AmeriHealth Caritas continues to hire for the 300-400 job operations center it plans to open in Southside early this year and will host a career open house Wednesday.
AmeriHealth Caritas, a national company with headquarters in Philadelphia that serves 4.8 million Medicaid, Medicare and CHIP members, will hold a call center career open house from 4-8 p.m. Wednesday at the Embassy Suites Jacksonville Baymeadows at 9300 Baymeadows Road.
The company intends to open its call center in the Cambridge West building at 8171 Baymeadows Way W. in Deerwood Center.
The company stated in an ad in the Sunday Florida Times-Union that it was looking for experienced candidates for positions that include customer service representatives, bilingual customer service representatives, claims examiners and claims management.
The 18 job titles are listed on amerihealthcaritas.com/jaxjobs.
The company intends to conduct “immediate interviews for experienced call center professionals” at the job event.
AmeriHealth Caritas said it is “a leader in providing health care solutions for the underserved and chronically ill.”
As the Daily Record reported Oct. 14, AmeriHealth Caritas spokeswoman Michelle Davidson said the goal was for the center to be fully operational in the spring.
The Jacksonville location would be the company’s second national companywide center. The first is in Philadelphia.
Davidson said the company considered several areas and chose Jacksonville because of its availability of employees skilled at back-office functions and claims processing.
Davidson said in October that hiring started that month and that training would begin in January. The first call center open house for applicants was scheduled Oct. 22 at the Embassy Suites.
She declined to comment then about the investment the company will make in Jacksonville. The city issued a permit for a $650,000 tenant build-out for 66,202 square feet of space among all four floors at the Deerwood building.
Davidson said AmeriHealth Caritas has a presence in 15 states with its different lines of business.
Davidson said AmeriHealth is owned by Independence Blue Cross in Philadelphia and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. It says it has 30 years of experience serving low-income and chronically ill populations.
Lingerfelt lands business licenses
While Lingerfelt CommonWealth hasn’t formally announced its management takeover of the former Liberty Property Trust sites in Jacksonville, more details are emerging through public records.
Tax Collector Michael Corrigan has issued business licenses to Lingerfelt Commonwealth Partners FL LLC, to Gregory Letnaunchyn, and Commonwealth Commercial Partners FL LLC, to Mark Will Claud, at 4875 Belfort Road, No. 110. That’s the address for the former Liberty Property Trust management office.
Letnaunchyn has been senior property manager with Liberty Property Trust in Jacksonville.
Claud founded Commonwealth Commercial in 1996. It leases, buys, sells, develops, consults for and manages office, industrial, retail, multifamily, senior living and investment real estate and is a broker for property and development sites.
Commonwealth Commercial Partners LLC is based in Glen Allen, Va., near Richmond.
CommonWealth is shown on its website both as CommonWealth and Commonwealth.
As the Daily Record reported Jan. 24, Lingerfelt CommonWealth Partners has taken over operations for the Liberty Property Trust properties recently acquired by Greenfield Partners.
Lingerfelt Companies Principal Brian Witthoefft in a January email to the Daily Record that he said he could not comment further, pending a news release.
Lingerfelt Companies, a real estate development firm with developments, acquisitions, build-to-suit projects and property management services, also is based in Glen Allen, Va.
In one of the largest area real estate transactions of the year, Liberty Property Trust sold its portfolio of 32 Jacksonville buildings in Southside along with 115 undeveloped acres in Westside for more than $197 million to Greenfield Partners LLC, a Connecticut-based real estate investment firm.
Among its most recognized area developments are Center Point Business Park, Butler Plaza, Liberty Business Park, the McKesson Building and the PHH Building.
$30M Flightstar hangar OK’d
The city approved construction last week for the Flightstar Aircraft Services Inc. hangar at Cecil Airport, a $30 million project at 5925 Aviation Ave. by Balfour Beatty Construction LLC.
The permit specifies construction of a new aircraft maintenance hangar, called Hangar 935, along with support spaces and site improvements for the 165,077-square-foot project, along with unenclosed space of 2,826 square feet.
On June 24, the Jacksonville Aviation Authority announced it broke ground on the 150,000-square-foot hangar to accommodate Flightstar’s expansion, which is expected to generate 250 new aviation-related jobs.
The authority said the $27 million project is the largest building project undertaken by JAA at Cecil Airport, and is being financed equally by the JAA and the Florida Department of Transportation. It said that under the agreement with Flightstar, JAA will build the hangar and office facility on 11.5 acres of airport property.
Spokeswoman Debbie Jones said Monday the authority broke ground for site development in June and the permit approved last week is for the vertical construction.
Upon completion, JAA will lease the land and Hangar 935 to Flightstar for commercial aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul, called MRO. The project is expected to be completed by December. The authority said Flightstar currently leases two MRO hangars and one large warehouse/storage building at Cecil Airport.
Daley to headline JAX Chamber lunch
Former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley is scheduled to headline the JAXUSA Partnership lunch meeting March 5. The 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. event is scheduled at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront. For information, visit myjaxchamber.com.
JAXUSA Partnership President Jerry Mallot said Monday that Daley would be in Jacksonville as part of the Global Cities Initiative, a joint project of JPMorgan Chase and The Brookings Institution.
Mallot said Chase offered to arrange for Daley to speak to the JAXUSA Partnership, where he is expected to talk about the Global Cities Initiative and its Exchange.
Daley is chairman of the Global Cities Initiative, which is a five-year project to help leaders in U.S. metropolitan areas reorient their economies toward greater engagement in world markets.
Jacksonville is one of the eventual 28 U.S. metropolitan areas to become involved in the exchange. Jacksonville joined last fall and appears to be one of about 20 metro areas involved so far.
Daley, 71, made news over the weekend when he was hospitalized Saturday after feeling ill and disoriented during a conference in Arizona that he attended as part of his work for the law firm Katten Muchin Rosenman, The New York Times reported.
CBS Chicago reported that law firm spokeswoman Jacqueline Heard said Daley would remain hospitalized until all tests are complete.
Heard says it was unknown what is ailing Daley but that, “it doesn’t appear to be anything major.”
Daley, a Democrat, is described by the Times as Chicago’s longest-serving mayor with 22 years in office. He announced in late 2010 that he would not seek a seventh term.
He is the son of Chicago’s second longest-serving mayor, Richard J. Daley, who died in office of a heart attack in 1976 at the age of 74.
Waterview Office Buildings part of $41.4M financing package
Atlanta-based HFF announced Monday it has arranged $41.41 million in financing for a five-building office and industrial portfolio totaling about 700,000 square feet in Florida, Georgia and Texas.
HFF worked on behalf of FRAPAG America Inc. to secure the 10-year, fixed-rate loan through The Royal Bank of Scotland. Proceeds were used to refinance maturing debt on the properties.
The Florida deal was the Waterview Office Buildings in Jacksonville at 10748 and 10752 Deerwood Park Blvd., completed in 2002 and 2007. The 162,721-square-foot project is 92 percent leased.
Duval County records show a mortgage by The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC for $16 million to FRAPAG Waterview Jax LLC.
The total mortgage amount of $41.41 million includes the Riverpark Distribution Center in Fort Worth, Texas, and the two-building Northmont Distribution Center in Duluth, Ga.
Tervis build-out OK’d
St. Johns Town Center is renovating space for the Tervis store at 10281 Midtown Parkway. L&M Construction and Development LLC is the contractor for the $100,000 project to remodel 1,140 square feet of space for the company, which markets insulated tumblers, mugs, bottles and accessories.
Dollar Tree reviewed for University, Atlantic
The St. Johns River Water Management District is reviewing an application for construction of the new Dollar Tree store at the existing site of the ABC Fine Wine & Spirits store at University and Atlantic boulevards.
Thomas Engineering Group of Tampa is the project agent for ABC Properties Ltd. of Orlando.
The project is a 1.63-acre site at 1631 University Blvd. S. The 7,021-square-foot ABC would be removed and a 9,973-square-foot Dollar Tree developed.
Bay & Bee opening in San Pablo
Bay & Bee, a play-place for young children up to age 5 and their parents, will open at 13475 Atlantic Blvd. in Harbour Village at San Pablo, which is anchored
by Stein Mart and The Fresh Market.
The Angelo Group Inc. is building out 2,243 square feet of space at a cost of $46,481.
Bay & Bee, founded in Neptune Beach, describes itself on its LinkedIn site as “an inventive, contemporary place for young children and their parents to play, learn and grow. From the moment your child steps into our play space, he or she can explore, create, imagine and experience dozens of activities.”
It says it offers programs ranging from unstructured play areas to more organized, age-appropriate classes on kid-friendly topics.
It says it provides adult visitors with “beautifully designed spaces featuring comfortable seating and complimentary Wi-Fi. We also host workshops to help parents learn about topics ranging from cloth diapering to car seat
safety.”
Bay & Bee Inc., based in Neptune Beach, was registered with the state Aug. 23. Its officers are President Monica Bodnar of Neptune Beach, Vice President Zuzia Soldenhoff-Thorpe of Atlantic Beach and Treasurer Jacob D. Pharr of Neptune Beach.
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