Downtown officially out of the running for big Citizens office deal

[thelakelander]

Probably another win for Baymeadows since the only two places offering that amount of square footage within their 5-mile radius are Freedom Commerce Center and Cypress Point (where they're already at).

Office space in Downtown Jacksonville is not in the running for the Citizens Property Insurance expansion, t he largest office deal to circle the city in years.

Citizens issued its invitation to negotiate Thursday afternoon, which spells out exactly what it's looking for. That would be to lease about 226,400 square feet of "existing Class A or B office space preferably in a single building or buildings in an adjacent complex/campus setting. Boundary requirement is an approximate five-mile radius from current leased office space at 7215 Financial Way."

full article: http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2014/05/08/downtown-jacksonville-officially-out-of-the.html

[IrvAdams]

Oh well, at least Baymeadows is becoming dense enough that it could become its own little city. Make it walkable, and it can be a small stand alone metro :-)

[Stephen]

Too bad....typical but too bad.

No Lumb No Love No LumbLove       Jacksonville needs to Aim High

[edjax]

With this company it is more a reflection of the company and not what they may or may not think of downtown. Downtown was never going to happen with them.  Since they are a quasi government org and actually assess property insurance policies throughout the state in the event they would not have the funds to pay for a major hurricane they watch their money spent very closely on space. They would have to answer questions to the policyholders of Florida why do I pay assessments while you have a shiny office downtown.  Could it be cheaper downtown? Possibly but they have to deal with perception. Also when they moved to their primary current location they had a requirement that it would have to be 2 stories or less. Their reasoning was they felt a higher rise building could be more susceptible to wind damage from a tropical storm/hurricane and thus potentially have to close during a catastrophic wind event in the state. And being the primary hurricane insurer in the state they did not want to take that risk.

[BoldBoyOfTheSouth]

Back office mentality belongs in hells like Baymeadows.

[edjax]

Or perhaps sometime there are real reasons and not just rants.

[Tacachale]

Or perhaps sometime there are real reasons and not just rants.

+1.

[thelakelander]

Baymeadows needs love too. There's a ton of empty office space that can be filled in places like Freedom Commerce Center.

[mtraininjax]

It comes down to Money. Citizens already has offices at JTB and 95, so why try and move everything into downtown, a place where "lots of stuff has been announced, but not quite finished", and there is established bus routes and buildings in place in Freedom Commerce, with lots of empty space as Lake alluded to, so it really comes down to money. Costs are less in Baymeadows, and the area is ready to go based on this vendor's needs.

[I-10east]

Or perhaps sometime there are real reasons and not just rants.

Amen!!! That applies to like 60 percent of the threads/thread revivals on MJ. The Whole Foods 'non-story' being the latest. 

[thelakelander]

EverBank Center still wants to bid for Citizens:

By Karen Brune Mathis, Managing Editor

EverBank Center's representative said today the owners will bid to bring Citizens Property Insurance Corp. to the Downtown tower if they can.
Citizens Property, which is a government corporation that provides insurance protection to Florida property owners, wants to consolidate and expand offices in Jacksonville into about 226,400 square feet of office space.

"We will definitely bid if they amend the boundaries to include Downtown Northbank," said El Ad Florida LLC representative Pamela Smith, who participated Thursday in a Citizens Property pre-bid conference about the Invitation to Negotiate.

Smith asked about the company's requirement that the office space be within a 5-mile radius of a Citizens Property office at 7215 Financial Way in Southside.

"We are not five miles," Smith said at the 1 p.m. session. "We are eight miles and my question is how approximate is that? Can we submit a bid?"

Citizens Property Procurement Officer Patty Davis responded that Smith's property was outside the boundaries but encouraged her to send the question in writing so it can be considered.

full article: http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=542943

[ProjectMaximus]

Interesting. You'd think Citizens' guidelines were very deliberate.

[thelakelander]

When you're desperate, you have to get a little aggressive, make them notice you and when they do, make an offer they can't refuse.

[fsujax]

Good for them for being aggressive, sometimes that how things get done.

[thelakelander]

Downtown is back in the mix:

Downtown is in play for the large Citizens Property Insurance Corp. office consolidation that could bring more than 1,000 jobs to the urban core.
Citizens Property has extended the boundaries for the site search, which had been limited to a 5-mile radius from its Baymeadows area offices.

The boundary requirement is listed now as an 8-mile radius from Interstate 95 and Butler Boulevard.

The company posted on its website Wednesday that it had amended the requirements. Because of that, Downtown building landlords can compete for the deal.

Two weeks ago, EverBank Center's representative said during a pre-bid conference the owners would bid to bring Citizens Property to the Downtown tower if the boundaries were extended.

Citizens Property, which is a state government corporation that provides insurance protection to Florida property owners, wants to consolidate and expand offices in Jacksonville into about 226,400 square feet of office space.

"We will definitely bid if they amend the boundaries to include Downtown Northbank," said El Ad Florida LLC representative Pamela Smith, who participated in a Citizens Property pre-bid conference May 15 about the Invitation to Negotiate.

She raised the question about the company's requirement that the office space be within a 5-mile radius of a Citizens Property office at 7215 Financial Way in Southside. "We are eight miles," she said. "Can we submit a bid?"

Citizens Property Procurement Officer Patty Davis responded that Smith's property was outside the boundaries but encouraged her to send the question in writing so it could be considered.

The response posted Wednesday amended the boundaries to include Downtown.

http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=543050