Jacksonville-based Firehouse Restaurant Group Inc., parent of the nationwide Firehouse Subs fast-casual chain of almost 1,000 restaurants, will move its headquarters from Mandarin to Flagler Center.
Co-founder Robin Sorensen said Friday the 22-year-old company will move 110 employees from six buildings in Mandarin to Flagler Center by Jan. 15.
It gives the company space to grow, almost doubling in size from nearly 17,000 square feet now to 31,525 square feet. It is an 11-year commitment, he said.
Sorensen said the move accomplishes three goals: It solves parking issues, offering 189 spaces; it upgrades the office space; and it provides a convenient location for staff.
Flagler Center comprises about 1,000 acres in Jacksonville south of Old St. Augustine Road between Interstate 95 and Philips Highway. Firehouse will lease at 12735 Gran Bay Parkway, Building 100, Suite 150.
Baptist Medical Center South, Citicorp and Web.com are a few of the organizations that operate in Flagler Center, a high-profile development that welcomes drivers heading north into Jacksonville along I-95.
Sorensen said Firehouse Subs now operates in six buildings, primarily along Kori Road and another facility on Shad Road.
“We will be consolidating all of our staff, and that will be something we haven’t had in a long time,” he said.
The larger size “is more than we need, but we will grow in to it.”
Firehouse’s real estate representative was Scott Henley of Global Corporate Services at Newmark Grubb Phoenix Realty Group. Firehouse reviewed sites in Baymeadows, Southpoint, World Golf Village and San Marco.
“This was the best option,” Sorensen said. “It’s everything I really wanted to accomplish.”
Sorensen said Firehouse expects the 1,000th Firehouse Subs restaurant to open in about two weeks, but he’s not sure which one that will be. About eight stores are supposed to open, and it could be any one of those.
“As I said to the headquarters staff today, we have come a long way,” he said.
The space will accommodate company operations as it plans to add at least 1,000 more restaurants in the U.S. and internationally as part of a five-year plan.
Firehouse will consolidate several functions into the larger location, including:
• Space for Training Academy visitors. Firehouse hosts a training class every other week and a Day of Discovery, for franchise interview candidates, every other week, although the discovery day is held off-site now.
• The Firehouse Subs Research and Development Test Kitchen, Quality Assurance and Supply Chain space, now operating at the Shad Road location.
• The Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation. It has donated $20 million since 2005.
• The Mural Studio, where chief mural artist Joe Puskas and his team of full- and part-time artists create customized murals for every restaurant in the system.
• The Firehouse of America LLC franchise company, the Capital 94 LLC lending arm, the executive team, company-owned restaurant operations, corporate communications, financial services, field operations, franchise administration, franchise development, information technology, marketing services, operations services, real estate services and security.
The main Kori Road operation began as a single office originally occupied by Firehouse Subs partner Stephen Joost in the mid-1990s. It has expanded to almost 14,300 square feet of space.
The company leases 2,400 square feet of space at 5220 Shad Road, Suite 405. That began in November 2011.
Sorensen and his brother, Chris, are co-founders of the Firehouse Restaurant Group. They formerly were featured in the Firehouse Subs TV and radio commercials.
Joost is a partner and Vincent Burchianti is CFO.
Firehouse Subs consistently ranks No. 1 among fast-casual brands in the categories of food quality, taste and flavor, and service.
It projects 2016 sales of $710 million. Of its 999 units, 32 are company-owned and the rest are franchised.
It operates across 44 states and internationally in Puerto Rico. Expansion plans call for moves into the Northeast, West Coast, Canada and Mexico.
Its restaurants average an annual volume topping $713,000 a year.
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