Deutsche Bank proposes 1,000-job hub

[chipwich]

This is basically a done deal.  They are very keen on Jacksonville.  They are still looking for a site as we speak.  They will utilize about 150,000 SF of office space.  Unfortunately, I seriously doubt it will be in downtown.

[vicupstate]

While I certainly hope this happens, let's not count chickens just yet.  There are other cities being considered and it could be a manevuer to get Nashville to ante up on incentives.  

How reliable is your source Chipwich?

[Jason]

Is this a Fortune 500 or 1000 company?


Edit:  Just found out they are #48 on the Fortune 500 list.

[Steve]

Anyone know have a listing of our office vacancy rate downtown.  The biggest obstacle I see is that while we might have some vacancies downtown, they are far from contiguous for a company this size.

[fightingosprey07]

As Stephen said, I don't think its going to be downtown.  The Nashville location is a sprawling campus well outside of that city's downtown.  Anyway, I did notice they already have listings for a Jacksonville office on Monster.com.

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:SNqnz4GaYrQJ:jobsearch.monster.com/Florida/Jacksonville/get-jobs-12.aspx+Deutsche+Bank+jacksonville&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us

I wonder if they're just trying to look at the local talent pool before they make their final decision.

[chipwich]

My information is very reliable. I prefer not to disclose how I know this information.
They are still looking around for space this week, so I cannot say with 100% certainty the deal is done.   They obviously still need to find somewhere to go.

We do not have 150,000 SF of contiguous class A office space downtown.  Also, if this is a processing/ operations center (which I believe it is), then there is no need to spend $25/SF for downtown office (plus $100/month for each parking space) when they can get a build-to-suit for much cheaper in the suburbs.

[chipwich]

Here is a good link to Jacksonville market reports (look under the office reports section).

http://www.colliers.com/Markets/Jacksonville/MarketReports/

[RiversideGator]

Great news, chipwick.  If they cant come downtown, I would still love to see the jobs and $$ come to Jacksonville.  This is significantly higher than the average salary too.  Hopefully this is all accurate.   

[vicupstate]

I just got off the phone with JEDC, they confirm that the Deutsche Bank deal will NOT be happening downtown.

They needed  400 thousand square feet for the campus and were very set on a suburban design.  Also they felt that downtown would not provide them with parking in the manner that they prefer it (suburban style)

If the deal happens it will happen on the Southside.

Apparently this mentality is at odds with their European model and approach, which is almost an entirely urban development strategy (in keeping with European land use laws)  But here in America, they prefer the less dense model.

I wish they would take their incentives in the form of a city-funded parking garage and build on Riverside Ave. in Brooklyn.  It would make a great addition to the 'power corporate corridor' that that part of Riverside Ave. is intended to be. 

[thelakelander]

It shouldn't be a suprise that they won't be coming downtown.  Nationwide, you'll be hard pressed to find offices this large headed to most US downtowns.  Without heavy incentives, its just not feasible compared to the burbs.

[Charles Hunter]

If we would build the Court House vertical, the city would have 2 or 3 blocks they could give to them.

[Jason]

If the courthouse covered 10 blocks there would still be plenty of land left over.


Lake, am I wrong to assume that a midrise office building with a built-in garage downtown can be built cheaper than a low rise building in the burbs with acres of surface parking (land cost aside)?

[RiversideGator]

I think part of the suburban decision is that it is more efficient for such operations to have very large areas on each floor as opposed to smaller spaces on multiple floors.  I remember reading this somewhere and I bet it is still true.  Also, most of their future employees will probably live out in that area.

[JeffreyS]

With no transit system employing 1000 people downtown is much harder than the southside if everyone drives to work.

[heights unknown]

I know the Germans being that I lived in Germany for two years, and have German friends.  They love to be in the heart and epicenter of a town.  They will pick a spot downtown, I guarantee you.  The only way they will pick a spot elsewhere is if those dummies in City Government talk them into it.  This will be good for Jax and if it happens will be a good exposure marketing initiative for the City to bring other business, whether domestic or international in.

Heights Unknown