Lawyer Daniel Nunn and his team will have the highest tenant view in Jacksonville come July.
Nunn is managing partner of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, which will be moving to the 41st floor of the 42-story Bank of America Tower at 50 N. Laura St., the city’s tallest building. The firm will lease the entire floor of about 13,700 square feet in the Downtown high-rise.
Nunn said the firm will move from about 10,000 square feet that it subleases on the 28th floor. The relocation date is July 12.
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough has 10 lawyers, one associate and four staff positions in Jacksonville. It plans to grow to about 20 lawyers in the next 18 months to two years, Nunn said.
The Skyline Dining and Conference Center recently closed its café on the 42nd floor. The conference center remains in operation.
“They talked to us about leasing the 42nd floor and we hope that if we get into a position to expand, we would do that,” Nunn said.
Nelson Mullins is based in Columbia, S.C. It was established in 1897 and has more than 500 attorneys and other professionals with offices in Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.
Its attorneys practice in a range of areas including corporate, financial services, government relations, real estate, litigation, insurance, taxation and more.
Vak Pak showroom site part of $1M expansion
Jacksonville-based Vak Pak Inc. is starting construction on its $1 million expansion in Southside, building a new office-showroom for its Vak Pak Builders Supply business.
Vak Pak Builders Supply has been leasing space along Beach Boulevard, east of Southside Boulevard. The owners wanted a location to better serve customers, so they identified a site at Hogan Road and Southside Boulevard to build a showroom.
David Sutherland, son of founder Paul Sutherland, said the company will invest more than $1 million to develop the 20,000-square-foot showroom warehouse, which is about 6,000 square feet larger than the leased location.
The city approved a permit for the 19,595-square-foot project at 9301 Hogan Road. It comprises 13,225 square feet of enclosed space and 6,370 square feet of outdoor space.
E. Vaughan Rivers Inc. is the contractor for the pre-engineered metal building. The developer is Progress Enterprises Inc., whose president is Paul Sutherland.
David Sutherland’s father, a pool contractor, started the company 45 years ago. Vak Pak designs and builds self-contained filtration systems used by hotels, theme parks, zoos, aquatic centers and homeowners nationwide. The systems are designed for swimming pools, spas, fountains and splash pads.
The Vak Pak manufacturing plant is in the Springfield area.
Vak Pak Builders Supply serves as a wholesale supply company to sell to pool contractors and servicers. The showroom, on 2 acres, will be designed so pool contractors and servicers can bring customers in to look at products.
Paul Sutherland is president and David Sutherland is vice president of both companies.
Dunkin’ Donuts plans new Southside location
Dunkin’ Donuts, with at least 28 locations in Duval County, wants to add a shop at northwest Beach Boulevard and Parental Home Road.
The 2,250-square-foot store is planned on 0.71 acre, according to site plans filed with the city. The site, at 7637 Beach Blvd., now is occupied by a vehicle service garage.
Dunkin’ Donuts, part of Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. based in Canton, Mass., continues to expand as well. Dunkin’ Brands also owns Baskin-Robbins, which is why consumers see the combination Dunkin’ and Baskin-Robbins stores opening.
Dunkin’ Donuts operates more than 11,300 restaurants in 36 countries, including almost 8,100 in the United States. Last year, the company added 405 stores in the United States and expects to add more than 410 this year.
Real estate appraisal firm rebrands
Real estate appraisal firm Valbridge Property Advisors/Broom, Moody, Johnson & Grainger Inc. has rebranded as Florida Valuation.
The firm was formed in Jacksonville in 1982 and offers commercial and residential appraisal services to clients throughout Florida.
Farley Grainger, a founding partner, will remain with the company to provide strategic leadership in an advisory role. Nick Chop, Courtland Eyrick and Justin Markley have been appointed as principals.
“This is a positive transition to the next generation, which will do great things under the new brand Florida Valuation,” said Grainger.
Chop is president of the Northeast Florida Chapter of the Appraisal Institute. He has more than two decades of commercial real estate appraisal and eminent domain valuation experience.
Eyrick will lead the firm’s litigation efforts. Markley will focus on serving bank and institutional clients.
Florida Valuation specializes in providing commercial and residential appraisal, eminent domain valuation, litigation support, and consulting services for banks, institutional clients, governmental agencies, attorneys, and individuals.
College Hunks moving company opens in Jacksonville
College Hunks Hauling Junk and Moving has opened in Jacksonville.
Owners Lisa and Bryan Tully bought the franchise and started operations in the Philips Highway Commerce Park, just north of Butler Boulevard.
Lisa Tully, president, said the couple is from Long Island, N.Y., and lived in California for almost 30 years.
Bryan Tully, who was with the California Highway Patrol, retired from law enforcement about four years ago and the couple moved to Florida to return to the East Coast.
The Tullys bought a residential lot on a canal off the Intracoastal Waterway about three years ago and relocated from California. “It was a lot of change in a very short time,” she said.
Bryan Tully worked for about a year as a Road Ranger.
Lisa Tully was most recently head of IT Infrastructure Operations with Voya Financial. She said after being downsized, she pursued her wish of owning a business.
“It seemed like the perfect time to follow my dream but Bryan was cautious about jumping into a small business without any experience,” she said.
That led them to work with a franchise counselor/broker to find a good fit, especially in light of the couple being “almost polar opposites.”
At a franchise expo, they met a founder of College Hunks Hauling Junk and Moving, which rose to the top of their selection list.
Lisa Tully said the “Building Leaders” core value attracted her, considering she enjoyed identifying and developing leaders throughout her career.
The couple, both in their 50s, have two grown children.
With four employees, they intend to add more. She said “hunks” stands for honest, uniformed, nice and knowledgeable.
“We actively seek college students, but as a veteran-owned business, we also give preference to those coming out of the military,” she said. Bryan Tully served in the U.S. Coast Guard.
The company provides “full service junk removal,” meaning it comes to a customer’s home and loads, hauls and disposes of the junk.
The company donates or recycles what it picks up. “The vast majority of what we haul away has a second life of some sort,” Lisa Tully said.
It also is a full-service moving company and it provides labor for people who want to use their own truck to move; assists with moving furniture around the house; knocks down decks and hauls away the debris; and even has cleaned out the home of a woman relocated to assisted living.
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