State Farm downsized space and employment at its Jacksonville Operations Center.
The insurer leases the 8001 Baymeadows Way building, which it previously owned.
On behalf of the landlord, the CBRE real estate company is offering up to 121,600 square feet — or more than a third — of the 302,440-square-foot, one-story structure for sublease.
State Farm spokeswoman Michal Brower said in January 2014 the company employed 1,160 employees at the center. She said Monday that number is about 650, a decline of about 44 percent over four years.
“The size of our workforce and its locations will be driven by customer needs and marketplace demands,” she said in emailed responses to questions.
Brower said State Farm continues to use a flexible real estate strategy to meet its customer needs. She said that as a tenant, it rearranged its space.
“This will allow us to reduce our overall leasing costs. The effort to consolidate space within our building will not disrupt our ability to serve customers,” she said.
Brower said about a dozen departments, mostly billing and customer-service functions, are represented at the facility.
The structure was built in 1976 and renovated in 1989.
JDM Partners of Phoenix bought the State Farm Operations Center in April 2014 from Hudson Advisors of Dallas, which bought it five months earlier from State Farm.
State Farm, based in Bloomington, Illinois, continued to lease it as part of several operations centers it sold as sales-leasebacks.
At the time of the 2013 sale to Hudson Advisors, State Farm said the lease was for 15 years with two five-year options to renew. The 15-year lease takes it to 2028.
CBRE states the master lease expires Nov. 30, 2028.
The building offers a cafeteria, conference room and patio. The CBRE materials show three spaces available of 23,600 square feet, 42,700 square feet and 55,300 square feet.
The sublease asking rate is $20 a square foot. CBRE Senior Vice President Lou Nutter represents the landlord.
Atlanta-based Davis Development applied for a permit to build the $37 million Satori apartments in Gateway Village at Town Center. The 289-unit, four-story project at 10640 Satori Lane comprises 171 one-bedroom, 102 two-bedroom and 16 three-bedroom units.
Cantrell & Morgan is the developer of the 18.5-acre Gateway Village at southwest Gate Parkway and Deerwood Park Boulevard.
The city approved headquarters build-out for ITEL Laboratories Inc., which works with insurers and homeowners to analyze damage to flooring, roofing and siding for claims settlement.
ITEL will lease 24,000 square feet of space at 6676 Corporate Center Parkway. Emerald C’s Development Inc. will renovate the location at a cost of $1.4 million. JAA Architecture is the architect.
Plans show space for office, laboratory, sales, IT, research and development and warehouse space. Offices will include those for the CEO, CFO and other executives.
ITEL says on its website that it “has helped insurers fairly, quickly, and accurately settle over 5 million claims to date.”
ITEL leases space at 6745 Phillips Industrial Blvd., 10 miles south of the new offices. The company was founded and began analyzing flooring samples in 1993. Robert Logan is the CEO.
• The city is reviewing civil plans for J&J New Kings Road LLC to build a 373,650-square-foot cross-dock warehouse on 25 acres at 10940 New Kings Road in Northwest Jacksonville. It will be Building 200. J&J New Kings Road LLC is led by Seattle-based Lake Washington Partners. Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc. is the civil engineer. No tenant was identified.
• The city is reviewing civil plans for Becknell Services LLC to build a 185,686-square-foot building on 18.71 acres at Pritchard Road and Cisco Drive West in Westlake Industrial Park. Becknell Industrial, based in Lyons, Illinois, said it partnered with Norfolk Southern to develop the transportation company’s Westlake Industrial Park. It expects the property sale to close by June 1.
• VanTrust Real Estate LLC is building out regional offices in the Town Center One building at 5555 Gate Parkway, the five-story building it is developing for lease to anchor tenant Availity LLC. Brasfield & Gorrie LLC will renovate about 3,650 square feet of space on the ground floor for VanTrust at a cost of $450,000. VanTrust expects to take occupancy July 1.
• The city is reviewing site plans and a building permit application for a 99-room, five-story Holiday Inn Express at 10573 Brightman Blvd. next to the iFly under development south of Topgolf. The site is west of Interstate 295, near St. Johns Town Center. England-Thims & Miller Inc. is the civil engineer. Fox Jacksonville LLC is the developer of the hotel on 1.49 acres. VJA Construction LLC of Titusville is the contractor.