Marina Repairs

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SPOTLIGHT

Marina Repairs

After sustaining damage from Hurricanes Ian and Nicole, St. Augustine will receive $750,000 toward repairs for the St. Augustine Municipal Marina. The total cost for the repairs is projected to be $2 million.

The Florida Inland Navigational District will give $500,000 toward the repairs, and the St. Augustine Port, Waterway and Beach District will add another $250,000. The city will apply for FEMA reimbursement for the remaining costs.

Much of the damage occurred to the marina’s breakwater dock, which was built in 2013. The repairs are expected to be finished before the next hurricane season.

The marina is located in the city’s historic district.

HEALTH CARE

• UF Health plans to open a hospital in Ocala in the spring of 2024. The three-floor facility will include 10 emergency rooms, 10 inpatient rooms, four operating rooms and a rehab clinic. Construction has already begun for the hospital at a 28-acre site.
• HCA Florida Orange Park has opened HCA Florida Middleburg emergency facility, its third. The $14.4-million facility is 10,820 square feet, has 11 patient rooms and serves residents of Middleburg, Lake Asbury, Green Cove Springs and Penney Farms.
• The 300,000-sq.-ft., six-story Baptist Medical Center Clay opened on Fleming Island. The $234-million hospital has 120 beds, including 20 maternity suites. The hospital incorporates pandemic-inspired design features, including a central energy plant to operate off the grid if necessary.

TOURISM

• Richard Goldman, president and CEO of the St. Augustine Ponte Vedra & The Beaches Visitors and Convention Bureau, has retired. He had been with the convention bureau since 2009.

RETAIL

• Rowe’s IGA Supermarkets, which has seven locations in Jacksonville, has been purchased by Massy Holdings of Trinidad and Tobago for $47 million. The purchase is part of an expansion of Massy’s retail footprint in the U.S. Massy Holdings manages an estimated 60 companies, most of which are in the Caribbean.

HIGHER EDUCATION

• The contract for Jacksonville University President Tim Cost has been extended through 2027. Cost, a graduate of the university, has been president since 2013.

NON-PROFITS

• Changing Homelessness of Jacksonville has received $2.5 million from the Bezos Day 1 Families Funds, which is supported by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
• Feeding Northeast Florida will renovate a warehouse it recently purchased to serve as its new and expanded facility. The move will double the size of its current space and is slated for completion by the end of the year.

REAL ESTATE

• BTI Partners of Fort Lauderdale has purchased 3,300 acres known as Governors Park for $85 million in southern Clay County. Plans include 4,000 single-family homes and 2,000 multi-family units, in addition to commercial/ retail space, hotel rooms and a golf course. The land was purchased from the Davis family (founders of the Winn-Dixie chain) and the PARC Group. BTI also completed a $31-million purchase of 1,300 acres in northwest St. Johns County. The land is part of a master-planned community called Villages at Town Center.
• Radco Cos. of Atlanta has acquired St. Augustine’s DoubleTree by Hilton, a 97-room hotel, for an undisclosed price. The hotel had been owned by Driftwood Capital of Coral Gables, which purchased the property for $18.5 million in 2017. Radco also owns Florida properties in St. Petersburg and the Panhandle in addition to the Atlanta market.

TRANSPORTATION

• A three-mile rail spur will be constructed at Cecil Commerce Center in Jacksonville with the help of $5.5 million from the state. The spur will connect the center with a rail line located north of I-10. The Cecil Commerce Center is a city-owned property that includes Cecil Airport and other industrial and commercial businesses.
• Starting in mid-May, Breeze Airways will have four non-stop flights each week from Jacksonville International Airport to Raleigh-Durham International Airport. The airline also will offer flights to Providence, R.I., and Islip/Long Island, N.Y., starting at that same time.
• Jacksonville International Airport plans to expand and renovate the security screening area for passengers as part of a nearly $15-million project. The move is part of renovations slated for concourse B terminal expansion.

Tags: Northeast, Feature