Another major company abandoning Downtown for the Southside.

[thelakelander]

The cost of parking again mentioned as a major negative in the Northbank.  I must say that I find it pretty sad that many of our corporate leaders believe that the interection of Southside and JTB is a "world class corporate setting."  Can you be a world class environment without even having sidewalks?

Fortegra abandoning downtown Jacksonville location



Fortegra Financial Corp., formerly known as Life of the South, is abandoning the downtown Jacksonville building known by the company’s former name and moving to the suburbs.

Fortegra is based at a seven-story building at the corner of Bay and Laura Streets in downtown Jacksonville that still has the Life of the South name. According to its IPO filing, Fortegra has 50,000 square feet of space in that building, which Duval County property records show has a total of 75,000 square feet of space.

Flagler said Fortegra is taking 58,000 square feet at Deerwood South.

“We chose to relocate our corporate headquarters to Flagler’s Deerwood South business park because of its convenient location, quality space offerings and world class corporate setting,” Fortegra CEO Richard Kahlbaugh said in an announcement released by Flagler.

A. Quinn Bell, general partner of the group that owns the Life of the South building, said his group tried to work with Fortegra to keep it there, including looking for city incentives. But there was no money available from the city, he said.

“Parking is a continuing problem [downtown],” Bell said. “It’s very costly.”

full article: http://jacksonville.com/business/2010-10-18/story/second-signature-company-leaving-downtown-jacksonville

[CS Foltz]

Well golly...........you mean to tell me that JEDC  or DVI or even Johnny's office did not get involved? But there is no parking issue downtown according to _____________ (insert name)It would look to me like neither of the 3 are really involved with the City issue's!

[JeffreyS]

Parking is a real problem but making everything cheaper is not the final answer. A great urban area will cost more than the stucco parks built out of former swamp land.  The trick is to become a great urban area.

[Noone]

The cost of parking? The city with the assistance of the taxpayer has guaranteed Metropolitan Parking Solutions a profit.

What is the Downtown status of this taxpayer subsidy?

Is bankruptcy for our city an option?

[Keith-N-Jax]

Please can we closed the site down for atleast a week. After last night I really cant take any more bad news.

[downtownjaxgurl]

Great!!! Another empty building to look upon in my neighborhood! I say neighborhood because I live on Adams ST at The Carling. I mean we can tear up Laura ST for what? Another empty building so the homeless can take refuge in like the old Florida Life building located on Laura. I mean seriously what is the city doing about this?

[Keith-N-Jax]

What is the city doing,,easy,, nothing its what they do best. I guessed they learned that from Kansas City!!

[johnny_simpatico]

Lack of parking isn't the problem with downtown Jacksonville.  Look at some of the most desirable downtowns -- New York, Paris, London, for example.  Is parking (or driving) cheap or easy in those places?  No.  Look at downtown Jacksonville, with one largely vacant multistory parking garage after another amid acres and acres of shabby surface parking lots.  With all this supply, I'd be willing to bet that net cost to provide office space and parking down there is competitive with suburban spots.  

The real problem is that lack of density, the lack of vitality, and the vapid streetscape of parking lots, concrete facades, vacant storefronts, etc. gives downtown a horribly uninviting feel.  

There's no easy fix.  Not commuter trains.  Not streetcars.  Not a parking lot for Toney Sleiman.

To make downtown more inviting, the sprawl model has to be stopped or reversed.  New suburban development needs to be frozen.  Highway spending has to be curtailed so that the ability to reach these "world class" destinations is not constantly minimized.  (I'm surprised there's not more outrage at the monstrosity we've created where I-95 and I-10 merge.  The number of exits for some insane reason has doubled.  There are so many, some are not even labeled!  A windfall for highway contractors!)

But you and I know the sprawl model will not be reversed.  The developers are in charge here and will remain in charge, with no real voice for the activists, the academics, the environmentalists, or any one else who might have a different opinion about Jacksonville's livability.  

[fsujax]

The City needs to issue a moratorium on building any new office buildings outside DT Jax! I agree I dont think there is one silver bullet to fix this problem. The bleeding continues and our leaders are asleep at the wheel. sad.

[duvaldude08]

I had an interview at Life of the South about 5 years ago. And there is no parking issue for them. They use the lot right next to the building. It's not free, but that was the lot they used.

[duvaldude08]

I was strolling through downtown yesterday and there are so many empty building and lots. There is plenty of room for expanding downtown. We have to do something. Our DT has the poteninal to great, but nothing happends. So sad. And what is even more sad is the fact that the Mayor does not even care. Yes Johnny boy has attracted alot of businesses here during his reign as major, however he did not even attempt to sell our DT, that is pathetic. I can not wait until the elections......

[trigger]

I wouldn't focus too much on parking as the real reason these businesses are relocating from Downtown to the Southside. There was a study of the corporate exodus to suburban business parks from New York in the 80s (I wish I could remembers the authors' names). Even then, New York had one of the most extensive public transit systems in the country. The concluded a strong predictor of where companies were relocated was where the homes of the chief officers of the company were located. It would not surprise me in the least if the upper echelon executives of these companies live in Ponte Vedra Beach or North St. Johns County. The study also concluded a large number of these companies were mergers, sold or bankrupt within 3 years after relocation out of New York City, indicating the cost-savings of the relocation were used by executives as an excuse to cover loss of market competitiveness. it's a typical of the corporate world for executives that can't solve the larger problem (we're losing money because we can't compete anymore) to divert attention away by solving something wouldn't be a problem (cost of rent, parking, etc.) if they were competitive in the first place. In the meantime, the executives responsible for the relocation usually get out of Dodge before the sh!t hits the fan in toll with a nice severance package for saving so much money with the relocation. It's perverse.

[Captain Zissou]

Please can we closed the site down for atleast a week. After last night I really cant take any more bad news.

I agree.

I'm so fed up with our city right now.  We should cut everyone who makes any decisions for the city's salary in half.  That's all they've earned.  Charlotte's looking more appealing by the day.

[Keith-N-Jax]

Anyone want to buy my house. I can finish nursing school in Atlanta(should have never left what was I thinking) Sorry guys I'm really in a bad mood.

[downtownjaxgurl]

The City needs to issue a moratorium on building any new office buildings outside DT Jax! I agree I dont think there is one silver bullet to fix this problem. The bleeding continues and our leaders are asleep at the wheel. sad.

I agree!!!