Part Four: The relationships which develop between those who serve together  in military conflicts foster amazing relationships. Shared experiences bring together cultures and friendships to last a lifetime. Brothers in arms is  short series of  stories about a triangulation of  two Jacksonville, Fla. military officers and an Afghani translator ~ ~

Working hand in hand

I’d  like to hear  from  Maj. Rinaman about his Afghanistan rotation in further detail. I’d also like to know more about his service with the Florida National Guard, as he is a Major.  However, he seems to be completely OCCUPIED with the old library project, which Ajmal previously mentioned.

AS WE’LL RECALL …

“I was doing engineering, planning and environmental services consulting as well as acquiring and developing real estate projects. I got wind in November 2004 that I was likely going to get called up – I was alerted February 2005 and went on orders 28 March 2005 for 15 months.

“The impact here is that you’re in limbo -  whether to wind down your business operations, or not, beginning months before you actually mobilize. Then there is a three to six month reset and recovery period to get the business pipeline going again.  And that’s when times are good!

I put a group  together to respond to and RFP [Request for Proposal] to redevelop the [Haydon Burns] Library seven years ago during the [Mayor John] Delaney administration, which was not acted upon due to the impending change in the administration.

“The city of Jacksonville then started another RFP process in March of 2005.  I put together another group [Main Branch LLC] – we worked up a RFP response while I was at Camp Shelby [Miss.] spinning up for the deployment.  We had a presentation while I was on block leave two weeks before deploying in July 2005. We came  in third.

Off in the distance ...

I tracked it from Afghanistan as the whole process was covered EXHAUSTIVELY in the media:

… From Urban Jacksonville: The fate of the historic Hayden Burns Library could be decided today [June 17, 2005]. The city will choose from five different proposals, here is a rundown of a few of those.

1. Main Branch LLC plans to convert the library to condos, office space, a restaurant and a grocery store. Most important, Main branch will preserve the architecture, which is a defining element of Ocean Street. This would be the most advantageous for Downtown Jacksonville!

2. Peterbrooke Chocolate plans to convert the library to a chocolate factory. Sure this would be a PR success, “The entire city smells like chocolates!” However this brings no value to the residents/workforce of Downtown Jacksonville.

3. Atkins Group plans to convert the library to condos, retail space and a movie theatre. This would be more acceptable than the Peterbrooke plan, however a quality grocery store is sorely needed in downtown. Especially with the number of residential units increasing.

LONG STORY SHORT – I had one project I was still working from Afghanistan [unknown to the client] which I could expect to support me for a few months after redeployment, but my practice was pretty much dead after being out of the game for the better part of two years.

Then, we [Meet Main Branch LLC - Financial News and Daily Record, Sept. 16, 2006] won the right to negotiate for the Library after the OTHER TWO WENT AWAY.

Haydon Burns ~ Daytime rendering

“This took another year and we closed April 2007. I ‘ve been working on the development of the Library primarily. I am only recently beginning to spin my consulting practice back up.

“I also got married (Lisa) and had two boys (Mark Jr., two and a half years; and August  seven months)”

( The End?)

THE LAST KNOWN  DEVELOPMENT: Building occupancy commitments are  at 43 percent after FOLIO WEEKLY dropped plans as a key tenant because of the downturn in the economy. Banks are not lending because of a 50 percent requirement for leased spaced.  Financing Options … Applied Community Grants? New Markets Tax Credit Financing?

The future heart of the downtown entertainment district.

• Fantastic graphic presentation of the “The Library”  from Metro Jacksonville.

• Main Branch LLC’s Web site.

STAY TUNED:  Possible update?

- k. a. gardner

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Tags | Florida National Guard, Jacksonville, Main Branch LLC