GE & Aetna looking to move corporate headquarters; Atlanta & Tampa interested

[thelakelander]

Atlanta appears to be a serious consideration for the relocation of General Electric's headquarters, which economic development officials in Tampa had said they were pursuing.

Tishman Speyer Properties, a New York developer, may meet with GE representatives in the coming weeks to discuss a 30-story tower under construction in the Buckhead area, Bloomberg reports, citing unnamed sources.
Dallas is also said to be one of several markets in the running.

The company (NYSE: GE) made headlines in June when it publicly declared that it would look to move its headquarters from Connecticut in response to corporate tax increases. Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET), also based in Connecticut, issued a similar statement at the time.

Full article: http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2015/08/20/atlanta-appears-to-be-a-serious-contender-for.html

[Captain Zissou]

Further proof that corporate tax incentives, or the lack thereof, keep or lose companies.  Stephen will point out that big businesses aren't the only things that drive downtown, but how else can you bring 1,000 employees with one project?

[Steve]

It would be nice to have Jacksonville on this list too. With a headquarters not only do you get the employee count you also get the top tier of the employees in terms of salaries. Plus, you get the philanthropic aspect as well. Companies give much more in their home town then at a regional office.

[thelakelander]

Further proof that corporate tax incentives, or the lack thereof, keep or lose companies.  Stephen will point out that big businesses aren't the only things that drive downtown, but how else can you bring 1,000 employees with one project?

We'll find out soon. Citizens is just about done with their buildout on the floors above and below me. Back in 2013, what's now known as EverBank Center was 59 percent leased:

The EverBank Center at 301 W. Bay St. is currently 84 percent leased, but AT&T's departure will reduce that to 59 percent, Smith said.

Smith said that will leave the building with largest contiguous block of Class A downtown office space in the Southeast, outside of Atlanta. And she expects that it will need a new company moving into town.

"I don't think we can redo EverBank," she said. "That was a once in a lifetime thing."

EverBank announced in 2011 that it would move its 1,500 employees from the Southside to the former AT&T Tower, which was renamed EverBank Center.

http://jacksonville.com/business/2013-08-13/story/downtowns-largest-building-big-hole-fill-att-leaving-everbank-center

Landing Citizens and their 1,000 employees will basically fill the entire building up (vacancy rate will be less than 10%). I'll be interested to see if there are new small businesses that end up opening within a block or two of this area over the next few months.

It would take decades to fill up a 30-story class A office building with small businesses. At the end of the day, you need a mix of both (small and big business). My "ONE" floor in EverBank Center is one that has been carved up for small businesses. There's roughly 100 firms of various size, sharing space. Most are law firms (yes, you can forget about law firms needing to build near the new courthouse).

[Wacca Pilatka]

It would be nice to have Jacksonville on this list too. With a headquarters not only do you get the employee count you also get the top tier of the employees in terms of salaries. Plus, you get the philanthropic aspect as well. Companies give much more in their home town then at a regional office.

Especially as both companies have a presence in Jacksonville already, one would think that entering the competition should at least be a thought.

[thelakelander]

I believe it's good to have a mix of both. You're not operating at your best if you swing completely to either end of the spectrum. The most vibrant cities have found a way to implement policies that work for small and big businesses.

[Captain Zissou]

There isn't a single city that has purchased its way to vibrancy by corporate welfare without also having progressive policies in place for small business development in the urban core.

I agree with you, but I think our city is farther away from developing the environment to bring in the small businesses.  Corporate incentives is a great way to get the ball rolling with some big companies and then you fill out the downtown environment with the small businesses and services that give the feeling of a real urban center. 

I think there are still a couple big fish that we need to land to give us the base of economic activity and large amounts of feet on the ground.

[thelakelander]

Plenty of office space is available on the Downtown Northbank. In the first quarter, Central Business District vacancies generally ranged from about 21 percent overall to 26.3 percent specifically on the Northbank, according to real estate firms.

And a lot of space is available at One Enterprise Center, a Class A office tower with a 56 percent vacancy rate, according to CBRE Inc.

CBRE rents space in the building and serves as its leasing and management firm. It declined comment about plans for the structure.

CBRE says in a marketing profile on loopnet.com that about 154,000 square feet of the available space is contiguous, meaning a tenant wanting a large presence in one block of floors could find it there.

The location is in a prime spot at 225 Water St., near the Jacksonville Landing and adjacent to the Omni Jacksonville Hotel, which is separately owned.

Its history dates to 1986, when the more than 350,000-square-foot building was developed to house the headquarters of Florida National Banks of Florida.

Co-working, 20 employees here, 15 there, etc. isn't going to fill a large Class A office building like Enterprise Center.  In its case, we'll need to find a company or a couple of companies that could bite off chunks of contiguous space. It's easier to get creative with smaller buildings like the Exchange National Bank, Furghgotts, or old Rosenblum's store. Given the different mix of buildings in the urban core (age, footprint, leasing rates, location, etc.), different approaches are needed.

[iMarvin]

Is Jacksonville even being considered/going after it?

[thelakelander]

There was a Jax Biz Journal article back in June that said Enterprise Florida was approaching them. I have no idea if that push will involve Jax or not.

http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/blog/morning-edition/2015/06/enterprise-florida-enters-fray-for-connecticut.html