at the Southpoint Marriott.
Del Rio noted his many departures and arrivals from football town to football town and credits someone special with getting him through it.
“My wife,” Del Rio said, “has been the backbone behind it all. She’s done a tremendous job with it all and I don’t know how I’d have done it without her.”
When Del Rio, wife Linda and their three children moved here five years ago, their first home was on the water in the Ortega area of Jacksonville’s westside. They stayed there for almost three years before moving to the gated community of Glen Kernan just off Butler Boulevard.
Del Rio also addressed how the NFL and the Jaguars have helped the Jacksonville market, forging an identity that helps create and maintain commercial and residential growth.
“The Jaguars have made an impact in the Jacksonville community,” he said. “The NFL brings a distinct visibility and growth to a market. An event like the Super Bowl coming here is an example.”
He credited Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver with having the foresight to bring a franchise to a market with Jacksonville’s large residential and commercial growth potential, and expects the area to keep improving.
“To me,” he said, “there’s no better place to raise a family than in Jacksonville.”