In another sign of Downtown confidence, Executive Suite Professionals is expanding at EverBank Center to take the entire 14th floor.
The Jacksonville-based office suites venture opened in July on part of the 14th floor at the 301 W. Bay St. tower. Ownership decided to move into the remaining 10,000 square feet of space to fill the almost 31,000-square-foot floor.
“We have had great success in filling our space in phase one,” said Lisa Gufford, managing member and co-founder.
She said the organization brought 65 businesses Downtown since July.
Gufford said the second phase will open in May with another 43 suites. She said there are commitments for 16 already.
Auld & White Constructors LLC is the contractor for the project, which is in permitting review, at a cost of almost $561,000.
Executive Suite Professionals offers furnished executive suites along with voice/data, reception and other services; meeting rooms by the hour or by the day; virtual offices; and more. Visit executivesuiteprofessionals.com for more information.
The first phase comprises 50 offices along with four meeting rooms, a reception area, a client lounge and some break-out areas with windows that provide views of Downtown. The second phase will add another conference room along with the suites.
Gufford said her goal is 100 new Downtown businesses by next July, the first full year of operation.
EverBank Center is near the Duval County Courthouse, which Gufford has said is convenient for clients who do business there. A wall in a corner facing the new courthouse will be decorated with a large black-and-white historical framed photo of the old courthouse.
Gufford said clients include attorneys, financial advisers, engineering firms, court reporters, mediators, marketing companies, travel agencies, home health care agencies, staffing firms, international investment banks, pharmaceutical companies and other small businesses.
She said most of the lease agreements are for a year or more, but she will build a package to meet the client’s needs. The floor also has several sets of multiple offices that cater to businesses with several partners or employees who collectively need a suite with its own entrance.
“Most clients will sign for six months to a year to two years, and that is standard for the industry,” Gufford said, emphasizing she offers all-inclusive packages.
Gufford said she also will target international companies with the next phase.
Gufford said she has been in the area for 33 years and in the industry since 1999.
“For 10 years, I was right about organizing a new business center Downtown,” she said.
Executive Suite Professionals is a partnership of Gufford, Duke Addison, president and CEO of Addison Commercial Real Estate, and Bortie Twifford, a Washington, D.C.-based entrepreneur and former Jacksonville resident.
FCTI moving in Southside
FCTI Nationwide ATM Network, which bought Jacksonville-based Global Axcess Corp.’s ATM network, is making plans to relocate in Southside.
The city is reviewing a permit for The Malle Co. Inc., as the contractor, to build-out 14,000 square feet of office-warehouse space at 7018 A.C. Skinner Parkway, No. 230, at a project cost of $104,000.
Struggling Global Axcess Corp. announced Aug. 6 that it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization but had a deal in place to sell its main business.
FCTI — Financial Consulting & Trading International Inc. — is based in Century City, Calif., and announced in September that it agreed to buy all of the ATM-related assets of Jacksonville-based Global Axcess and its affiliates. The $10.9 million transaction was completed in September.
The new location is a mile from the Global Axcess offices at 7800 Belfort Parkway, Suite 165. The contact on the permit application is Michael Loiacono, vice president of strategic development of FCTI.
FCTI has been leasing that 7,900-square-feet of space in a short-term agreement through April 30.
Dan Santinga, director of leasing for Lingerfelt CommonWealth Partners, the leasing and management company for the Skinner Parkway property, said the move should take place in 60-90 days when construction is completed.
FCTI representatives did not return several calls for comment.
Global Axcess was created in 2001 and owned, managed or operated about 4,600 ATMs in its national network in 46 states at the time of the acquisition. Global Axcess also had DVD-related assets that were not bought by FCTI.
The acquisition boosted FCTI’s presence in the grocery and convenience store markets and provided more of a presence in both the Eastern and Western U.S.
FCTI says it is a leading nationwide ATM network and service provider.
Mortgage issued for Kernan apartments
SunTrust Bank issued an almost $25 million mortgage last week to DD Jax-Kernan Partners LLC, which intends to develop the Sorrel apartments at the Atlantic North commercial development at northwest Kernan and Atlantic boulevards.
SunTrust in Atlanta issued the $24.975 million mortgage Thursday to DD Jax-Kernan Partners, based in Stockbridge Ga. The document was recorded Friday with the Duval County Clerk of Court.
Morrow Investors Inc. is the manager of the limited liability company. The address for the project on the mortgage is 11901 Atlantic Blvd. N.
As the Daily Record reported Dec. 11, DD Jax-Kernan Partners filed plans for the first phase of 290 apartment units on 14.5 acres of a larger site shown at 12001 Marketplace Parkway, behind the commercial center that features LA Fitness and Academy Sports. It also will feature a Belk department store and Earth Fare grocery store. Earth Fare is under construction and a site is being cleared for Belk.
DD Jax-Kernan Partners also has applied for permits to build Sorrel at a project cost of almost $20 million. Morrow Construction Co. Inc., also of Stockbridge, Ga., is the contractor. The permit address is 12001 Abess Blvd.
Davis Development, based in Stockbridge, Ga., bought the property in August. DD Jax-Kernan Partners LLC, a Davis company, paid $3.48 million for the property, which was sold by Atlantic North LLC.
Developers Toney and Eli Sleiman are managers of Atlantic North and Sleiman Enterprises is the developer.
The first phase of Sorrel comprises 290 apartments, a clubhouse and a recreational area, including a pool and cabana. There’s also a dog park.
Plans filed with the St. Johns River Water Management district say a second phase to be developed on the remaining portion of the 35-acre site will consist of another 300 units. It does not specify details about that phase.
Gate buys Beaches land
Jacksonville-based Gate Petroleum Co. paid $2.85 million to buy the property it leases at 2520 S. Third St. in Jacksonville Beach for the Gate convenience store it operates there. Gate bought the 0.83-acre property Friday from Cedar Crossing Enterprises Inc.
Merita outlet coming down
The former Merita Bread outlet at 9020 Beach Blvd. is being demolished.
Property owner Fred Hassan applied to demolish the almost 6,500-square-foot structure. Burk-
halter Wrecking Inc. is the contractor.
The Hostess Merita Bakery Outlets and Hostess Thrift Stores closed after Hostess filed for bankruptcy reorganization in 2012.
During the bankruptcy, investors bought the brands and started production again. Twinkies, CupCakes and other snack cakes returned to the store shelves in July, but the outlets remained closed.
The Big Lots chain has become the “Official Hostess Thrift Outlet.”
Bi-Lo Winn-Dixie pharmacy OK’d
The city approved almost $584,000 in renovations for the “Winn-Dixie Special Pharmacy” at 5244 Edgewood Court, at the 5050 Edgewood Court corporate headquarters complex of Bi-Lo Holdings.
Williams & Rowe Co. Inc. is the contractor for the interior build-out of 10,000 square feet.
Plans show a call center with 30 stations and four supervisors, conference, break room and reception space, as well as a specialty pharmacy area with product storage and coolers, shipping and receiving, packaging and staging, and offices. Plans show the space is within a bag plant.
A spokeswoman said the plan is “to repurpose an existing building as a pharmacy and pharmacy call center for some of our higher-cost medications, such as those to treat arthritis and HIV.”
Gate Parkway building in review
The two-story, 28,020-square-foot Gate Parkway Professional Center is planned at 7741 Point Meadows Drive in Southside.
Beemer & Associates XXXII is the owner and Ash Construction LLC is the contractor. A permit application shows a $700,000 construction cost.
Renaissance Charter OK’d on Skinner Parkway
The city issued a permit Wednesday for Summit Construction Management Group to build a Renaissance Charter School at 8680 A.C. Skinner Parkway at a project cost of almost $4.57 million.
The two-story, 68,250-square-foot school will include grades K-8. Site plans filed in February showed the structure on 12.4 acres at southwest Butler and Southside boulevards.
As the Daily Record reported Feb. 19, Charter Schools USA proposed the school and play field. Summit Construction Management Group LLC was shown on application as the agent for the project. Thomas Hankinson with Summit signed the agent authorization. Hankinson and Charles Cordes are managing members of Charter Schools Development Group LLC.
Summit, of Orlando, also is the contractor for the Charter Schools USA location at 5209 Shad Road. That two-story, 68,250-square-foot K-8 charter school, Renaissance Charter at Jacksonville, also is $4.57 million construction project.
Prosser Inc. is the engineering consultant for both projects.
The charterschoolsusa.com site lists five schools in Duval County, with one each in Arlington, Mandarin and Westside and a K-8 school and high school in Baymeadows.
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