From the Daily Record
Deutsche Bank will lease the former PHH Mortgage building near its Meridian Business Park campus.
The lease allows the global financial-services company plenty of expansion room as it builds its job base in Jacksonville while restructuring its worldwide operations.
Deutsche Bank has grown to 1,700 employees in Jacksonville and recently won approval from City Council for incentives to create 350 more jobs.
The lease elevates the physical profile of Deutsche Bank in Southside to 350,000 square feet, making it one of the largest office tenants in the city’s history.
Hobby Lobby to open store near Town Center
Hobby Lobby is the first store to confirm it will open in the Strand retail center opposite St. Johns Town Center.
The Strand is the retail part of the parcel under contract to Preferred Growth Properties along Town Center Parkway at Gate Parkway.
Preferred Growth Properties is allowed to develop up to 500,000 square feet of enclosed retail and commercial space on the site.
The Oklahoma-based arts and crafts chain operates stores in River City Marketplace, Mandarin, Jacksonville Beach and St. Augustine. It recently closed its Regency area store.
Wawa hopes to be in Jacksonville in few years
Wawa Inc., a Pennsylvania-based convenience store and gas station chain, has Jacksonville on its map for expansion.
An architect and civil engineer representing Wawa met with City Building Inspection Division Chief Tom Goldsbury in November. He said the company discussed general procedures, but no plans have been submitted.
Wawa has opened 76 Florida locations in three years. A Wawa spokeswoman said the company would continue its Florida expansion and hoped to reach the Jacksonville area in the next several years.
The company is a privately held chain of more than 700 convenience stores (with more than 450 offering fuel) in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Florida. Most stores are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Wawa is the 15th largest convenience-store chain based on store count, according to CSPnet.com.
SunGard expanding, hiring in Jacksonville
SunGard Data Systems, which calls itself one of the world’s leading financial software companies, is adding a second floor to its lease at the Prudential Building on the Downtown Southbank.
Building plans approved in October indicate the additional floor can accommodate about 250 jobs or more.
It appears to be the second phase of an expansion announced by SunGard in 2013, in which the city approved tax refunds for the company to create up to 170 jobs.
A recent search on SunGard.com found at least 48 job listings for Jacksonville. Job titles included technology, programming, engineering, analysis software, sales and account management.
SunGard agreed in August to be bought by Jacksonville-based Fidelity National Information Services Inc. for more than $9 billion. That deal is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter.
Publix tosses salad plant into Jacksonville mix
Publix Super Markets Inc. is considering construction of a production plant for salads in West Jacksonville near its distribution center on West Beaver Street.
Plans filed with the city include a facility for the production and packaging of ready-to-serve salads, such as mixed green salads, potato salads, cole slaw and fruit salads.
The Lakeland-based supermarket chain has more than 600,000 square feet of development rights on the vacant 34-acre site.
Publix had wanted to build a dairy products manufacturing facility on the land, which it bought in late 2012, but declining consumer demand changed that decision.
Publix serves its 1,106 stores across six Southeastern states with eight distribution centers and 10 manufacturing facilities. In Jacksonville, it maintains a distribution plant as well as a fresh-foods facility, one of four such operations in its system.
Gate to start Collins construction
Gate Petroleum Co. expects to start construction this month on its Gate store in Southwest Jacksonville.
The site is at Collins Road and Interstate 295, near a new Walmart Supercenter.
The 6,400-square-foot convenience store and gas station will include 20 fueling positions, including for non-ethanol fuel, and a soft-cloth automatic car wash.
The city is reviewing permits for the project, totaling a job cost of almost $2.6 million. Construction should be completed by June.
347 apartments coming near Town Center
Stanmore Partners, a Houston-based company, is under contract to buy land near St. Johns Town Center for a 347-unit apartment community.
Called Ravella at Town Center Apartment Homes, the project would be developed at northwest Town Center and Midtown parkways on land Stanmore would buy from Preferred Growth Properties of Birmingham, Ala.
For that to happen, Preferred Growth Properties must first complete its acquisition of 61.35 acres from the Arthur Chester Skinner III Trust. That deal is expected to close Jan. 28.
Plans show a one-phase development on almost 6.6 acres between Town Center Parkway and Lake Meadowbrook. The apartments include a large building footprint, two courtyards, a seven-level parking garage and a pool courtyard.