by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
Current Duval County School Board Chair W.C. Gentry has made it a priority to research options for moving the Duval County Public Schools office from its Southbank riverfront property.
“Ideally, what we would do is sell it, then move Downtown. It would be a double benefit, moving us off the river and having some Downtown development,” said Gentry.
The building sits along Prudential Drive east of the Wyndham hotel.
Moving from the waterfront has been on the minds of school board members for years, but the economy has not cooperated to make it worthwhile, he said.
“The property adjacent to us, which is the old JEA property, has been on the market for a long time, and we would need to have a buyer before we could move forward,” he said.
The 35 acres owned by JEA on the Southbank have been on the market since 2003.
Selling the property is a frequent public suggestion to cover funding shortfalls. Gentry said it wasn’t that easy.
“In this economy, if we sold it, we’d end up spending a lot more to rebuild or lease a facility that would work,” said Gentry.
“The economics of it are that we are going to stay where we are until we can get a price or trade that will at least break even for us,” he said.
He plans to meet with Mayor Alvin Brown and Brown’s education commissioner, Donald Horner Jr., to discuss options for relocation.
Gentry is working with school board member Tommy Hazouri to research the issue. Hazouri said he looks forward to working with Brown, who has been advocating for Downtown redevelopment.
Downtown will see changes when the new Duval County Courthouse opens in 2012, which would move the County and Circuit Courts and the offices of Public Defender and State Attorney off the Northbank of the St. Johns River.
“I’m excited about what could happen. We’re always looking at options (for the administration building),” said Hazouri.
Hazouri has been working on the issue since he was elected to the school board in 2004.
“There are not a lot of options right now,” said Hazouri. “Right now we are looking at $17 million-$18 million to move into a new building of a lesser size. Our office building isn’t worth anything to anybody but us right now,” he said.
Duval County Public Schools COO Doug Ayars said that in 2008, the property was appraised at $12 million to $13 million. The property has 400 parking spaces, he said.
Duval County Property Appraiser records show that the building has an assessed value of $11.56 million. It is exempt from taxes. It was built in 1981.
Hazouri recognized that the property has pluses and minuses.
“The building is paid for, so that’s a plus,” said Hazouri. “But the image of the building on the river has never been a positive image because it is riverfront property.”
A disadvantage for the City is both the school district and JEA properties are not contributing taxes, said Hazouri.
Gentry recognized that the mayor has a full plate, working on the budget and establishing his administration, but he looks forward to meeting with Brown to discuss the possibilities of moving Downtown.
“If you look at the maps from around the courthouse, the City owns a lot of property in that area. And if we could put together a smart financial deal where we could build or take an existing building and make it work for us, it would benefit the area because we have hundreds if not thousands of people come through that school board building every day,” said Gentry.
Both Gentry and Hazouri identified parking as key to a new location for both Duval County Public Schools employees and people visiting the office.
“Parking is a real issue. People are going to be going in and out of the building all day long and we have to provide public access, so we aren’t going to charge to park there,” said Hazouri.
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