The Northeast region likes to call itself Florida’s First Coast — home to the first European settlement in the U.S., the first beach that visitors reach when they drive into Florida. These days, in every corner of the Northeast, community and business leaders are working to tie their economic futures to another Florida first: Jacksonville’s entry later this year into direct trade with Asia.
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Japan-based Mitsui O.S.K. Lines is building a $220-million container terminal in Jacksonville, and South Korea’s Hanjin is negotiating to build a $360-million terminal. The facilities by two of the world’s largest shipping companies aim to capitalize on the expansion of the Panama Canal and anticipated increase in container traffic along the East Coast. Jaxport officials estimate a combined impact of almost $2 billion for the regional economy and 12,000 direct and indirect jobs.
From a site-readiness and zoning study in Clay County to a new industrial development effort in Baker County targeting port-related business, Northeast Florida officials are working to make sure infrastructure and space for warehouse, logistics and other companies are in place. “When this tide comes in, it’s going to raise all of our boats,” says St. Johns County Commission Chairman Thomas G. Manuel.
So how is the region pumping so much into economic development during an economic downturn? Public-private partnerships are part of the answer. For example, a 46.5-mile, four-lane toll road called the First Coast Outer Beltway that will connect I-95 in St. Johns County to I-10 in Duval County and sweep through Clay County, is planned as one of the Florida Department of Transportation’s new public-private partnerships that allow private construction financing.
At Jaxport, officials are considering a public-private partnership to build a $40-million intermodal container facility needed to handle the dramatic cargo growth they expect over the next several years. (About 30% of all cargo will need to come or go by train.) Center Point properties in Chicago and Ross Perot’s Hillwood Corp. are among possible partners. “It’s a good way to look for funding in hard times,” says Jaxport Executive Director Rick Ferrin.
 Port Projects (Jacksonville) Rick Ferrin » The primary challenge for Rick Ferrin, executive director at Jaxport, is getting transportation infrastructure in place to support a dramatic growth in cargo. As some government funding dries up, Ferrin is tapping public-private partnerships to invest in costly port needs. [Photo: Kelly LaDuke] |
POPULATION TREND
St. Johns County, Clay, Nassau and Baker all had population growth higher than the 2.07% statewide average over the past five years. Growth was flat in Duval and Putnam counties. The crush into St. Johns — with population growth of almost 5% over the past four years — didn’t seem to include as many families, however. It joined Duval and Putnam counties in seeing public-school enrollment drop by a few hundred students between the 2006-07 academic year and this year.
Jacksonville
While the city’s port prepares for a boom, Jacksonville still faces tough issues, including violent crime, homelessness and the effect of the economic downturn on downtown redevelopment projects.
Projects such as the $12-million renovation of the Haydon Burns Library — with restaurants, retail, a grocery store and office space — are moving ahead. Other downtown projects have stalled, however: Centerpiece project the Shipyards is on hold. Developer Cameron Kuhn’s downtown projects face foreclosure, and funding for downtown improvements has dried up.
LEADERS
» Audrey McKibbin Moran, president and CEO of the city’s largest homeless shelter, The Sulzbacher Center, is urging Jacksonville’s business leaders to invest in homeless services as an economic development tool. “We save Jacksonville money by addressing root causes,” she says, including moving people into jobs, getting children back into school, offering a healthcare clinic that serves not only the homeless, but any poor residents.
» At the University of North Florida, President John Delaney expects he’ll be able to stave off the layoffs that other public universities around the state have already experienced or expect to occur. Delaney says he’s budgeted reserve funds and trimmed non-faculty-related travel and other expenses over the past year.
 Arts Booster(Jacksonville) Martha Lanahan » Martha “Marty” Lanahan, the longtime Jacksonville city president of Regions Bank, guided the bank’s growth to more than 27 branches in four Northeast Florida counties. Lanahan, recently named North Florida area executive, has been an advocate of maintaining culture and the arts as buoys for Jacksonville — especially in hard times. She also is working on regional transportation solutions as a member of the Florida Transportation Commission. [Photo: Kelly LaDuke] |
St. Augustine / St. Johns County
Communities such as St. Augustine and Ponte Vedra Beach have made a name for themselves as residential havens and playgrounds for beachgoers and golf and tennis players. The area had the highest population growth rate in Northeast Florida — nearly 5% — between 2004 and 2008. But its economy is unbalanced: 89% of its tax base is residential. St. Johns County officials are working to diversify. The task isn’t easy: It takes $250 million in commercial real estate investment to move that figure just one percentage point. Links with Jaxport and Cecil Field, as well as relatively low property tax rates, should help.
LEADER
» County Commission Chairman Thomas G. Manuel is leading a push for regionalism among area counties: “The First Coast is truly trying to speak with a regional voice on the three all-important issues of transportation, economic development and environment,” he says.
Nassau County
Residential development is relatively healthy in the northeastern tip of Florida. But like the rest of the First Coast, Nassau has relied too much on residential growth. The county is in an ideal physical position to leverage Jaxport’s expansion, but is beset by problems with transportation concurrency east of I-95 and infrastructure to the west. The county has 25,000 acres of developable land west of the interstate that’s held by a few landowners, the largest of which is Rayonier. The forest-products company is evaluating more lucrative uses for its timberland, including industrial development. Meanwhile, economic development officials are hawking Nassau’s best asset: Quality of life. The county is targeting small- and mid-sized companies whose owners want to choose the best place to live and raise a family.
LEADER
» Nassau’s economic development board recruited Steve Rieck as executive director out of Atlanta, where he worked in a range of jobs, from serving in Jimmy Carter’s gubernatorial administration to metro Atlanta’s civic league.
Clay County / Orange Park
Florida’s housing-market collapse hit Clay County, with several megahousing developments in the pipeline, worse than others in the region. But local officials and business leaders are zeroing in on site readiness and zoning to take advantage of the economic opportunities rising from Jaxport’s expansion. A major study is under way to prioritize locations for commercial enterprise parks for various uses, from front office, back office, laboratory and research facilities to light industrial, warehouse/distribution and flex space.
LEADER
» Ray Avery, executive director of the Clay County Utility Authority and chairman of the Steering Committee of the Clay Quality Council, is leading an effort to measure the quality of life in the county. Now that he’s conducted the survey, the hard part is going to be helping the county attain the values its residents articulated.
Putnam County
Palatka is working on an ambitious redevelopment plan that will maintain public green space along the St. Johns River as it rehabs the “100 block” off the river as well as its aging downtown. Georgia-based Community Development Partners has offered up a convention center/hotel proposal that officials hope will be approved for the 100 block.
LEADER
» New City Manager Woody Boynton believes Palatka will set itself apart with unique offerings such as paddlewheel riverboats not seen on the river for a century. “The big thing Palatka has to offer and wants to offer is diversity,” says Boynton. “We’re trying to market everything from ecotourism to bass fishing; we’ve got to set ourselves apart from Gainesville and St. Augustine.”
Baker County
While residential building permits have decreased dramatically, commercial is steady, with the opening of a Wal-Mart super center last year, an Ace Hardware under construction and the recent announcement of a Lowe’s at I-10 and State Road 121. Baker, just a 25-minute commute from Jacksonville, has five Developments of Regional Impact in the pipeline: Three mixed-use with industrial warehouse the primary use and two residential, including a 6,000-home project. Traffic concurrency for I-10 continues to dog projects. The county is focused on revising its comp plan and coming up with a new urban-growth strategy as well as a new recruitment effort targeting port-related industries.
LEADER
» Avery C. Roberts of Roberts Land & Timber Investment Corp. is working to locate an industrial complex in the county that would cater to the needs of port-related businesses.