by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
A company from Melville, N.Y. is relocating to downtown.
Craig/IS, an insurance subrogation company that does outsourcing for insurance companies, is leasing 23,890 square feet in the Enterprise Center located at 225 Water St.
“It is currently being built out and they will move into that space in February,” said Victor Narusas of Colliers Dickinson. “They are currently housed in temporary space in the building until their space is ready.”
Grisham Smith and Partners is doing the architectural work.
Naursas said Craig/IS chose Jacksonville as an afterthought.
“They were looking at Tampa and Orlando,” he said. “We caught wind that they were looking at Tampa so we connected them with the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission. Jointly, we pushed to promote Jacksonville.”
He said company officials toured the city and liked what they saw.
“They wanted to be downtown because they were not a suburban-type user,” said Naursas. “They also liked the employment base here and what Jacksonville had to offer.”
After connecting with the JEDC, a few incentives were offered to get the compnay downtown.
“They received Enterprise Zoned Credits, due to the location of the building,” said Naursas. “And they received a Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund for creating new jobs in a targeted industry. The incentives were approved by City Council.”
Craig/IS will hire about 120 employees after moving into the new office space.