Northeast Fla., Jacksonville Business Briefs - May 2009

GAINESVILLE —

» The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded the University of Florida Emerging Pathogens Institute $1.5 million to develop modeling tools for eliminating malaria in developing countries.

HAMILTON COUNTY —

» Virginia-based ARI Green Energy, a solar- and wind-energy systems manufacturer, plans a $20-million production center in Hamilton County, where the company expects to create 175 jobs.

JACKSONVILLE —

Jacksonville’s historic Dyal-Upchurch Building

» Florida agricultural powerhouse A. Duda & Sons has acquired Jacksonville’s historic Dyal-Upchurch Building from Jacksonville Bank for $3.73 million. The bank took back ownership of the six-story downtown building in January from Orlando developer Cameron Kuhn, who bought it for $4.5 million in 2005 but couldn’t make the payments on the debt.

» The Jacksonville Port Authority dropped its rezoning request to allow a cruise terminal in Mayport, to the relief of residents who thought cruise ships didn’t fit their community’s character as a working waterfront. Jaxport officials say they may revisit the decision.

» Morris Publishing Group, parent company of the Florida Times-Union and St. Augustine Record, got two extensions on $9.7 million it owes in interest payments, first in February and again in March.

» Florida Community College changed its name to Florida State College at Jacksonville to reflect its new focus on bachelor’s degrees and workforce training.

MARION COUNTY —

» The owner of an RV park in Fort McCoy has proposed a $2-million, 400-slip marina on Rodman Reservoir, which was built as part of the Cross-Florida Barge Canal and is at the heart of a decades-long battle to restore the Ocklawaha River.

» Marion County has created a free, interactive map system for residents to quickly answer their questions related to flood zones, roads maintained by the county and a myriad of other planning and zoning issues. The GIS-based system includes more than 40 layers of information, from aerials to school-zoning boundaries to FEMA maps.

OCALA —

» For $100, the city bought back in a foreclosure sale the downtown property now nicknamed “the sandbox” that developer Jorge Gutman had promised to turn into City Shops and Walk, a residential/retail complex.

ST. AUGUSTINE —

» Keene Construction of Orlando broke ground on the $6-million, 61,000-sq.-ft. Shoppes at Mission Trace retail center on State Road 16 in St. Augustine for Hallmark Partners of Jacksonville.

ST. JOHNS COUNTY —

» The St. Johns River Water Management District fined St. Joe Co. (NYSE-JOE) $16,105 for letting silt and mud pour into creeks at RiverTown, the 4,170-acre development it is building along State Road 13 in St. Johns County. It was the third time in 13 months that the developer was fined for runoff.