Quote(https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/sites/default/files/styles/sliders_and_planned_story_image_870x580/public/266572_standard.jpeg?itok=TQg8gRB_)
Gov. Ron DeSantis and Fidelity National Information Services Inc. Chairman, President and CEO Gary Norcross announced Friday that FIS is Project Sharp, a long-expected disclosure.
What that means is Jacksonville-based FIS will build a $145 million, 300,000-square-foot headquarters at 323 Riverside Ave. and create 500 jobs paying an average $85,000 a year by 2023.
"FIS has decided to double-down" in Jacksonville and "build a new and expanded headquarters," DeSantis said.
Full article: https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/fis-to-build-dollar145-million-headquarters-in-riverside-create-500-jobs
That is phenomenal. Huge news for Brooklyn, and all of Jax.
Giant win. I'm (hopefully) looking forward to more detailed renderings of the buildings.
FINALLY some new high-rise construction in Jax
Even if it's just proposed right now, the fact that it's proposed as a HQ for a large financial firm makes me think funding shouldn't dry up immediately at the sign of an economic downturn. No building or industry is recession-proof, but I reckon I can feel optimistic about this one.
The tower will be 12-stories. More pictures are up in the Jax Daily Record article:
https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/fis-to-build-dollar145-million-headquarters-in-riverside-create-500-jobs
12 floors is the same number as the current FIS/Black Knight building, but the heights per floor look to be higher on this. I hope there is some retail component fronting Riverside Ave, but otherwise this looks great.
Better picture:
(https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/sites/default/files/styles/sliders_and_planned_story_image_870x580/public/266601_standard.jpeg?itok=UmVjSddX)
Quote from: Captain Zissou on November 01, 2019, 02:15:01 PM
12 floors is the same number as the current FIS/Black Knight building, but the heights per floor look to be higher on this. I hope there is some retail component fronting Riverside Ave, but otherwise this looks great.
From the rendering it looks like the fire station is replaced with a road serving as the entrance. A large parking garage appears to be just north of where the station is today. Since the office tower looks like everything is self contained with little interaction with the riverwalk or the surrounding streets, the big question will revolve around the garage's ground frontage on Riverside Avenue.
Large parking deck on along Riverside Avenue?
Biz journal has a video. Turning from riverside onto the new access road. At the corner facing riverside it looks like there is a 'chance' for retail, but really hard to tell. I say bigger chance none.
Quote from: thelakelander on November 01, 2019, 03:29:24 PM
Quote from: Papa33 on November 01, 2019, 03:13:07 PM
Large parking deck on along Riverside Avenue?
Yes.
Too bad. That's the "accepted" "design standard" there unfortunately.
I don't fundamentally have an issue with a parking garage fronting the street. To me it's all about the ground level. That to me is an easy place to make retail work, especially given the added employees downtown here and at Florida Blue. The area around the building does look suburban, but I haven't seen a good rendering of the street frontage to judge yet.
It's interesting about the employee shift downtown. FIS right now is in the Black Knight Building and the Prudential Building on the Southbank, as well as one other building in town; I think somewhere on the southside. Assuming they all move here, then that frees up space for Black Knight, so the Black Knight employees in the Florida Blue tower move over, so I'm guessing that building would then be full (I don't see space for lease there). With the new parking garage, Florida Blue then backfills the space vacated by Black Knight moving out.
I think the only space that will truly be vacant and for lease Downtown will be in the Prudential building.
Quote from: Papa33 on November 01, 2019, 03:49:04 PM
Quote from: thelakelander on November 01, 2019, 03:29:24 PM
Quote from: Papa33 on November 01, 2019, 03:13:07 PM
Large parking deck on along Riverside Avenue?
Yes.
Too bad. That's the "accepted" "design standard" there unfortunately.
Unfortunately (or fortunately) you can blame the river for that.
Actually, this rendering isn't as bad as I feared (from Forest St looking at Riverside Ave):
(https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/sites/default/files/styles/sliders_and_planned_story_image_870x580/public/266643_standard.jpeg?itok=9FMg59j_)
It isn't the most urban thing ever seen, but clearly there are what appears to be store frontage along Riverside and at the corner.
Photos and Videos courtesy of the Daily Record:
https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/photo-gallery/photo-gallery-take-a-look-at-the-plans-for-the-new-fis-headquarters-on-riverside-avenue
https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/video/video-take-a-birds-eye-view-of-the-new-fis-headquarters
Quote from: jaxjags on November 01, 2019, 04:07:08 PM
Quote from: Papa33 on November 01, 2019, 03:49:04 PM
Quote from: thelakelander on November 01, 2019, 03:29:24 PM
Quote from: Papa33 on November 01, 2019, 03:13:07 PM
Large parking deck on along Riverside Avenue?
Yes.
Too bad. That's the "accepted" "design standard" there unfortunately.
Unfortunately (or fortunately) you can blame the river for that.
True. I will say....the layout there doesn't help as each block is a "superblock" to the river. Now, had we planned this better and taken the first half of each block as a long, block wide park spanning Riverside Avenue from downtown to the Fuller Warren it would actually create some awesome density. I think we missed that opportunity about 70 years ago if not longer.
Excellent news!
Style looks to be "fintech modern" 8). Not sure how distinctive it is for what may now be the world's largest fintech company but for Jax I guess it will grab some eyeballs. Unfortunately, buildings today like this are addressing potential security threats and thus taking on fortress-style attributes that make them far less friendly to the abutting public areas. The riverfront elevations also look to be taking into account the rising sea/river levels inevitably on the way during the lifespan of this building adding to the "walled off" effect.
I can't tell if the garage has retail on Riverside Avenue but given the renderings don't show any retail signage on the building, doesn't look good for that.
Quote from: Steve on November 01, 2019, 04:03:29 PM
I think the only space that will truly be vacant and for lease Downtown will be in the Prudential building.
The Prudential building may yet fill that space quickly. I have heard that Interline/Home Depot Pro, a major tenant in that building, is looking at more space in the future so if this opens up they could be a candidate for filling it. They recently pulled permits for significant renovations in their existing space so maybe they plan to stay awhile there vs. move.
Nice looking building I hope it truly looks like that.
Inquiring minds want to know if HU thinks this is tall enough? I would have loved to see 15 floors, but if HU is ok with it then I am ok with it too. Would also like to know what retailers Glenn would like to see fronting Riverside Ave.
https://www.youtube.com/v/XwsylpVjEB8
Permits Issued! This thing has been on rails! https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/permits-issued-for-dollar145-million-fidelity-national-information-services-jacksonville-hq
QuoteFidelity National Information Services Inc.'s headquarters project is good to go along Riverside Avenue in Brooklyn.
The city issued permits June 24 for Gilbane Building Co. of Jacksonville to start construction on the FIS riverfront headquarters and parking garage at 347 Riverside Ave.
Watching this and the Vystar project just fly through the approvals, permitting, and construction process makes me think the city needs to triple down on efforts to bring large companies downtown. The average timeline for residential construction (other than vestcor) downtown seems to be about 8+ years from concept to completion. Office and owner occupied construction seems to be 2-3 years for the same process. We certainly need more concentrated residential and retail, but quickly executed office buildouts can accelerate the demand for retail and housing in order to shorten the timeline on those residential projects.
They can move fast when there is a need that positively impacts the core operation of their business. I've seen some cities get really aggressive and literally give vacant buildings away to local companies to get them filled with high paying jobs overnight.
There's some truth to that for sure. Companies need certainty so they can't wait around - they need to move fast.
Now, this pandemic may have ben the proverbial wrench in the bicycle spokes in that philosophy however.
^Yeah, that's true. We'll likely end up with a good chunk of existing office space that needs to be repurposed into other uses.