Fortegra Financial Corp. is working on new space in South Jacksonville.
The city approved permits July 3 and 4 for the Jacksonville-based insurance services company to build-out space on the second and third floors of the three-story Deerwood Park Center at 10751 Deerwood Park Blvd. at a cost of $1.76 million.
Tenant Contractors Inc. is the contractor for the project. Documents show it will build-out 54,000 square feet with a substantial completion date in October.
Connie Turner Interiors Inc. is the designer.
An Ash Properties-affiliated entity owns Deerwood Park Center, records show. An Ash Properties representative could not be reached for comment.
Deerwood Park Center is a 99,000-square-foot building formerly anchored by CEVA Logistics, which moved.
Fortegra now leases at 10151 Deerwood Park Blvd., Building 100, Suite 300, in the Deerwood South office park. It’s not clear how much space Fortegra leases there, although industry sources say it leases more than 50,000 square feet.
The buildings are about a mile apart.
Asked whether the new space was for a move or an expansion, Fortegra President and CEO Richard Kahlbaugh said July 6 he was not going to comment.
In 2014, the company employed about 300 people in Jacksonville and 500 total. JAX Chamber reports Fortegra Financial employs about 250 people.
Fortegra provides services and products for insurance companies, including payment protection products, motor club memberships, service contracts, device and warranty services, and administration services.
It formerly was known as Life of the South, which was headquartered Downtown at 100 W. Bay St., a seven-story building now owned by VyStar Credit Union.
It changed its name in 2009 before it went public in 2010. It announced a buyout agreement in 2014 and is owned by New York-based Tiptree Inc.
It trades on Nasdaq as part of the Tiptree family of companies.
Fortegra reports on its website that it has $1 billion in gross annual sales, $770 million in written premium, $470 million in earned revenue, $1.37 billion in assets and $250 million in stockholder equity.
The site says the company has eight offices, comprising six in the U.S. and one each in London and in the Republic of Malta.