FCCJ, Duval County Discuss Joint School

In an unprecedented move in Duval County, Florida Community College at Jacksonville, the Duval County School District and the Davis family that owns Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. are talking about opening a nearly $12 million joint campus, located near U.S. Highway 1 and the proposed State Road 9B.

Although in the early stages of planning, FCCJ officials hope to ask the Florida Legislature for $11.7 million in Public Education Capital Outlay funds, saying the money would be "highly cost-efficient given effective use of shared spaces, infrastructure and support systems." In turn, that money would be used to buy about 100 acres on a 200-acre parcel of land from the Davis family and to build the joint high school and college campus. FCCJ officials would like to see the campus open by 2007.

Grand Opening of St. Johns Town Center Mall

The first new regional mall in more than a decade has opened with more than 1.5 million square feet of retail shops.

Unlike any previous Jacksonville mall, St. Johns Town Center is a 200-acre development featuring more than 100 retailers and restaurants including Target, Dillard's, Dick's Sporting Goods, Ann Taylor Loft, Sephora, Maggiano's Little Italy, The Cheesecake Factory and P.F. Chang's China Bistro.

Strategically positioned at J. Turner Butler Boulevard and State Road 9A, St. Johns Town Center also will include a residential component, with 225 luxury apartments, as well as two hotels, and a 150,000-square-foot second phase that promises a combination of upscale retailers such as Macy's, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue.

The second phase of St. Johns Town Center is set to begin in late summer, on a vacant 3-acre tract.

While its impact on the tax base is estimated to grow to $250 million annually, questions remain about the center's effect on other sectors of the local economy, particularly the labor force and other retailers.

Though both sectors could see changes, the labor force might show signs of an impact first as workers seek more convenient employment. The center will create more than 3,000 jobs, officials said.