by Karen Brune Mathis
Managing Editor
Jacksonville-based EverBank Financial Corp., whose name headlines EverBank Field, might be considering a bigger presence Downtown.
Sources say that EverBank, whose headquarters are based along Riverside Avenue near Downtown, is looking for a site to consolidate its suburban operations and that Downtown is an option.
Sources familiar with the deal, but who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the project, said AT&T Tower 301 Downtown is one of several options under review.
EverBank’s communications firm did not provide a comment by deadline.
Pam Smith, the representative for AT&T Tower 301’s owner, limited her comments.
“Knowing that we are one of those options, I can’t comment at all,” she said of the EverBank situation.
EverBank has been leasing space at the Cypress Point Business Park, along Philips Highway near Butler Boulevard in Southside.
Sources say the company leases about 190,000 square feet there and also leases space in other subruban buildings. The workforce there is estimated near 1,000 employees.
Will Stout with HGL Properties, which owns Cypress Point, declined to comment.
Industry experts say that typically, 1,000 square feet of office space can accommodate four or five employees. That means 190,000 square feet would translate into 760 to 950 employees.
Sources say EverBank would continue to maintain its headquarters along Riverside Avenue, but would consolidate its operations services in AT&T or wherever it chooses.
Sources say that EverBank could also choose to stay where it is or pursue other options in the suburbs.
AT&T Tower 301 is a 30-story building anchored by AT&T, which Smith said leased a little more than eight floors of space.
CSX also leases eight floors, about 240,000 square feet of space, but will leave at the end of the month to move employees closer to its headquarters building Downtown along the St. Johns River.
“We definitely have floor space,” said Smith, who works with building owner Elad National Properties.
She said the building has 956,000 square feet of leasable space. Each floor offers about 30,000 square feet of space.
Sources say EverBank would need 150,000 to 250,000 square feet of space, perhaps in phases. Based on industry standards, that would accommodate 600 to 1,250 employees.
That would mean five to eight floors if the AT&T Tower was chosen.
Sources also say a decision could be made in 60 to 90 days.
That is the same time frame that former Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce Chair Ed Burr provided Tuesday night regarding a Downtown prospect.
Burr, chair of the chamber’s Downtown Revitalization Committee, spoke to about 100 members and guests of the chamber’s IMPACTjax young professionals.
“We’re now talking to prospects about moving Downtown,” he told the group, meeting on the 42nd floor of the Bank of America Tower.
“We could have some great announcements in 90 days,” he said. Burr declined to discuss details, saying only that a prospect from outside of Downtown was considering the core city.
A move Downtown would improve the office vacancy rate, which was almost 26 percent on the Northbank as of March, according to the Cushman & Wakefield real estate service.
It also would affect the suburban rate. Vacancy in the Butler/Baymeadows area is 21.3 percent.
The overall vacancy rate in Jacksonville is almost 22 percent.
Sources emphasize that EverBank is considering other locations in the suburbs and near Downtown, and that the AT&T space should not be considered a done deal.
Jacksonville Economic Development Commission Executive Director Ron Barton and chamber Executive Vice President Jerry Mallot did not return telephone calls for comment.
EverBank, based in Jacksonville, reached a deal last summer with the City of Jacksonville and the Jacksonville Jaguars for the naming rights to Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, now EverBank Field.
The five-year, $16.6 million agreement restored a naming sponsor to the facility, which was called Alltel Stadium in a 10-year, $6.2 million partnership until it expired after the 2006 season.
EverBank provides banking, mortgages and investment services nationwide, operating through standard banking offices and through its Direct Banking division, by telephone, mail and the Internet.
EverBank reports that its roots stretch back to 1961, although the current company was formed in 1994 as Alliance Mortgage Co., which became a significant mortgage originator and servicer.
In 1998, Alliance Mortgage Co. formed First Alliance Bank and soon acquired Jacksonville-based Marine National Bank.
Meanwhile, EverBank was created as a national direct-to-consumer bank. EverBank opened in January 2000.
First Alliance Bank acquired EverBank in 2002, and in 2004, the company took the name EverBank for its operations.
Alliance Mortgage operations moved into Cypress Point around 1999 and continues to operate there as EverBank.
EverBank is going through a public stock offering. It filed its registration statement Oct. 8 to sell up to $200 million in stock in an initial public offering.
EverBank also is widely cited as being one of the strongest performing banks in the area, the state and the country, having avoided the real estate loans that tanked other institutions.
According to its registration statement, it has recorded positive earnings in every full year since 1995.
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