April 2025 | Vanessa Caceres

SPOTLIGHT

Located just minutes away from St. Augustine, Vilano Beach is gaining more attention nowadays, and a newly renovated 1950s-style hotel adds to its draw.

Haley’s Court, with 16 rooms, bills itself as a boutique hotel with modern amenities. Roadside motor inns began to pop up in Vilano Beach in the 1940s and 1950s, with Haley’s Court among them, says co-owner Damon Lee. The popularity of these inns decreased over the decades, and Lee’s father was able to purchase Haley’s Court in 1999. Until recently, it was used for longer-term rentals.

Lee, a local Realtor, and Valerie Lee, his aunt and an interior designer, decided to transform Haley’s Court. The timing felt right with two new hotels in Vilano Beach and a new Publix signaling growth in the area, Lee explains.

Like most renovation projects, the reno cost more than expected — about $1 million total. It included an overhaul of the plumbing, wiring, windows and more.

“We’ve done a lot of upgrades and updates, but we’ve kept a lot of the original stuff,” Lee says. That includes some of the original bathroom tile, terrazzo floors in some areas, and art deco style ceilings and decor. The exterior is also similar to the original look. Yet there are modern touches like digital check-in and Wi-Fi.

Haley’s Court opened in mid-November. Lee expects bookings to follow seasonal trends in the area.

ACQUISITIONS

The publicly traded EMCOR Group of Norwalk, Conn., will acquire Miller Electric Company of Jacksonville in an $865-million cash deal. Miller has more than 3,500 employees and 21 branch locations. When complete, Miller will be part of EMCOR’s Electrical Construction Services division, and Henry Brown will remain Miller’s CEO. The company is slated to remain in Jacksonville. The deal is expected to close in the first half of this year.
Redwire Corp. of Jacksonville will acquire San Luis Obispo, Calif.-based Edge Autonomy, which makes uncrewed airborne system technology and has more than 600 employees. The $925-million deal is expected to close in this year’s second quarter. It will make Edge Autonomy and its subsidiaries wholly-owned subsidiaries of Redwire.

JOBS

Ben E. Keith Foods of Fort Worth, Texas, plans to open a 707,000-sq.-ft. distribution center in Alachua by fall 2026. The distribution center will include the company’s Florida headquarters. Ben E. Keith Foods is slated to add 400 to 500 local jobs over five years, in addition to the 230 jobs at its Gainesville warehouse.

HEALTH CARE

The Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases at UF Health has received a $1 million gift to support the development of an AI tool to disseminate cutting-edge treatments for advanced Parkinson’s disease to physicians around the world. The gift comes from Nathan S. Collier, founder of the Collier Cos., along with his wife Ani and McGurn Investment owners Ken and Linda McGurn.
Baptist Health is planning a four-story, 123,000-sq.-ft. emergency tower that will serve both Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville and Wolfson Children’s Hospital. It will include two ERs, waiting areas and 100 total emergency patient care rooms. It also will include more imaging, lab and ancillary resources. The project begins this year and should be completed in 2029.

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE

A former distribution center and headquarters for Winn-Dixie Stores in Jacksonville was purchased by Los Angeles-based Cannon Commercial for $36.4 million. It includes more than 57 acres and 891,000 square feet of industrial and office space. Southeastern Grocers, which operates Winn-Dixie, was purchased by Aldi last year.
Citigroup’s Jacksonville campus was purchased by the Wideman Co. of Orlando. It includes more than 73 acres and 530,000 square feet and was bought for an undisclosed price. Citigroup will continue to use 230,000 square feet of space, with the remainder rented to new tenants.

MANUFACTURING

St. Augustine Distillery has won the Bubble Cap Award for Distillery of the Year from the American Distilling Institute. St. Augustine Distillery produces bourbon, gin, rum and vodka.

GROWTH

In the annual U-Haul Growth Index, Jacksonville ranked 11th for growth among U.S. metro areas, and Ocala was the No. 1 city for growth in the U.S. outside of a metro area. Ocala also ranked in that top spot in 2022.

UTILITIES

JEA has eliminated its COO position and has promoted Robert Zammataro to be chief water systems officer. Ricky Erixton, who was the interim COO, is now chief energy systems officer.

EDUCATION

The University of North Florida received a $350,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to establish a three-year Archivist-in-Training program. Thirty students will be trained in archival preservation.

ENTERTAINMENT

Chipshot, a venue featuring eight indoor pickleball courts, will open in Jacksonville this fall.

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