Citizens Property Team Recommends Everbank Center Downtown

[Bolles_Bull]

http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=544262

Good news.

[Bolles_Bull]

via Daily Record:

Citizens Property team recommends EverBank Center Downtown for office consolidation

Thursday, November 6, 3:17 PM EST

By Karen Brune Mathis, Managing Editor
A Citizens Property Insurance Corp. negotiation team recommended Thursday that the company consolidate a 950-job operations center Downtown in EverBank Center, pending completion of lease negotiations.

If those negotiations are not successful, then the team will work on a deal with Crocker Partners for space in its Prominence business park in Baymeadows. Crocker Partners was the runner-up in the process.

Amkin West LLC owns EverBank Center Downtown at 301 W. Bay St.

Citizens Property, the Tallahassee-based insurer, has been looking for a site for about 226,400 square feet of office space to accommodate its consolidated center, which will involve relocating 800 existing local jobs, now among three buildings in Baymeadows, and move in 148 IT jobs from outside the city.

Citizens Property was created by the Legislature in 2002 as a not-for-profit tax-exempt government entity to provide insurance protection to Florida policyholders unable to find property insurance coverage in the private market.

Citizens Property wants to start moving into the space Aug. 1 and begin the lease Jan. 1, 2016.

[GatorShane]

This would be a HUGE pick up for DT. Great news!

[thelakelander]

Nice. I guess I might have to start sharing my personal elevator bank with others.

[fieldafm]

Good news for all the downtown small businesses like restaurants and retailers.

[fsujax]

Good to hear. Fill up that tower! so Lake cant have his own elevator bank.

[IrvAdams]

Great news! Bring 'em downtown, fill it up!

[mbwright]

A win for JAX, a loss for Tally.

[I-10east]

IMO Jax's current low Class A suburban rate is good for downtown (less places to readily occupy). Jax's Class A suburban vacancy rate is at 10%, and the Class A downtown vacancy rate is at 21%.

http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2014/10/17/office-vacancies-in-suburban-jacksonville-reach.html

[Dapperdan]

Is there enough nearby parking?

[Tacachale]

There's an enormous garage kittycorner to the building.

[vicupstate]

What will be the occupancy at that location with this new lease? Does this more than make up for At&T (or whoever it was) that left Everbank?

[thelakelander]

Is there enough nearby parking?

Ha. Parking availability should be the last thing anyone worries about in DT Jax. I work in this building and park in the parking garage provided for its tenants.  In addition to having to possibly share my 6 elevators with others, I guess i'm going to lose my personal garage levels as well.


5th floor of parking garage as of 10:30 am this morning

Being in an empty downtown has its benefits.   Prior to this Citizens announcement, the garage's upper levels were thelakelander's paradise. There's no worry of someone nicking your doors.

Life just isn't fair. Next thing you know, someone is going to want to open a Mellow Mushroom or Starbucks in one of the empty retail spots across the street.

[Tanto Gusto]

Actually parking may become a little crowded in that parking garage in the next few weeks. EverBank is moving the remaining employees from their Cypress Plaza location over to EBC. I was told the moving of departments is starting in November and ending sometime in January.

[thelakelander]

Bring them on! The surface lots on all the blocks that used to have buildings on them (just west of the garage) are empty too.