Whitehall Realty Partners intends to relocate its headquarters today from Riverside to San Marco, moving it much closer to the long-awaited East San Marco project that should bring the area a new Publix.
Whitehall Realty managing member John Carey said that proximity isn’t why the company is making the move, although he acknowledges it’s convenient.
“We think San Marco is going to get better and better,” he said.
The building sits in the re-developing corridor from the Interstate 95 Overland Bridge under construction into San Marco Square.
Whitehall Realty Partners and Indigo South Capital Inc., an investment partner, bought the building at 1721 Atlantic Blvd. in March.
The group is renovating the two-story, 7,741-square-foot office building inside and out. It also bought a house behind the building for demolition and redevelopment for parking.
Whitehall and Indigo will move their 10-12 employees onto the top floor. The bottom floor will be available for lease to one or two tenants.
The exterior will be refreshed, re-landscaped and renamed as 1721 Atlantic. It will be repainted with a new color scheme of two shades of taupe with a white accent band, and the group will add new awnings and a new entry.
C. Harrison Construction Inc. is the contractor.
Carey and Whitehall manager Marc Munago estimate the investment in the project will reach about $1.5 million, including the building acquisitions, interior and exterior improvements, tenant renovations and the parking lot.
Whitehall’s main offices now occupy leased space at 1022 Park St. in Riverside’s Five Points area.
TG Atlantic Boulevard LLC bought the 1721 Atlantic Blvd. building for $680,000 from Systems Logics Co. LLC, which is led by manager Donna Harper.
TG Atlantic is led by Timothy Geddes. He and Sherri Geddes are directors of Indigo South. Carey said Whitehall is a partner in the acquisition deal.
Harper is a former board chair of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority and had renovated the structure, formerly known as the Moon & Star building, as The Harper Building.
City building records show Harper’s group bought the building in 2000 and renovated it in 2002. It was built in 1974.
Carey and Munago said the building was vacant when they bought it and some areas appeared to have not been built out. They said the second floor was “wide open.”
Whitehall Realty Partners, formed in 2006, is a real estate development and investment firm. It has designed, developed and sold assets in the Southeast U.S., including commercial, multifamily, retail, mixed-use and senior living projects.
Its current focus is multifamily and senior living communities, especially memory care centers.
It recently opened two Arbor Terrace memory-care centers in Ortega and Ponte Vedra, has a third under construction in the San Jose area and has a fourth in design in Charleston, with a few more markets under review.
The 1721 Atlantic building is east of the East San Marco property, a largely vacant site designed for a retail center, including a Publix Super Market, and apartments.
Carey said in May the group is under contract as the co-developer for East San Marco, designed at Hendricks Avenue and Atlantic Boulevard. He expects to break ground early next year on the $60 million mixed-use East San Marco.
Financing delayed a deal last year for Whitehall to develop the project. He said in May that financing has been arranged and the capital partner also will be identified in an announcement.
Based on a groundbreaking early next year, some of the apartments could be completed in 15-18 months and Publix could open in 2017.
Deloitte, KPMG leaving Wells Fargo for other Downtown buildings
Deloitte Consulting and KPMG, which are global audit, tax and advisory firms, are leaving the Wells Fargo Center for other Downtown buildings.
Together, the tenant build-out costs for the moves total $1 million.
Deloitte Consulting will move from the 28th floor of the Wells Fargo Center to the 34th floor of Downtown’s tallest building, the Bank of America Tower.
Deloitte, which provides audit, consulting, financial advisory, risk management, tax and related services, will lease about 6,000 square feet in the 42-story tower at 50 N. Laura St. The lease starts Dec. 1.
A spokeswoman for Deloitte said it is against the company’s external communications policy to talk about its real estate strategy. Because of that, she did not say how much space the company is leaving.
In 2006, about 17,000 square feet of space was renovated for the firm at the Wells Fargo Center, but it’s unclear if that is the amount of space it uses.
Hitt Contracting Inc. of Miami will renovate the Bank of America Tower space at a cost of $600,000, according to a building-permit application.
Meanwhile, KPMG will move from the 11th floor of the Wells Fargo Center to the fifth floor of EverBank Plaza in Riverside.
Dav-Lin Interior Contractors is renovating space for KPMG at the plaza at 501 Riverside Ave. The project cost is $425,000.
NAI Hallmark Partners Senior Vice President Christian Harden said KPMG will lease 10,232 square feet and is expected to move by the end of September.
KPMG LLP is a global audit, tax and advisory firm.
A spokesman confirmed the move next month, but said the company was not publicly discussing its headcount or other data, such as square footage.
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