by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
VyStar Credit Union — the largest Jacksonville-headquartered financial institution — has 22 branches in six counties in Northeast Florida. By this summer, it’s looking to make it 23 with a new Downtown full-service branch.
City Council is considering legislation that would lease nearly 5,000 square feet of space in the Ed Ball Building on Hogan Street for five years. Last year, the City acquired the nine-story building from Wachovia Bank with the intention of putting several City departments and agencies above the first floor retail space.
“This will be a full-service operation with a teller line, safe deposit boxes, lending and deposits,” said Judy Walz, the senior vice president of marketing and planning for VyStar.
Kortney Mosley, the City’s public information officer, said having VyStar as a tenant makes sense.
“The space was previously used by Wachovia, therefore another banking institution of some kind was a logical fit,” said Mosley.
Walz said the lease agreement will require three more approvals from Council or a Council committee before renovations to the space can begin. Since the space was formerly a bank, the renovations won’t be as lengthy or as expensive as they would at another site. She also said VyStar — which has a small, limited-service branch in the Atlantic Bank Building on Forsyth Street — is looking forward to having a major presence Downtown.
“We are very fortunate to have been offered the space and we are looking forward to helping the city grow its Downtown,” she said. “We haven’t had that ability before and we are very excited about it. Since we are the largest financial institution headquartered in the area, we feel we need a presence Downtown.”
VyStar will lease the space for $20 a square foot, which comes to $8,260 a month the first year. Rent escalates slightly each of the next four years culminating with a fee of $9,296.70 a month the fifth year. Almost 2,000 square feet of the space is in the building’s basement.
Walz said credit union executives haven’t made a decision about the Forsyth Street office. She said it may remain open with a shift in the services provided.
Once open, the branch will employ 15-20 people and will mark another significant milestone in Northeast Florida.
“We’ve been approved by the state to serve all 15 counties in the Northeast Florida area. We just entered Putnam County,” said Walz. VyStar is currently in Duval, St. Johns, Nassau, Baker, Clay and Putnam counties. “We have over 350,000 members and most of them live in Northeast Florida.”
The 38-page lease agreement was signed by VyStar Executive Vice President and COO Richard Alfirivec on Dec. 21. Among the many terms, the City must approved any signage VyStar wishes to put in the exterior or interior of the building and those signs must conform to the City’s sign ordinance. Also, the City must approve any renovations to either the first floor space or the basement and the cost of any and all renovations must be paid for by VyStar.
According to Mosley, there are approximately 10,000 more square feet of retail space in the Ed Ball Building. Over the past few months, Public Works and the City’s Information Technology departments have moved into the building. Mosley said the Housing & Neighborhoods Department will occupy the eighth floor by the end of February. Eventually, the Permitting Department and divisions of the Tax Collector’s Office will occupy the second floor while the Building Inspection Division will move into space on the first floor. There are several other floors available and exactly who will occupy those floors and when, has not been determined.