VyStar Credit Union can start demolishing the interior at 100 W. Bay St. as it prepares to renovate it.
The city approved a permit Wednesday for Dana B. Kenyon Co. to work on interior demolition of the 75,744-square-foot structure at a cost of $859,670.
Build-out will be permitted separately after the interior demolition.
The seven-story building is next to 23-story tower that Jacksonville-based VyStar is remodeling for its headquarters. VyStar wants to create a Downtown campus there.
VyStar bought 100 W. Bay St. for $5 million in February and the tower and a parking garage at 76 S. Laura St. for $59 million in July. The tower is under renovation.
VyStar President and CEO Brian Wolfburg expects to move up to 1,000 employees Downtown. The West Bay Street building eventually will house 200-300 lending specialists.
Wolfburg said previously the West Bay Street renovations would be a complete rehab, “from the windows to the roof and everything in between.”
First-floor tenant Peterbrooke Chocolatier will remain.
“We want to create a campus feel for our employees and we want to be good corporate citizens in Downtown,” Wolfburg said.
“Activating street-level retail in our buildings with shops and restaurants is part of that,” he said.
VyStar will move its headquarters from its current base at 4949 Blanding Blvd. in West Jacksonville. Some employees have begun moving into the tower.