San Francisco-based SoFi is moving quickly on its plan to open a Southeastern operations center in Jacksonville.
Brasfield & Gorrie LLC is the contractor for the $1.5 million project to build-out 35,517 square feet of space in the Town Center Two building at 5335 Town Center Parkway.
The city is reviewing a permit application filed last week.
SoFi – Social Finance Inc. – is an online personal finance company that pledges to hire 300 employees by year-end 2021.
City Council members adopted legislation Aug. 13 to support tax incentives and authorize an economic development agreement with Project Quail, whose identity was not disclosed in the bill or the unsigned agreement.
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Aug. 28 that Quail is SoFi, which will establish its regional operations center in Jacksonville.
In a news release after the announcement, Mayor Lenny Curry said SoFi will recruit in the Jacksonville area with an initial focus on 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.
Anthony Noto, SoFi CEO, said in an Aug. 28 statement that Jacksonville was a clear front-runner among other areas “for talent, accessibility, and offering an affordable cost of living.”
Noto became CEO in February 2018 after serving as COO of Twitter since November 2016 and CFO from July 2014-August 2017. Before Twitter, he was co-head of Global Telecommunications, Media and Technology Investment Banking at Goldman Sachs. Previous roles include serving as executive vice president and CFO with the NFL.
“As SoFi grows, we knew we needed to expand our real estate footprint to maintain our top-tier level of support for all of our members across the country,” Noto said.
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 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.
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 says its more than 700,000 members use its products “for borrowing, saving, spending, investing, and protecting.” It says its lending businesses have originated more than $42 billion among personal loan, student loan and home loan products.
SoFi Stadium
If you haven’t heard the SoFi name a lot, be patient.
SoFi is taking a high profile with its 20-year agreement for the exclusive naming rights for SoFi Stadium, the future home of the Rams and Chargers in Inglewood, California.
Latimes.com reported Sunday the LA Stadium and Entertainment District at Hollywood Park partnered with SoFi to name the $5 billion venue set to open next summer.
It is scheduled to host Super Bowl LVI in 2022, the college football national championship game in 2023 and the opening and closing ceremonies of the Summer Olympic Games in 2028.