Baptist Health, whose main campus is on the Downtown Southbank, intends to invest $16 million to buy the duPont Center I and II office buildings nearby on Prudential Drive.
Baptist Health CFO Scott Wooten said the purchase should be completed in mid-June.
“This is a strategic investment for us because of the buildings’ proximity to our Baptist Jacksonville campus, which we have occupied since 1955,” Wooten said.
Baptist’s main campus is at 800 Prudential Drive while the duPont buildings are at 1650 and 1660 Prudential Drive.
Flagler Development Co., which continues to divest its Jacksonville holdings, owns the buildings, which were developed in 1989.
The property comprises two 80,000-square-foot Class A office buildings, totaling 160,000 square feet, on nine acres. There also are another vacant 2 acres.
Wooten said the buildings are 89 percent leased. Their 2015 assessed value is $15.2 million, according to property records.
Over time, Baptist Health said it plans to occupy some of the available space in the buildings to help centralize some of its administrative offices as well as a few clinical services that are currently scattered in leased spaces throughout the city.
“We would look to create efficiencies gradually, over an extended period of time, as space becomes available,” Wooten said.
Wooten said Baptist had leased space for a rheumatology office, which is currently the only planned move into duPont Center space. More might be considered for relocation over the next few months.
Wooten said Baptist Health wants current tenants to know it is committed to a seamless transition of ownership.
“Bottom line, we want a stable tenant community. As natural attrition occurs, we would look at opportunities to create efficiencies for our organization in space as it becomes available,” he said.
Wooten said Baptist Health owns some of the buildings it occupies and leases space in others.
“While we lease space to create convenient access to services, we know that long term, owning is more cost-effective than renting and this was a purchase decision that made sense,” Wooten said.
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