Aetna considering move from Southbank to Suburbs

[Dolph1975]

It's the train's fault.

AMEN!!!  Especially during shift change over at Baptist.  It's too much of a cluster-f!  Sometimes the cops that direct traffic and pedestrians add to the melee!

I just don't feel that moving all of these people and adding to the Southside congestion is a good idea either.  It would be nice if they could find something on the Northbank.  Even a build-to-suit in Brooklyn or in The District/Healthy Town.

[thelakelander]

^This isn't their corporate headquarters, so I can't imagine them wanting to do a build-to-suit anywhere in town. It seems like they're in search of the most cost effective location.

[spuwho]

Traffic on the southside was a disaster today. That would be funny if Aetna used today as their commute benchmark.  Looking at today, they would probably stay downtown.

[brainstormer]

I am a strong supporter of a vibrant downtown, however a few points to consider.

They probably surveyed their employees and if a lot of them live at the beach, on the Southside, or in St. Johns County, then that is something for them to consider.

The construction in and around downtown is never-ending. In the drive from St. Johns County there is construction at the future 9B interchange, at the Old St. Augustine interchange, at the JTB interchange, and from Emerson all the way into downtown. The traffic back ups get tiring for employees I'm sure.

At the same time, Southside Blvd is getting worse each month. Today was especially bad as my commute home was an extra 45 minutes.

They would lose the public exposure of not being part of our skyline, but they might not care about that.

[Overstreet]

Rent, and parking cost usually land near the top of the list. 

Will the downtown landlord compete or try to compete with the south side?

[Marle Brando]

It's the train's fault.

AMEN!!!  Especially during shift change over at Baptist.  It's too much of a cluster-f!  Sometimes the cops that direct traffic and pedestrians add to the melee!

I just don't feel that moving all of these people and adding to the Southside congestion is a good idea either.  It would be nice if they could find something on the Northbank.  Even a build-to-suit in Brooklyn or in The District/Healthy Town.

I too wonder if Peter Rummell will try to recruit either Aetna or even JEA for its new office tower in Healthy Town. Hopefully the school board is also considering a move next door in Healthy town/ The District.

[acme54321]

It's the train's fault.

AMEN!!!  Especially during shift change over at Baptist.  It's too much of a cluster-f!  Sometimes the cops that direct traffic and pedestrians add to the melee!

I just don't feel that moving all of these people and adding to the Southside congestion is a good idea either.  It would be nice if they could find something on the Northbank.  Even a build-to-suit in Brooklyn or in The District/Healthy Town.

I too wonder if Peter Rummell will try to recruit either Aetna or even JEA for its new office tower in Healthy Town. Hopefully the school board is also considering a move next door in Healthy town/ The District.

A leasing sign was hung on the fence at the JEA property a month or so ago.  It has a rendering of the site on it that appears the office tower is absent.  Not sure if it's an old rendering or what but it looks more downplayed than some of the others I have seen.

[fsquid]

The article doesn't disclose the location in Southside but I know they are looking at the BOA complex by the Avenues mall (which BOA has been actively marketing for awhile now).

BAC sold the Southside Campus a few years ago but have notified JLL that they are not going to pursue any of the excess space post consolidation.

Tax Defense has already leased space and moved in and the owners are getting ready to build a new parking garage between Building 400 and the Best Buy.

The campus does have some built in features somewhat unique to an office park.

- A full service day care
- Full onsite cafeteria with catering services
- Complete backup power generation
- Close access to 3 major highways (95/295E/295W)
- Surrounded by retail (including lots of car dealers)
- 2 parking garages (soon to be 3)

Word on the street is that the Bank of America sign on Southside is getting replaced with a office park sign and there is talk of who is getting signage rights on Building 100 (the tall one at the entrance)

I had no idea that BOA didn't take up the whole place anymore.   You would think that the ML guys would have moved in after they bought them.

[thelakelander]

^That's what happens when a local company gets acquired by one based in another community. Similar operations get streamlined and most of those lost jobs typically don't happen in the city the new corporate headquarters is based in.  This is the primary reason Jax's skyline hasn't really grown since the early 1990s. 

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2015-aug-seven-decisions-that-killed-downtown/page/

The mergers of banks and insurance companies resulted in us having a lot more office space than needed, once the corporate streamlining process was completed. Since this particular office complex was once Barnett's, it's no different than what took place with the BOA tower in downtown.

[spuwho]

The article doesn't disclose the location in Southside but I know they are looking at the BOA complex by the Avenues mall (which BOA has been actively marketing for awhile now).

BAC sold the Southside Campus a few years ago but have notified JLL that they are not going to pursue any of the excess space post consolidation.

Tax Defense has already leased space and moved in and the owners are getting ready to build a new parking garage between Building 400 and the Best Buy.

The campus does have some built in features somewhat unique to an office park.

- A full service day care
- Full onsite cafeteria with catering services
- Complete backup power generation
- Close access to 3 major highways (95/295E/295W)
- Surrounded by retail (including lots of car dealers)
- 2 parking garages (soon to be 3)

Word on the street is that the Bank of America sign on Southside is getting replaced with a office park sign and there is talk of who is getting signage rights on Building 100 (the tall one at the entrance)

I had no idea that BOA didn't take up the whole place anymore.   You would think that the ML guys would have moved in after they bought them.

There was some debate years ago about how they were going to balance the real estate between the Deer Lake Campus (Merrill Lynch) and the Southside Campus (BAC).

Essentially they allowed Deer Lake to fill up, and let Southside open up through attrition.

BAC recently changed their work from home policy for some of the divisions, so many BAC people are coming back in the next 30-60 days to fill out the remaining space they lease at Southside.  After they did this in Charlotte, almost 500 employees either quit, changed jobs or were laid off for refusing to come back in.  My understanding is that the come back rate in Jacksonville is very high. Reportedly, there are employees that have worked at home since the Barnett days and they too will have to come back in after over 20 years. JLL says the BAC specified work cubes are very small and the noise is high due to density. It will be a tough transition for someone used to working in the relative quiet of their home for so long.

So if Aetna does come to this location, it will be very full. I can see why they would want to build another garage if this comes to fruition.

[KenFSU]

Aetna is looking for a campus-style headquarters.

Doesn't bode well for them staying put:

http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=547322

[thelakelander]

^interesting:

It wants to expand by another 150 to 300 jobs, mainly in the area of call center representatives, said Downtown Investment Authority CEO Aundra Wallace.

Such jobs are typically housed in suburban office parks, which is where Aetna has scouted.

"I knew when they were looking into the suburbs, they were looking for campus-type environments," said Wallace

Wallace said the nature of the expansion is a factor in the company's possible move, as office parks have ample surface parking that doesn't factor into lease rates.

Wallace said while suburban spaces can offer better rates and ample surface parking, Downtown provides better company exposure in a "very good business community fabric."

"It comes down to business model," said Wallace. "Maybe Downtown doesn't fit their business model right now."

[JaxJersey-licious]

I'm trying to see a silver lining in the impending Aetna move away from the southbank besides it's commitment to expand it's operations and pledge to stay in the area. Could their departure help the core by keeping square foot leasing rates from getting too overheated making it more competitive to attract businesses not just from the suburbs but other CBDs in the region?

[FlaBoy]

That is wishful. There will continue to be a lot of commercial space throughout DT.

[I-10east]

Well atleast they are still in Jax. I know that a DT company heading to the burbs is the end of the world, gotcha. We have been very fortunate with keeping virtually all of our companies in town (outside of the occasional acquisition), and adding additional ones.