The City approved a building permit for an expansion for Fanatics Inc. at 6800 Southpoint Parkway in the Southpoint office park.
The permit shows a $600,000 renovation of 21,499 square feet by contractor Williams & Rowe Co. Inc.
Called "Fanatics Expansion – Phase 1" on building plans, the project is shown as open office space, offices, IT areas, conference rooms, an employee lounge and a reception area. The permitted occupant load is 216 people.
Jacksonville-based Fanatics Inc. is an online retailer of officially licensed sports merchandise as well as sports collectibles and memorabilia.
It says it also powers the e-commerce sites of the NFL, NBA, NHL, NASCAR and PGA along with ESPN, NBC Sports, CBS Sports, FOX Sports and more than 200 collegiate and professional team properties.
Its websites include www.fanatics.com, www.fansedge.com and www.mountedmemories.com.
Brothers Alan and Mitch Trager created Fanatics in 1995 after the Jacksonville Jaguars were announced. The business began as a retail shop in a small room in the back of a mall, the company reports. Online retail sales began in 1997.
The company's primary warehouse location is in West Jacksonville at 5245 Commonwealth Ave.
Permit records show Williams & Rowe has renovated at least 24,000 square feet of space for Fanatics since January 2011 at 6800 Southpoint Parkway, at construction costs exceeding $350,000.
Records show another permit is in review for a $190,000 renovation project.
According to a company overview at investing.businessweek.com, Fanatics engages in the online retail of sports apparel, merchandise and fan gear. It provides NCAA and college sports apparel, baseball caps, sports collectibles and memorabilia, and T-shirts. The site says the company also operates retail stores in malls.
The site says Fanatics Inc. formerly was known as Football Fanatics Inc. and changed its name to Fanatics Inc. in June 2011. As of June 17, 2011, Fanatics Inc. operated as a subsidiary of Kynetic LLC.
Fanatics Inc.'s executive chairman is Michael Rubin, based in Conshohocken, Pa. Alan Trager is CEO, Mitch Trager is CSO and Brent Trager is COO. Thomas Baumlin is CFO, Jamie Davis is president, Jack Boyle is president of merchandising and Kevin Bates is president of IT.
Ryan Donovan recently joined as vice president of marketing.
A Fanatics spokesman said Monday evening that the expansion reflects a growing company. Asked about speculation that Fanatics is looking for headquarters office space, he said it was too early to comment.
The fanatics.com site lists job openings for positions in Jacksonville, Conshohocken, Boulder, Colo., Northbrook, Ill., Frazeysburg, Ohio, and Louisville, Ky.
Job postings for Jacksonville include affiliate coordinator; collectibles volume sales buyer; IT systems administration; .net developer; PPC (pay-per-click) advertising assistant; QA (quality assurance) analysts and performance engineer; senior software engineer; senior SQL developer; site testing specialist; senior recovery manager of customer experience; software engineer; systems analyst; systems manager; web analytics manager; and web analytics specialist.
By way of background, the fanaticsinc.com site explains that GSI Commerce Inc. announced in February 2011 it signed a definitive agreement to acquire Fanatics Inc., which had more than 400 employees at the time, for about $277 million. Rubin was chairman and CEO of GSI Commerce, based in King of Prussia, Pa.
Rubin launched Kynetic after eBay's $2.4 billion acquisition of GSI Commerce, which had grown into a global network of e-commerce, multichannel and digital marketing businesses servicing 150 of the top 500 Internet retailers.
Kynetic consists of three previously owned GSI companies: Fanatics, Rue La La, an online private sale destination in the U.S., and ShopRunner, a members-only service that aggregates shopping benefits from top retailers and brands.
The Arc Village in review
The St. Johns River Water Management District is reviewing plans for The Arc Village on almost 17 acres along Hodges Boulevard in South Jacksonville.
It has been described on other plans as a community at 3615 and 3631 Hodges Blvd.
The village is designed as an affordable rental community for adults, age 18 and older, with intellectual and development disabilities.
The application describes the project as 40 one- and two-bedroom units comprising 97 beds, a 12,000-square-foot clubhouse and a maintenance building on about 16.7 acres of a 32.2-acre site.
"The Arc Village will demonstrate to the nation that a residential community can be designed to encourage and support residents with I/DD to live with minimal support in a neighborhood of their peers and find employment alongside the general population in the community at large," says a project description from The Arc Jacksonville Inc.
The description states that about 120 residents can be housed at the village. Eligible residents must be able to live independently without full-time support or live-in assistance and must be able to accomplish all daily living activities, work in paid or volunteer capacities and be able to find and fund transportation within the area.
The Arc Jacksonville Inc. is based at 1050 N. Davis St. Its executive director is Jim Whittaker.
The arcjacksonville.org site states the village will be Florida's first planned community of affordable homes for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
The Arc Jacksonville expects the village to be completed by early 2015, but there are a number of uncertainties regarding the affordable housing tax credit application process, according to Development Director Judy Hall-Lanier.
She said The Arc Village's estimated construction and development cost is $17.6 million; initial security and emergency shelter equipment, vehicles and operations startup costs are $1.2 million; and the endowment goal is $2 million; for a total of $20.8 million.
Hall-Lanier said that to date, $2.5 million has been committed through private sector philanthropy.
She said there is a $2 million special appropriation in the state budget awaiting the governor's signature and that The Arc Jacksonville will apply for the Florida affordable housing tax credit program in the summer, with the award expected to be announced in the fall.
The project description says a partnership with the State of Florida Housing Tax Credit program will provide 75 to 80 percent of the construction cost.
It says a partnership with the Legislature and governor's office will provide a $2 million appropriation to help fund construction and enhancement of the project's community center as an emergency shelter for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities from the surrounding neighborhood.
"In addition to providing housing, The Arc Village will also serve as a central gathering place for the entire Jacksonville disabled community," says the arcjacksonville.org site.
The village is within walking distance of stores, doctors, hair salons, theaters, restaurants and public transportation, "affording Village residents the ability to take advantage of nearby job opportunities, and access to other areas of town and shopping," says the website.
The site says The Arc Jacksonville has served individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities since 1965, beginning as a grass-roots movement to provide educational opportunities for those with special needs who were not well-served by the public education system.
The Arc program has expanded to offer a range of services within community settings.
It has an annual operating budget of $7.6 million, serves about 400 individuals daily and employs about 130 staff members as well as service opportunities for 24 AmeriCorps and six VISTA members.
There are three main locations and five group homes. The primary location is Downtown in a complex of administrative offices, program and workshop areas
and a packaging warehouse. An additional facility on the Westside provides similar programming.
The five group homes are within Arlington, where there are two, St. Nicholas, West Jacksonville and Mandarin. A college program for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities is on the campus of the University of North Florida, the site says.
LA Fitness plans Clay County location
The St. Johns River Water Management District is reviewing plans for an LA Fitness center at Bolton Plaza along Blanding Boulevard.
Plans show land owner KRG Bolton Plaza LLC proposes to remove a portion of the old Walmart that is vacant west of Academy Sports. The property is 18.32 acres.
The agent is Wantman Group Inc. of West Palm Beach.
A site plan shows the LA Fitness is proposed as 37,992 square feet adjacent to the 76,195-square-foot Academy Sports.
The lafitness.com site shows four locations in the area: 11901 Atlantic Blvd.; 985 Atlantic Blvd.; 3600 University Blvd. W.; and 6000 Lake Gray Blvd.
4th Value Place hotel in review
Value Place plans a 124-unit extended-stay hotel in West Jacksonville on about 4.65 acres on the south side of 103rd Street, just east of Interstate 295.
According to plans filed with the St. Johns River Water Management District and the City, the proposed development includes site clearing and construction of a 124-unit, 45,630-square-foot hotel, a future outparcel, asphalt parking and associated utilities.
The plans were prepared for Value Place Jacksonville Busch LLC of Wichita, Kan., the same developer that proposes a 124-unit Value Place extended-stay hotel in North Jacksonville at 10520 Balmoral Circle W.
The City and the water management district are reviewing plans for the North Jacksonville Value Place.
The agent and engineer for both hotels is Connelly & Wicker Inc.
The North Jacksonville project is described as a four-story, 45,628-square-foot hotel on 2.07 acres south of Busch Drive and east of Interstate 95.
The ValuePlace.com site shows Value Place hotels operate at 8341 Dames Point Crossing Blvd. in Arlington and at 3425 Saland Way at Beach Boulevard in Southside.
The chain is based in Wichita, Kan. There are 181 Value Place properties in 32 states, the site says.
The company was founded in 2002 by Jack DeBoer, who had experience creating Residence Inn, Summerfield Suites and Candlewood Suites, according to the site.
He created it to serve owners of small and midsize businesses and others who pay their own travel expenses or travel on a strict per-diem budget. The chain also targets families who are relocating and need lodging before committing to permanent housing.
It also targets other travelers, including medical patients, construction workers, military professionals, vacationers and others.
The weekly studio weekly rate is about $169. HotelNewsNow.com reported April 24 that economy brand Value Place created a brand called ValuePlace 2.0. Chain officials said the cost to develop a prototype 124-room Value Place is between $3.8 million and $5 million, plus land costs.
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