by Carrie Resch
Staff Writer
Gold’s Gym isn’t the only business moving in at 100 Laura Street.
The newly renovated Jacksonville Bank Building, which has been around since 1962 when it was the Barnett Bank annex, will soon be home to Gold’s Gym.
Besides the Jacksonville Bank and Gold’s Gym, the building houses the Connexsys company, which is a transport provider. There are also two more leases in the works, according to Maurice Nichols, general manager of the Jacksonville Bank building.
The building was renovated and opened in March 2004 and the bank became the first major tenant in September with a branch banking office on the first floor and corporate offices on the tenth floor, the top floor of the building.
The bank moved from its old location at the Humana building, where it had been for five years since the birth of the company. The company decided to move its headquarters to the new location because more space was needed.
“Forsyth and Laura are two of the busiest streets Downtown,” said Gil Pomar Jr., the bank’s president. “They are both major arteries through the city.
“The working traffic is amazing. It is close to three times what we had at the other location. There is a lot of energy up in that corridor, even though it’s only about three blocks away from the old location.”
The building is owned by Bernhard Schneider, a German businessman, through his ABS Laura Street Corporation.
“We leased four floors within a year which we think is phenomenal,” Nichols said. There are six floors left to lease.
The building was completely renovated and brought up to the current code. “Everything about the building as far as operations is brand new,” Nichols said.
In an effort to have a technologically advanced building, everything possible is managed by computers, said Nichols.
“Access systems on computers, elevators, security, air conditioning and heating is automated,” Nichols said. “There are fiber optics throughout the building and capabilities for broadband services throughout the building for tenants who want them, and we are in the process of installing wireless broadband in the building.”
The lobby in the building is also an ArtWalk stop. The lobby was designed to display art and the artwork on exhibit is courtesy of Stellers Gallery in Ponte Vedra Beach, which manages the artwork and rotates the works monthly.