Metro Jacksonville

http://www.news4jax.com/news/Gateway-Mall-served-forclosure-papers/-/475880/8809460/-/65snmjz/-/index.html

Gateway Mall served forclosure papers

Supervisor of Elections has complained about building conditions

Published On: Feb 20 2012 02:10:18 PM EST  Updated On: Feb 20 2012 03:28:31 PM EST

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -
The owner of Gateway Mall on Jacksonville's Northside has been served foreclosure papers, Channel 4 has learned.

The mall houses city offices, including a tax collector site and a police stop station, as well as several stores. One of the major tenants is the Supervisor of Elections Office, where the election center is housed.

The city pays more than $55,000 a month in rent just for that site.

Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland has been complaining for months about the conditions at the site, saying they haven't been repaired in more than a year. He said the building is falling apart and the owner has not paid taxes even though the city keeps paying its rent.

The mall owner, Carlton Jones, said last month it was just sour grapes because Holland wants to move from the site.

Last week, Holland said he met with the mayor's staff, Jones and Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Fla., and worked out an arrangement. At least that's what he thought until he got a notice Friday saying the bank is foreclosing on Gateway Mall.

"My job is to worry about the problems nobody else worries about," Holland said. "I am concerned that the administration does not consider this a problem and that we are not considering any other options. We got the next election in 180 days and my concern is, what happens if we are asked to move out of Gateway before the election?"

Mayor Alvin Brown's staff has been quiet about the Gateway situation. His office said all comments on the issue will come from the city's General Counsel, Cindy Laquidara, who said it's too early to tell if the Elections Office and other city agencies will be forced out.

"That is very premature," she said. "The supervisor is interested in having a steady place to have this election, as is, I am sure, the city. My job as the attorney is to make sure that happens, and there are many legal protections we have to address."

Jones was unavailable for comment Monday, and his office had a sign that said it was temporarily closed.

"I think we have to consider other options," Holland said. "We are very careless if we are thinking this will all workout and this is our only option."

The foreclosure papers are the first step in a foreclosurer proceeding between the bank and the landlord.


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http://www.news4jax.com/news/Gateway-Mall-served-forclosure-papers/-/475880/8809460/-/65snmjz/-/index.html

Carlton Jones has been skating by on many of his properties for years...all the meanwhile giving money to pols and hobnobbing with the city's elite

Does he have other properties that are about to go under?

Of Course Jones is closed on President's day!

Wasn't Gateway Mall supposed to be a BRT transit hub?  What happens now?

The landlord needs to get his act together.

Quote from: Dashing Dan on February 20, 2012, 08:06:28 PM
Wasn't Gateway Mall supposed to be a BRT transit hub?  What happens now?

Don't worry Dan, JTA will ask for their $100 million back so they can buy the mall and claim their BRT system created massive transit oriented development.

Ya know, the scary part of my previous statement? It might happen!

OCKLAWAHA

LOL, I wouldn't be surprised if something that actually happened. 

My guess is that no real BRT improvements would have been made at Gateway.  It already has a decent bus station BRT vehicles can drive into just like the existing bus services do now.

Getting onto and off of Golfair is a bitch - isn't that why they were installing the bus only lane around back along I-95?

QuoteThe city pays more than $55,000 a month in rent just for that site.

Couldn't we buy an empty lot downtown and build a building to house these offices for $660,000 a year?

^^I agree! plenty of empty space to fill.

No need to buy a lot. Just pick an empty building. Downtown has tons.

At the going rate, how much downtown space could you get for $660,000 per year?

To make matters worse, Jacksonville.com says Gateway is 90% occupied, which I believe. It may only be neghiborhood stores, but they have enough teants. This guy is a true slum lord. If he is not maintaining the property, nor paying the mortgage, what the hell is he doing.??

Quote from: thelakelander on February 21, 2012, 08:38:14 AM
No need to buy a lot. Just pick an empty building. Downtown has tons.

Isn't there space for lease at the Federal Reserve building on Water St.?  That might be a good fit for elections office.  Gotta be one of the most secure places in town.

seeing as there is no one working downtown, building owners could easily provide some space for a minimum price.

Quote from: Dashing Dan on February 21, 2012, 09:52:46 AM
At the going rate, how much downtown space could you get for $660,000 per year?

35,000 square feet

QuoteGateway center developer wants to sell notes to investor, avoid foreclosure
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Gateway Town Center

02/21/2012
from staff

Developer Carlton Jones said this morning that he is working with a real estate investor who he expects could buy the notes on the Gateway Town Center in North Jacksonville by March 1.

If that happens, Jones expects a foreclosure action on the property would be withdrawn.

“I am confident our group will close on or before March 1,” Jones said in a telephone interview.

In the meantime, Jones said the center, at 5238 Norwood Ave., is operating as usual.

“All the leases are in place,” said Jones. He said the center is about 65 percent leased with more leases pending.

A foreclosure suit was filed Feb. 9 in Duval County Circuit Court against the owner of the Gateway, according to county records.

Gateway Retail Center LLC, a partnership that has a Miami Beach address, filed the suit against Gateway Center Economic Development Partnership Ltd. and several other parties.

Jones said he spoke with the lender. “If I close on March 1, they will withdraw,” he said of the foreclosure.

He did not identify the potential new investor. “They are a private investment fund and they have the resources,” he said.

Gateway Retail Center LLC filed a lis pendens â€" a notice of pending litigation â€" against plaintiffs Gateway Center Economic Development Partnership Ltd., Colbyco Enterprises Inc., Renaissance Design Build Group of Duval County Inc., Carlton D. Jones, Cal Development Inc., War on Poverty-Florida Inc., Gateway to Heaven Christian Center Inc., Colbyco Realty Inc., Wilson & Company Inc., the City of Jacksonville “and all others whom it may concern.”

Jones is an officer in many of the companies listed.

Records show the property, consisting of 14 buildings, carries a 2011 taxable value of $11.8 million. Gateway consists of about 56 acres.

Jones said he learned that Wells Fargo, which acquired the note when it merged with Wachovia, sold the note on the property near the end of the year to Gateway Retail Center LLC.

Gateway Retail Center LLC was registered with the state Division of Corporations in October.

Jones said Rialto Capital Advisors signed the documents for the foreclosure and that Rialto is part of Lennar.

“They buy notes and they are developers,” he said.

“They had a relationship with Wells Fargo.”

He said the conversations with Rialto “have been cordial.”

Meanwhile, one tenant, Duval County Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland, said this morning that he did not know the landlord’s intentions. Holland said he “never anticipated” the current predicament and that there are potential short- and long-term ramifications.

“At this point, we just don’t know,” he said.

Short-term, it’s a presidential election year and Holland said he was not in a position to assume that the office will not be evicted before the fall elections. He said the Gateway facility houses necessary personnel and machinery, and that includes a mailing apparatus that costs $35,000 to move, tabulating machines, training rooms and a 70-person call center.

“We need to have a Plan B,” he said.

Such a plan could be decided by the mayor’s office.

Holland said he will see what the administration thinks about the situation, although he said he met with the administration last week to discuss potential long-term plans to relocate the Gateway office.

Holland said the administration rejected an idea to move to a building at 6400 Atlantic Blvd., which he said could save taxpayers $200,000-$300,000. He said the City’s real estate office has reviewed more than 30 possible locations, including Downtown in The Armory building at 851 Market St., but it was not cost-feasible.

A City ordinance passed in June kept the office in its current Gateway location for six months, with a month-to-month option held by the City after the lease expires in March.

Jones said Gateway has a lot of potential, including with a medical clinic that completed a more than $3 million build-out there.

The other tenants within the enclosed mall portion have moved into a Gateway strip shopping center or into the perimeter of the mall, he said.

“This new lender will spend money to build out a new medical pavilion,” he said.

Jones said also that the center is negotiating with a tenant for 25,000 square feet of space.

“I look at this very positively,” he said. “I am committed to Gateway.”

One of the newest tenants is Hibbett Sports, which Gateway Operations Director Chris Jones said signed a 10-year lease for 5,000 square feet of space.

In May, the Marcus & Millichap National Retail Group listed Gateway Town Center for sale at $23 million. The listing showed Gateway, just off Interstate 95 along Norwood Avenue, with 560,352 square feet of leasable space on 56 acres. It said the center, built in 1967 and renovated in 2005, is anchored by Publix, RadioShack and Family Dollar.

Jones said the Rialto group was interested in the property at the time

.

So..should the mall be leveled and redeveloped or could something save it and make the area more viable. Seems like a alot of space to change. I thought maybe a trades college. There is plenty of space to do just about anything.