PwC, the name for the PricewaterhouseCoopers accounting firm, is moving from one Downtown Jacksonville office tower to another, adding space now and more jobs over time.
PwC expects to move about July 1 from the 42-story Bank of America Tower at 50 N. Laura St. to the 23-story SunTrust Tower at 76 S. Laura St.
Rick Moyer, managing partner of PwC’s Jacksonville office, said a lot of the decision was based on the firm’s growth the past couple of years.
“The SunTrust Building had a very kind of blank-slate floor for us that we could customize,” he said.
The design that includes a “millennial focus” allows workers to check in and use office or desk space as needed as well as open space “where teams can work across the organizational business lines.”
PwC will move from half of the 30th floor in the Bank of America Tower to the entire 21st floor of the SunTrust Tower.
PwC’s build-out creates a construction investment of at least $900,000, according to a pending building permit. Moyer declined to estimate the total cost.
The firm has more than 100 employees, he said. He did not provide a specific number of jobs that might be added, but “we are going to hire as many talented people as we can find.”
Moyer said the firm looked at 10 to 15 locations around the city before choosing SunTrust Tower.
“It is a fast-growing city and a lot of major companies are putting their headquarters here,” Moyer said. Because of that, “the firm is investing heavily” to serve them.
Moyer said décor would focus on the firm’s history, dating back to the 1800s, and the city’s history, including photos and pictures of the riverfront, Downtown, the beaches and prominent figures “that made Jacksonville the city it is today.”
PwC has leased space at the Bank of America Tower since 1992. It will move from that 12,555-square-foot space into 13,343 square feet, according to PwC.
SunTrust Tower also is gaining Cushman & Wakefield as the exclusive leasing agent. The company will serve as the agent for Parador Partners LLC, which owns about 280,000 square feet of the 383,239-square-foot SunTrust Tower.
Cushman & Wakefield Senior Director Traci Jenks is the exclusive leasing representative. The listing was signed last week.
SunTrust Tower, built in 1989, had been marketed as office-condominiums by Florida investor Cameron Kuhn, who bought the structure in 2005. After the lender took title to the property in 2008, the office space that remained unsold was made available for lease. Parador Partners bought the space in 2009.
Parador Partners now is repositioning the tower by adding a 600-space parking garage, which should be completed by May.
Jenks said Accretive Solutions also has signed as a tenant, taking 2,600 square feet.
Existing tenant Morgan & Morgan expanded by 9,000 square feet and Elite Parking added 1,000 square feet.
“The positive momentum in the building and the garage coming online is a huge enhancement Downtown,” Parador President Ashish Bahl said in a news release.
He said the garage will provide more parking options for the building’s tenants and visitors as well as for the Jacksonville Landing, which is across the street.
Jenks said the SunTrust Building offers space from 1,500 to 160,000 square feet, which would comprise several full floors. It also offers onsite management and 24-hour security and maintenance.
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