Would selling School Board building help?

[thelakelander]

Crist suggested shedding the riverfront site, but members say it's not that easy.

By J. Taylor Rushing, Capital Bureau Chief

TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Charlie Crist has this simple suggestion for how Duval County public schools can cope with the budget crunch: Sell your riverfront administration building.  Duval school leaders offer an equally simple reply: Thanks but no thanks.

During an interview with Jacksonville radio station WOKV this month, Crist, a former education commissioner, suggested the school system move from its Southbank headquarters, questioning the need for costly waterfront real estate instead of something cheaper.

"The money that they would get from the sale and getting into a more modest building, they could spend on teachers and schools," Crist told the interviewer.

The governor elaborated last week in Tallahassee, saying he intended the comment to apply statewide, not just to Duval County. But e-mails obtained by the Times-Union show the comment united Duval School Board members and school administrators in anger and surprise. And they are speaking out to clarify the situation and correct the governor.

click on link to read full article: http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/073007/met_187803593.shtml

[thelakelander]

It would have been nice if the School Board could have purchased the old JEA Building before Chris H. took it over.  For $4 million, they could have had a centralized 19 story office tower right between city hall and the new courthouse site.

[vicupstate]

Yes.  That would have been a perfect location for them that would have helped the area around it significant as well (and thus raise property tax revenues).  $13mm minus 4 million would still leave $9mm for renovations.  I would thnk that would be more than sufficient.     

[Jason]

Now that the southbank proposals have all but fizzled out completely and the market has cooled significantly they may be better off to wait it out for a while.  If the San Marco Riverfront District proposal takes off I would expect them to sell off the riverfront property and move to the core.  They'll surely get much more money for the land by selling to an eager developer.

[Brick]

It is amazing the lack of foresight that many of the local officals have.  This one building has been the death of several southbank projects... most notable the JEA redevelopment plan. There is absolutely no reason that the school board should be on the riverfront! The City is just as accountable for not moving them to another site for the sake of process. Think of the lost tax base alone due to the death of the San Marco Riverfront District!

[Jason]

I thought the SMRD demise was due to failed JEA negotiations not because of the School Board.

[jbm32206]

It wasn't because of the school board....however, I've long since agreed that the DCSB should move into a more economical building. There's simply no valid reason to have stay on the waterfront property. They've talked about moving many times, but instead, renovated the main offices of the superintendent and school board members!

[spidey]

Because of the way the JEA property is situated, they had to have a way of getting in and out, and I believe that way was through the school board property, if memory serves me correctly.

[Jason]

You're right Spidey.  But the news reports stated that the failed negotiations were between JEA and the developer due to some environmental concerns.

[spidey]

Yes Jason, you are right.  I was just filling in the blanks for those who wondered whether or not the school board had anything to do with it.  The entrance and exit issue was just one of many hurdles that the developers of the proposed project had to jump. I don't know if they ever resolved that one.  My guess is that a combination of issues ultimately led to the project's demise.

access through the school board's property;
environmental issues;
the real estate market tanked.