Emerson Call Center being torn down - Redeveloped

[spuwho]

and replaced by retail at the Emerson/Philips Highway intersection. FYI: Developer filed for a mobility fee calculation

Per Jax Daily Record:

By Karen Brune Mathis, Managing Editor

A 75,000-square-foot vacant call center at Emerson Street and Philips Highway is coming down early this year to make way for five retail stores.
The center, which housed a BellSouth call center and later was used by Precision Response Corp., should be demolished by March or soon after.

Demetree Brothers Inc., a real estate development, construction management and property management company, owns the 7.5-acre site and has been unable to sell the building.

"We are going to try to redevelop the property," said Larry Matthews, Demetree Brothers vice president for commercial.

He said about 2 acres already was sold to Gate Petroleum Co., which is building a convenience store and gas station on the site to replace a smaller one nearby. The location is just off Interstate 95.

Matthews said Thursday the property parcels would be sold to retail users. Construction would begin after Demetree reaches an agreement with the city on the mobility fee, which is a fee for development impacts, and the call center is demolished.

Matthews said some retailers have shown interest in the five sites. Colliers International is marketing the property.

In all, the 7.47-acre site would feature 37,500 square feet of new retail stores.

DBSB Inc., whose president is J.C. Demetree Jr., owns the property.

In late December, DBSB applied for a mobility-fee calculation certificate that outlined the project, called the "Shops of Philips." Matthews said that was a generic name.

The mobility fee was calculated as of Dec. 31 to be $976,004, city documents show.

The application says the two-story call-center building would be removed to make way for the development. The documents and a site plan show:

• A 15,000-square-foot pharmacy/drugstore with a drive-thru window on 1.62 acres.

• An 8,000-square-foot bank with eight drive-in lanes on 1.56 acres at the corner of the intersection.

• A 7,500-square-foot auto parts store on 1.71 acres.

• Two 3,500-square-foot fast-food restaurants on 1.33-acre and 1.07-acre sites.

No tenants or users were identified on the plans.

Fred Atwill Jr. of Atwill LLC is the agent and Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc. is a consultant.

Matthews said the property uses were not set in stone.

"We are trying to maximize our use. We have had some interest from some of those people," he said, referring to the prospective retailers.

Matthews said the site's access by residents in the Hendricks Avenue and San Jose Boulevard areas make it attractive for fast-food and pharmacy retailers.

"It's very accessible from any part of the county," he said.

Property records show DBSB has owned the site at 3100 Emerson St. since 1997. DBSB bought the property from BellSouth Telecommunications Inc. The call-building was constructed in 1979.

Matthews and Harris Dunn, vice president of DBSB and vice president and CFO of Demetree Brothers, said a year ago, when plans surfaced for a potential redevelopment, that the goal was to lease or sell the office building to a single user.

The office structure was built for Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Co. Matthews said Thursday it has been vacant for 11 years.

"Clearly it was not an attractive location as a call center, which we tried to lease for a number of years," he said.

"We made that decision the building will come down and to redevelop the property. It's just time for it."

[coredumped]

This is good news, I'm glad to hear of things being redeveloped.

[thekillingwax]

Good to see something being done. I will kinda miss the bellsouth building because my aunt worked there for years and on many weekends, I'd come to work with her and kinda roam around the building. As a kid, I always wanted to buy and move into it because it's built like a fortress.

[iMarvin]

How likely is an urban design since the mobility fee is in effect?

[thelakelander]

^Not likely at all. I believe the proposed development is a typical suburban outparcel layout, which is probably why the mobility fee is nearly $1 million.