TD Auto Finance, which has confirmed it is reviewing Jacksonville for growth, might be looking for significantly more space than first anticipated – and sources say it has focused on the Prominence office park in Baymeadows.
Sources familiar with the potential project, but who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the deal, say TD Auto Finance could be seeking at least 150,000 square feet of office space.
Sources say the Osborn Building would be a logical choice because of its available four floors that total 160,000 square feet. Should TD Auto need more space, a building next door has additional space.
Prominence is the re-branded Freedom Commerce Centre.
TD Auto Finance currently leases about 29,000 square feet of space in Jacksonville. Part of TD Bank Group, Auto Finance has almost 200 employees at its offices in north Deerwood Park at 4600 Touchton Road.
“Jacksonville serves as one of our three key operational hubs and we are committed to growing our operations here over time,” said Brian Jantzi, manager of corporate communications and corporate and public affairs for TD Bank, in April.
Sources said an announcement of the expansion was expected within several weeks.
Jantzi said Friday that no announcements were planned for TD Auto Finance in the next few weeks. “As a policy, we don’t comment on speculation. There is no story to report at this time,” Jantzi said Monday.
He said in April that the city is in a great location, which helps the company recruit employees. He said some operational roles had been moved to Jacksonville this year.
“As for our building plans, we can confirm that we are looking at new facilities in Jacksonville and will be making a decision in the next six months,” he said in April. October is six months from April.
TD Auto Finance has been in the Jacksonville area for more than 15 years, having previously operated as Chrysler Financial.
TD Bank is one of the 10 largest banks in the U.S. and offers retail, small business and commercial banking products and services to 8 million customers through more than 1,300 retail stores along the East Coast from Florida to Maine.
TD Bank Group is based in Toronto. Its U.S. operations are based in New Jersey and the TD Finance Group operates among Farmington Hills, Mich., its main office, Dallas and Jacksonville.
Sources said in April that TD Bank was interested in 60,000 to 75,000 square feet of space. Within months, that search was speculated to have increased to 100,000 to 120,000 square feet. That has since expanded.
According to industry standards, the 150,000 square feet could accommodate more than 800 jobs, which would be four times its current employment in Jacksonville.
$6.2M Newman Student Housing OK’d for construction
Faith-based student housing is on the way near the University of North Florida.
The city approved construction Friday for the Newman Student Housing community at 11291 Alumni Way.
Certified General Contractors Inc. will build the three-story, 76,463-square-foot project at a site development construction cost of $6.15 million.
The official groundbreaking was Aug. 26. It should be completed next fall.
The first phase is a 204-bed project that will provide 69 apartment units for students and three residential assistant units. A second phase will include another 158 beds. The ministry is provided by the Catholic Church. Leasing could start later this year.
Workout Anytime plans up to 15 area gyms
Workout Anytime opened its first gym Monday at 3000 Dunn Ave. and owners say they want to operate up to 15 in the Jacksonville area.
Brothers Matt, Will and Chris Levitt will operate the gym. Their mother, Mary Lajoie, owns the franchise, which was purchased in December.
Matt Levitt said the expansion is a five-year goal.
The first gym, at 7,580 square feet, opened at the Jacksonville Regional Shopping Center, which is anchored by JCPenney.
The family was based in Destin, before buying the franchise. Levitt said Jacksonville was chosen because of its high density.
Levitt said the three brothers moved to Jacksonville. Their mother lives near Sarasota.
Levitt said the Dunn Avenue site met their requirements, although he said the site wasn’t pitched by real estate consultants as a top choice.
“We said we owe it to ourselves to go look at it,” he said. “We drove over and looked at it and the demographics were perfect, the median income was right and the people in the community around the shopping center took us in with open arms the day we checked into the property.”
Workout Anytime, based in Atlanta, operates its gyms 24/7 with 57 locations nationwide. The company was founded by fitness veterans John Quattrocchi and Steve Strickland. Its site is workoutanytime.com.
The first Jacksonville site is about a mile from the Interstate 295 West Beltway. Levitt said after the first gym is up and running, the brothers will look for a second site and likely will focus around the beltway area.
Levitt is a former law enforcement officer. He was friends with the area developer of Workout Anytime, who introduced Levitt to the gym.
Levitt spent 13 years working full- and part-time in law enforcement before leaving to join the real estate industry as a small-scale developer until the recession. He continues in independent credit-card sales with Fortis Payment Systems.
Torch Bearers work starting at Regency
Regency Square Mall, the regional shopping center trying to reinvent itself by adding nontraditional tenants to its West Mall, is preparing space for Torch Bearers Church.
The city approved a permit Friday for D&R Contractors Inc. to renovate 14,700 square feet at the Arlington mall for assembly use for the church at a project cost of $149,000.
In September, D&R Contractors landed a permit to build out another 1,250-square-foot space at a cost of $17,600 for Torch Bearers Church.
Torch Bearers Church will open near the Dillard’s clearance center.
@MathisKb
(904) 356-2466