Project Blue Sky, the city’s code-named company that proposes to relocate its Downtown international headquarters within the district to the Southbank, matches Haskell, the Jacksonville-based global architecture, engineering, construction and consulting company.
Haskell is based at 111 Riverside Ave. on the Northbank of the Brooklyn area of Downtown. It built the three-story, almost 120,000-square-foot building on 3.15 acres in 1986. That size increases to more than 230,000 square feet including garage, base and balconies areas.
Haskell sold the property in 2008 and leases it back. It also has been leasing at least 16,520 square feet of space on the 12th floor of the Gates of Riverside building at 245 Riverside Ave., according to a property site brochure.
Asked to comment on whether Haskell is Project Blue Sky, the company issued a statement Oct. 9:
“I can confirm we are in lease discussions regarding our headquarters. As we have done for many years, we continue to explore options to consolidate our growing operations to best support our employees and the clients we serve around the globe,” said Vice President Dave Auchter.
“We will also continue to honor the confidential nature of these efforts,” he said.
Auchter also said Haskell has 650 employees in its Downtown space.
Project Blue Sky
The unidentified Project Blue Sky – with 650 existing jobs – would receive $4.35 million in city incentives to relocate its headquarters to the Southbank under a proposal from the Downtown Investment Authority.
A resolution on the agenda for the Oct. 15 DIA Strategic Implementation Committee says the company would invest $20 million in capital improvements and $10 million for computer equipment and office furniture at the unidentified location.
DIA documents say Project Blue Sky would create 150 more full-time jobs in Downtown with the relocation.
The average salary of the created jobs, exclusive of benefits, is listed at $118,000.
According to the resolution, the company has committed to “retaining 650 jobs from within the local area to be located and working primarily on-site in Downtown Jacksonville.”
The city incentives would comprise:
• A Recapture Enhanced Value Grant of up to $2.3 million. A REV grant is a refund on ad valorem tax revenue generated by a new development. The grant for Project Blue Sky is based on 75% of the increased real and personal property taxes generated at the project site over 15 years.
• A City Training Grant of $1.3 million based on $2,000 each for the 650 jobs. The training would take place over two years and the payoff made over four years.
• A Target Industry Employment Grant of $750,000 based on $5,000 per job for the 150 added positions over up to five years at the stated salary and location.
The DIA staff report for Resolution 2024-04-11 describes the project as “the relocation of the international headquarters of a successful, established company to an office location in the Southbank district within the Southside Community Redevelopment Area of Downtown Jacksonville.”
To meet the requirements, employees are required to work principally on the site in the Downtown office location during their tenure of employment “to count toward these goals,” the report says.
JAXUSA Partnership, the economic development division of the JAX Chamber, negotiated with the company for the relocation, the resolution says.
The deal requires Jacksonville City Council approval.
Preston Haskell, at the age of 26, founded the company in August 1965.
Haskell says it annually delivers more than $2 billion of its services toward “complex capital projects worldwide.”
The company has more than 2,400 “highly specialized, in-house design, construction and administrative professionals across industrial and commercial markets” among more than 20 office locations worldwide.
Haskell sold the 111 Riverside Ave. building it occupies for $20.9 million in May 2008. Through mergers, the property is owned by 111 Riverside Ave. LLC, led by Jacksonville property investor Irving G. Snyder Jr.
Southbank site
Industry measures indicate that the 650 jobs need about 130,000 square feet of office space and the additional 150 would need 30,000 square feet, based on 200 square feet per employee.
That means Project Blue Sky would look for at least 160,000 square feet of office space.
While no location was identified, one Southbank building that could accommodate the size is 701 San Marco, the former Prudential building at 701 San Marco Blvd.
The 701sanmarco.com site says the property is “the perfect headquarters opportunity” with up to 170,000 square feet of space available.
The Prudential Insurance Co. of America sold the 14.5-acre property in September 2022 to Bradford Allen San Marco LLC for $70 million. Bradford Allen Investment Advisors is based in Chicago.
The largest tenants in place at 701 San Marco are the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Prudential. Signage is available.
When it was sold, commercial real estate firm JLL Capital Markets announced that the building comprised a 19-story east wing and a seven-story west wing connected by a pedestrian walkway over San Marco Boulevard.
JLL represented the seller, The Prudential Insurance Company of America, which had owned the building since its construction.
The property, comprising almost 750,000 square feet of space, and a three-level parking garage were built in 1985.
Representatives of the property were not available Oct. 9 for comment.
The leasing agents are Preston Phillips, Jesse Shimp and Michael Loftin with JLL.