Tea Party Advocate Wrong On Everbank Deal

[Metro Jacksonville]

Tea Party Advocate Wrong On Everbank Deal



"It's unheard of to give public funds to relocate a firm from one part of town to another part of town," Chuck White, president and CEO of NAI Commercial Jacksonville and First Coast Tea Party member.  While this may be Mr. White's position regarding a deal to bring 1,200 corporate jobs to Downtown Jacksonville, not everyone agrees.

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2011-jun-tea-party-advocate-wrong-on-everbank-deal

[Noone]

That headline and this one issue will define Jacksonville for generations to come?

Everybody, Stick your hand out and don't do anything until you have taxpayer dollars in your hand.

Shipyards-$36,500,000 of taxpayer money gone.

2010-604- The legislation that gave the former Shipyards/Landmar property back to the citizens of Jacksonville and my city councilman Don Redman in my opinion is doing nothing. Councilman Redman did you see the story in the TU money section 5,000 letters to lobby for Jaxport? A campaign called "Bring the Noise" I support Jaxport. Mr. Anderson welcome to Jacksonville and I can't wait to meet you. I promise I'll share the Noise for Jaxport throughout the state.

2010-675 one Finance amendment.

This brand new piece of legislation will be heard in 3 hours.

New Mayor and members of city council taking office in 21 days.

Brand new JCCI study to be released to the Public called Recession, Recovery, and Beyond in just 6 days.

Just saw Richard Nunn on WJXT and they were spanning our Downtown and our beautiful St. Johns River our American Heritage River and its empty. We are reminded of this every day. Morning, noon, and night. USE the RIVER! Where is the legislation for economic access for the River Downtown? It doesn't exist.

Believe it or not I support Downtown.

Our city is broke. The Public Trust has just been crushed in this community. Watch for floor amendments when Ethics legislation is voted on at the next 6/14/11 city council meeting.

Is this legislation an emergency? No.

Monuments for everyone.



     

   

[JeffreyS]

Lake I agree that this is a very cost effective way to affect the many small businesses in downtown and grow our tax base.

[PeeJayEss]

So since the city has wasted money in the past, we should assume every plan it has is bad? This is the kind of business-promoting, non-dumb pie-in-the-sky type investment we always talk about on here as the way to actually make Jax great. A moderate amount of cost for an immediate return in terms of people and money in downtown.

Aren't these incentives already in place? Everbank is simply taking advantage of them? Am I reading right that Everbank will be investing $26.5 million in tenant improvements if they get $2.75 million in incentives? Sounds worth it already.

What's better for the city: keep the jobs in the Southside, requiring tremendous infrastructure investments and supporting all the fine chain retailers the suburbs have to offer, or move the jobs downtown, which is designed to handle a large mass of people, and has the actual "small businesses" these hacks support only in rhetoric.

Edit: The poorly (or not at all) proofread letter from the downtown small businesses does not exactly exude professionalism. That and, seriously, have these folks never been outside of Jax? Phone numbers have 10 digits! Can I get a 904! I think its safe to assume if Everbank brings in 200 more employees, they will not all have 904 area codes. Its 2011. Okay rant over.

Edit edit: Also, is there currently an agreement between the city and Everbank in terms of keeping jobs in Jacksonville? This new deal would require them to keep 1350? jobs in the urban core (Enterprise Zone or whatever over the next 5 years. That provision alone should be worth something.

[duvaldude08]

So since the city has wasted money in the past, we should assume every plan it has is bad? This is the kind of business-promoting, non-dumb pie-in-the-sky type investment we always talk about on here as the way to actually make Jax great. A moderate amount of cost for an immediate return in terms of people and money in downtown.

Aren't these incentives already in place? Everbank is simply taking advantage of them? Am I reading right that Everbank will be investing $26.5 million in tenant improvements if they get $2.75 million in incentives? Sounds worth it already.

What's better for the city: keep the jobs in the Southside, requiring tremendous infrastructure investments and supporting all the fine chain retailers the suburbs have to offer, or move the jobs downtown, which is designed to handle a large mass of people, and has the actual "small businesses" these hacks support only in rhetoric.

Edit: The poorly (or not at all) proofread letter from the downtown small businesses does not exactly exude professionalism. That and, seriously, have these folks never been outside of Jax? Phone numbers have 10 digits! Can I get a 904! I think its safe to assume if Everbank brings in 200 more employees, they will not all have 904 area codes. Its 2011. Okay rant over.

Edit edit: Also, is there currently an agreement between the city and Everbank in terms of keeping jobs in Jacksonville? This new deal would require them to keep 1350? jobs in the urban core (Enterprise Zone or whatever over the next 5 years. That provision alone should be worth something.

I agree. Weve spent decades providing incentives to developers for pie in the sky projects, or trying to lure out of town businesses to relocate here, but yet we are now investing in ourselves and people have any issue with that? That is unreal.

[Garden guy]

How much office space is available downtown steven?

[wsansewjs]

That headline and this one issue will define Jacksonville for generations to come?

Everybody, Stick your hand out and don't do anything until you have taxpayer dollars in your hand.

Shipyards-$36,500,000 of taxpayer money gone.

2010-604- The legislation that gave the former Shipyards/Landmar property back to the citizens of Jacksonville and my city councilman Don Redman in my opinion is doing nothing. Councilman Redman did you see the story in the TU money section 5,000 letters to lobby for Jaxport? A campaign called "Bring the Noise" I support Jaxport. Mr. Anderson welcome to Jacksonville and I can't wait to meet you. I promise I'll share the Noise for Jaxport throughout the state.

2010-675 one Finance amendment.

This brand new piece of legislation will be heard in 3 hours.

New Mayor and members of city council taking office in 21 days.

Brand new JCCI study to be released to the Public called Recession, Recovery, and Beyond in just 6 days.

Just saw Richard Nunn on WJXT and they were spanning our Downtown and our beautiful St. Johns River our American Heritage River and its empty. We are reminded of this every day. Morning, noon, and night. USE the RIVER! Where is the legislation for economic access for the River Downtown? It doesn't exist.

Believe it or not I support Downtown.

Our city is broke. The Public Trust has just been crushed in this community. Watch for floor amendments when Ethics legislation is voted on at the next 6/14/11 city council meeting.

Is this legislation an emergency? No.

Monuments for everyone. 

Noone, every post I have seen you made here always has been about the river and  You are like a person with a large pan and a wooden spatula, smacking it to make loud noise about it. No, I am not attacking you. I am actually really happy and glad to know we have a loyal and fervor supporter of our heritage, the St. Johns River.

The downtown is TOO WEAK to support ANY recreational or anything that is NOT important at the moment. We need to restart the economic engine and rejuvenates the heart & core of the Downtown.

Once we can get the momentum going with a huge economic impact, then we can start to bleed the money over to the different things we ALL wanted to dramatically improve the quality of life in Jacksonville including protecting the amazing river, helping Springfield, making JTA the best transit system on the planet, save the Annie school, make the downtown a destination for the young generations AND TOURIST, and much much much MORE. I can go on all day.

Until then, your banging is not loud enough until the downtown comes back rolling and kicking. We will all be part of that stampede. We are in this together, and you are not alone always, Noone. I actually do want to rent a kayak, and take up a paddling with you to Hogan's Creek one weekend.

-Josh

[fsujax]

so is anyone speaking at the JEDC meeting in favor of this deal? from what i have heard the meeting is packed with lots of folks from the tea party.

[ChriswUfGator]

That headline and this one issue will define Jacksonville for generations to come?

Everybody, Stick your hand out and don't do anything until you have taxpayer dollars in your hand.

Shipyards-$36,500,000 of taxpayer money gone.

2010-604- The legislation that gave the former Shipyards/Landmar property back to the citizens of Jacksonville and my city councilman Don Redman in my opinion is doing nothing. Councilman Redman did you see the story in the TU money section 5,000 letters to lobby for Jaxport? A campaign called "Bring the Noise" I support Jaxport. Mr. Anderson welcome to Jacksonville and I can't wait to meet you. I promise I'll share the Noise for Jaxport throughout the state.

2010-675 one Finance amendment.

This brand new piece of legislation will be heard in 3 hours.

New Mayor and members of city council taking office in 21 days.

Brand new JCCI study to be released to the Public called Recession, Recovery, and Beyond in just 6 days.

Just saw Richard Nunn on WJXT and they were spanning our Downtown and our beautiful St. Johns River our American Heritage River and its empty. We are reminded of this every day. Morning, noon, and night. USE the RIVER! Where is the legislation for economic access for the River Downtown? It doesn't exist.

Believe it or not I support Downtown.

Our city is broke. The Public Trust has just been crushed in this community. Watch for floor amendments when Ethics legislation is voted on at the next 6/14/11 city council meeting.

Is this legislation an emergency? No.

Monuments for everyone.

[duvaldude08]

Here's another item on the table today. We are looking to expand out entertainment district.

http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=533771

[Tacachale]

Great article, Ennis. These are great reasons to support this move.

It's also worth noting that Southside wouldn't exactly be hurting with this deal, even if two properties will lose some tenants for the time being.

First, in the last six or eight months, just about every similar deal the city has made has been in the Southside, specifically Deerwood. From realtor Jim Sebesta, quoted in the Jax Business Journal in March:

“Really, in all honesty, if you look at the momentum happening in Jacksonville — PNC [Mortgage], Digital Risk [LLC], Adecco, the Availity [LLC] deal — every major good-size deal has been done out here in the Deerwood market,” Sebesta said. “In fairness, most of those deals got done at historically lower rents. But other markets are also offering steep discounts and not having that level of activity.”

http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/print-edition/2011/03/11/southsides-synergy-competes-with.html?page=all

Of four deals he mentions, at least the Adecco deal is taking employees out of downtown (as noted, Modis). The deal itself was for a much lower amount of money, but it also involved fewer new jobs, and it doesn't have the downtown development angle that the EverBank deal does.

Second, by Chuck White's own statements, Everbank's current subleasing deal in one of the buildings is up anyway; to stay there they'd have to sign a new lease. With or without city money there's no reason to assume they'd stay there; this deal just gives them an incentive to move an area we want to populate, which is kind of the point behind "incentives".

[PeeJayEss]

Note to PeeJayEss....Vikki is probably the most well known person/woman in the downtown.  She and her husband Terry have been tireless, cheerful, and energetic in the face of odds that would make Lance Armstrong give up.  In the downtown area where she passed out those flyers, she literally needs neither introduction or area code.

PS.  If you want to help out downtown, drop by her UPS Store on Hogan Street to make copies, mail a package or get business cards.  They are probably the best and nicest merchants in the entire urban core.

I'm not trying to rag on her personally by pointing out the poorly-formed letter and lack of openness to people from outside downtown Jax being inside of downtown Jax. I don't doubt that she's a great lady and I'd probably enjoy meeting her, but if she'd like to do business with more than 2000 people, she probably does need to introduce herself (unless I'm mistaken and everyone that has ever been in downtown Jax, besides myself, does in fact know her) - and adding her area code can't hurt either. You can hurt your business (and probability of response) by not including your area code. You can't do any damage by including it. Is this supposed to be a national city or a backwater?

And Iron Lance would never give up. America!

[fsujax]

JEDC passed the Everbank deal. Now on to City Council.

[Jaxson]

What is up with the Tea Party and their seeming antipathy toward downtown?

[Tacachale]

JEDC passed the Everbank deal. Now on to City Council.

Good news.