The city is reviewing a permit for the estimated $8 million build-out for Citizens Property Insurance Corp. in Baymeadows.
Tenant Contractors Inc. of Jacksonville is the contractor for the build-out on all five floors of the office building at 8787 Baypine Road, west of Interstate 95 between Butler Boulevard and Baymeadows Road.
The city also is reviewing a permit for interior demolition at an estimated cost of $750,000.
Meskel & Associates Engineering PLLC of Jacksonville is providing private plan review.
Jacksonville FL IV FGF LLC of Chicago bought the Baymeadows building for $13.5 million in 2022.
On March 12, the board of the state insurer gave final approval to move its offices from its space in the 30-story EverBank Center at 301 W. Bay St. to the former Florida Coastal School of Law building in Baymeadows. The law school closed in 2021.
The 10-year lease is with Chicago-based Boyd Watterson Asset Management through Jacksonville FL IV FGF LLC, which owns the property.
Citizens will lease about 214,998 square feet of office space and 5,000 square feet of warehouse space.
The lease rate is $24.94 per square foot per year inclusive of tenant improvements, utilities, janitorial services and on-site security. There are two five-year renewal options.
Citizens chose the Baypine Road site on March 7 in a competitive bidding process that drew six other proposals, including for the Bay Street building.
With the board’s approval, the insurer will make the move in January 2026.
The five-story, 231,867-square-foot building was developed on the 9.7-acre site in 1990 for AT&T Universal Card Services Corp. It also has a parking garage.
Citizens’ pending move comes at a time of high vacancy in Downtown office buildings, mainly driven by work-from-home policies that prompted employers to downsize workplaces.
Industry market reports show that as of the 2025 third quarter, which ended in September, office vacancy rates on the Downtown Northbank ranged from 26.6% to 29.5%.
In 2015, Citizens signed a 10-year, $41.7 million lease for space at 301 W. Bay St. At that time, the Daily Record reported that Citizens was consolidating offices and moving 1,038 jobs into about 232,000 square feet of space.
Miami-based Amkin West LLC acquired the 301 W. Bay St. building in 2014 for $47.4 million.
With its lease there set to expire in June 2026, Citizens issued an invitation to negotiate with requirements that included 203,000 to 215,000 square feet of space, a minimum of 1,107 parking spaces, offices either in a single building or within the same campus, and a lease with an initial 10-year term and renewal options.
In August 2024, Citizens launched an invitation to negotiate seeking a space outside of Downtown in South Jacksonville. The insurer did not act on that invitation and instead released a new one Dec. 19 seeking space in South Jacksonville or Downtown.
Tallahassee-based Citizens was created by the Florida Legislature in 2002 as a not-for-profit tax-exempt government entity to provide property insurance to Florida homeowners insurance policyholders unable to find coverage in the private market.
CBRE Corporate Services and CBRE Senior Vice President Oliver Barakat represented Citizens Property in the site negotiations.
Brad Chrischilles, principal and Jacksonville director of Foundry Commercial, represented the landlord of the Baymeadows building.