San Francisco-based SoFi is a step closer to opening a Southeastern operations center in Jacksonville.
The city issued a permit Wednesday for contractor Brasfield & Gorrie LLC to build-out SoFi’s space at a cost of $1.5 million.
Brasfield & Gorrie will build-out 36,517 square feet of space in the Town Center Two building at 5335 Town Center Parkway for the online personal finance company.
SoFi – Social Finance Inc. – pledges to hire 300 employees for the Jacksonville center by year-end 2021.
City Council adopted legislation Aug. 13 to support tax incentives and authorize an economic development agreement with Project Quail, later disclosed as SoFi.
SoFi agreed to sublease the 37,000-square-foot fifth floor of the six-story Town Center Two building, which is across Butler Boulevard from St. Johns Town Center.
The building was developed for lease to Jacksonville-based Web.com, which downsized to the first three floors and made the top three available for sublease.
SoFi said it would invest an estimated $5.5 million into real estate improvements, IT equipment, furniture and fixtures to create the company’s regional headquarters in Jacksonville.
SoFi is recruiting employees for operations functions including member relations, loan review, quality assurance and fraud prevention.
The jobs will support SoFi products like student, personal and home loans, investing tools and cash management accounts.
The company said it would pay an average annual wage of $54,941 plus benefits. Council approved a Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund of $5,000 per job, totaling $1.5 million. The city would refund $300,000, or 20%, and the state would provide the remainder, $1.2 million.