Dun & Bradstreet buys Town Center Two building for headquarters

The New Jersey-based data company will relocate this summer and hire 500 employees.


Town Center II is at 5335 Gate Parkway across Butler Boulevard from St. Johns Town Center. The building also is the HQ for Web.com owner Newfield  Digital and has offices for Sofi.com.
Town Center II is at 5335 Gate Parkway across Butler Boulevard from St. Johns Town Center. The building also is the HQ for Web.com owner Newfield Digital and has offices for Sofi.com.
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Dun & Bradstreet Inc. announced June 30 it has completed the purchase of Town Center Two, its new global headquarters office in Jacksonville.

The 218,700-square-foot building is on 14.38 acres at 5335 Gate Parkway across Butler Boulevard from St. Johns Town Center. 

Dun & Bradstreet said in a news release it chose the building, developed in 2019, with the company’s growth and sustainability plans in mind. 

Dun & Bradstreet did not say how much it paid for the property, which was sold by TPG Real Estate of San Francisco.

TPG paid $64.5 million for it in January 2020.

The company, which will relocate from Short Hills, New Jersey, provides business decisioning data and analytics worldwide.

“We are proud to be owners of the Town Center II building, a recently developed property that meets the highest standards of energy efficiency and sustainability today, and is located in one of the fastest growing areas of Jacksonville,” Dun & Bradstreet CEO Anthony Jabbour said in the release.

“We look forward to playing an active role in the community and building our workforce with local talent who can bring differentiated experiences, skills and strategic insight to help us continue to innovate and grow. We would like to extend our thanks to the city of Jacksonville and the state of Florida for their hard work to create the incentives to make this possible.” 

Dun & Bradstreet expects to open its new headquarters this summer. 

The company is hiring for the 500 jobs. It asks applicants to visit the dnb.com site.

Dun & Bradstreet has 6,000 employees worldwide in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

The news release did not say how much Dun & Bradstreet paid for the property. The deed was not recorded as of early afternoon July 1 with the Duval County Clerk of Courts.

Dun & Bradstreet said in its incentives application to the city it would spend $67 million for an existing building.

The company announced plans May 20 to relocate its corporate headquarters to Jacksonville and invest $75 million to include the real estate purchase and $8 million in tenant improvements, IT equipment, furniture and fixtures.

The city and state committed $25 million in taxpayer incentives for the deal.

City Council approved a $21 million incentives package June 22. It comprises a $12 million Headquarters Retention Grant, a $6 million Relocation Grant and a $3 million Target Industry Grant.

The state committed a $4 million High Impact Performance Incentive Grant.

Dun & Bradstreet was acquired in 2019 by an investor group including Jacksonville-based Black Knight Inc., which remains a significant investor in the firm.  Jabbour also is CEO of Black Knight.

Newmark Phoenix Realty Group’s marketing brochures show that at least 73,400 square feet of space is available for sublease in Town Center Two on the fourth and sixth floors, which indicates space is available for quick occupation.

VanTrust Real Estate LLC developed the six-story Town Center Two for lease to Jacksonville-based Web.com, which downsized to the first three floors and made the top three available for sublease.

Siris Capital Group bought Web.com Group for $2 billion in October 2018. 

In August 2019, SoFi, a California-based personal finance products company, executed a lease to sublease the 37,000-square-foot fifth floor. 

SoFi opened in January 2020, pledging to hire up to 300 full-time staff in return for city and state incentives.

This year, Web.com merged with competitor Endurance Web Presence into a new company called Newfold Digital, the companies announced Feb. 10.

Newfold Digital Inc. is headquartered at the Web.com offices. The announcement said Newfold Digital also will continue to have a major presence at Endurance’s headquarters in Burlington, Massachusetts.

VanTrust Real Estate developed both the Town Center One and Town Center Two office buildings and sold them in January 2020 for $107.1 million to TPG Real Estate of San Francisco.

TPG Real Estate paid $42.61 million for Town Center One. Availity Inc. anchors the five-story, 160,196-square-foot office building.
 

 

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