Plan to lure 1,000 Everbank jobs downtown

[thelakelander]

I believe they were considering a suburban style campus on the JEA site.

[jcjohnpaint]

ehh

[duvaldude08]

I believe they were considering a suburban style campus on the JEA site.

Yeah I remember that was one of their options. Im glad they considered a strcture that already exsits and will help our occupancy rate and bring more bodys downtown.

[urbaknight]

I believe they were considering a suburban style campus on the JEA site.

I'll bet any amount of money that they end up staying suburban when all is said and done.

[fsujax]

^^I sure hope not.

[mtraininjax]

wow, still moving with the eyesore of a bus station next door. amazing!

[urbaknight]

wow, still moving with the eyesore of a bus station next door. amazing!

Hey, it's good to see you again! It's been awhile.

[duvaldude08]

AT&T Tower clearing space on nine floors
10/24/2011
by Karen Brune Mathis, Managing Editor

AT&T Tower 301 owners are clearing out nine floors of space at the Downtown tower, according to a City building permit issued Thursday to Auld & White Constructors LLC.

The building has been considered a leading site for a move by EverBank from the suburbs to Downtown. Site plans don’t show a tenant name, while building representatives have not returned requests for comment.

Lawyer Steve Diebenow, who represents EverBank, had no comment this morning.

The permit, with a demolition project cost of $405,000, shows that Jacksonville-based Auld & White will demolish floor coverings, interior wall partitions and acoustical ceilings of floors 7-9 and 20-25 of the building at 301 W. Bay St.

Auld & White President Ed White said Friday he did not know who the eventual tenant is for the space. The demolition is “to ready it for a potential tenant,” said White, “getting those floors back to their shell space.”

The architect for the project is Rolland, DelValle & Bradley.

Some of the space under demolition had been leased by CSX Corp., which vacated the floors earlier this year to move to space closer to its Downtown riverfront headquarters. A CSX spokesman said the company had floors 6, 8-9, 20, 24, and 27-28 and parts of floors 4 and 29.

CSX leased 240,000 square feet in the 30-floor tower, which is owned by El Ad Florida LCC of Sunrise.

AT&T also uses eight floors in the building that carries its name. AT&T spokeswoman Misty Skipper said Friday that the company does not comment on the specific location of its operations.

In June, City Council approved two incentives deals for EverBank to make the move.

One was an economic development agreement between the City and company to relocate 1,000 jobs Downtown from the Southside and create 200 new full-time jobs.

Under the agreement for a Qualified Target Industry tax refund program, the City will provide $420,000 and the state will refund $1.68 million after the company creates and verifies the 200 jobs.

The second piece of legislation would give EverBank $2.75 million to offset moving costs from the suburbs.

EverBank, based along Riverside Avenue near Downtown, said the $2.75 million would help offset the $26.5 million it said it will spend to move and improve space Downtown to house the 1,000 employees that would relocate from leased space in the Quadrant II and Cypress Plaza office centers, both in Southside. The jobs must be moved by Sept. 30.

A Jacksonville Economic Development Commission project summary said EverBank negotiated to lease more than 225,000 square feet of space and 1,400 parking spaces Downtown. No site was specified in the summary except to say it is within the urban core bounded by Jefferson, State and Main streets and the St. Johns River. AT&T Tower 301 is within that area.

EverBank’s options are to renew its current leases, evaluate new sites for construction or relocate to other existing office space, either in the suburbs or Downtown, according to the commission.

Also, the City deal says that EverBank must maintain at least 1,350 jobs among its Riverside Avenue area headquarters and the urban core for at least five years. EverBank has 284 employees at its headquarters, according to the JEDC summary.

Of those 1,350 jobs, 1,000 must be maintained in the core.

The City would make the payment after EverBank moved the jobs and provided documentation.

If it creates the jobs outside of those areas, the refund would be $1.3 million. In either case, the City would pay 20 percent of the refund and the state would pay 80 percent, after the jobs are created and taxes paid.

Any tenant taking the space in A&T Tower 301 likely could affect Downtown’s office vacancy rates.

A CBRE MarketView for Jacksonville shows a 24.7 percent vacancy rate in the Downtown Central Business District for the third quarter, which ended Sept. 30. CBRE found that the total area office vacancy rate was 21.2 percent.

[Tacachale]

So this is either EverBank, or someone else leasing the same amount of space. I wonder why they're being so mum about this.

[duvaldude08]

Well Everbank has be quiet about the deal since it was taking place. If you remember they were upset with peyton about making a grand annoucement about it before the deal was even done. They have been very private. The most they said about it was they would not move without the incentive. So them signing a letter of intent like a month ago (which is normal procedure), and AT &T mysteriously getting ready for a potential teanet. That all point toward Everbank. If they didnt want to move, they would have decided by now.

[JaxNative68]

Still no lease has been signed.  Sounds like the property manage is being a pain in the rear to them.  Could be NeverBank if it keeps up.

[thelakelander]

I wonder what the deal is?  It's not like there's a long line of companies waiting to get into the mostly empty tower.

[MusicMan]

"Everbank proposes to lease 225,000 sq ft..................."  That is about the size of the Laura Steet Trio plus Old Barnett Bank.  How about Everbank locating into that site for their corporate Headquarters? What better than an amazing old "marble' bank??

[Tacachale]

Still no lease has been signed.  Sounds like the property manage is being a pain in the rear to them.  Could be NeverBank if it keeps up.

Yes, do you know what the story is? The silence and lack of action seem pretty telling.

[simms3]

Weren't there rumors that the tower would be going to a servicer?

If that is the case, then I am sure the current owner, which is an Israeli group, is weighing their options.  Should it just get rid of the building?  Should it attempt to keep the tower?  If the latter, what's the benefit to them of signing the Everbank lease?  Not sure what their basis in the tower is, but considering the Everbank lease is nearly a quarter of the building, whatever the lease terms are is going to determine what happens with ownership of the building.  A servicer will do whatever necessary to ram Everbank in there because with such a crappy building in such a crappy market, they will want to sell it as soon as possible for as much as they can.  The current owners may see no value in an Everbank lease.  The only reason I can foresee them signing that lease is if with the lease and market cap rates they can then sell the tower now for more than their loan balance - which would be better for them than giving it up.  I'm sure they are not making any returns on that building and they obviously aren't cash flowing on that thing.  Downtown Jacksonville is probably in such bad shape that tenants can name their number.  "Oh, you want us in your building as the anchor tenant?  We want $50/SF in tenant buildout and we want a five year term with 4 five-year options and we want the first 6 months abated and we want parking arrangements."  I mean at this point it's going to come down to borderline charity/leadership on the part of a local firm like Everbank to make a move downtown, or it's going to be a charity on the owner's part.

There is really no reason for any firms to move downtown, and there is no reason for anyone to even own a tower downtown, except for maybe the Bank of America/Modis Towers...even in those towers there is no rent growth.

IF there were demand to come downtown and tight vacancies, AND this were the only 225,000 SF block of space, then the current owner would be super happy.  That is a Landlord's market   This is probably the only 225,000 block downtown, but not because of tight vacancy, but because there just aren't many options.  The entire Enterprise Center building is about 225,000 SF, and that's one of the largest buildings downtown.  It's so bad that there really isn't a tenant's market or a landlord's market.  Tenants can get what they want downtown and they still don't want to come.  Landlords obviously are not very happy with their current situations.  Nobody wins.