Without disclosing full details, Jacksonville-based EverBank has decided to keep its headquarters space Downtown, but has not confirmed for how long.
“I can confirm that we have signed a renewal of our lease on West Bay Street,” said Michael Cosgrove, senior vice president of corporate communications, July 9, referring to EverBank Center at 301 W. Bay St.
Asked for the size of the space involved, the length of the lease terms and the status of a rejected incentives request to the city to stay Downtown, Cosgrove replied: “We’re not discussing any of the terms.”
A second-quarter office market report by real estate company CBRE referred to key lease transactions that included EverBank as a renewal of 174,000 square feet of space at the 30-story Downtown tower.
The report gave no indication whether the lease was for the short term, which is considered two to four years in the market for a tenant that size, or for a longer term.
“We are happy that EverBank continues to be in downtown today and we’ll do everything we can to keep them here,” said city Chief Communications Officer Phil Perry in a July 9 email.
“Beyond that, we don’t have any updates and refer you to the company for specifics.”
Incentive request rejected
On Feb. 18, the Downtown Investment Authority board voted 7-2 against recommending approval of $9.8 million over 10 years to entice EverBank to stay at its offices at 301 W. Bay St.
EverBank said it requested the incentives to offset a cost differential in operating Downtown versus in a suburban office location.
The bank said it approached Mayor Donna Deegan’s administration during 2025 as it began deciding whether to renew its 10-year lease in the Bay Street building, prompting negotiations that led to the proposed incentives.
DIA board members who voted against the recommendation expressed concern that it would create a precedent that would prompt other Downtown employers and property owners to request public assistance to stay Downtown.
The DIA board vote came on Resolution 2026-02-09, which called for the city to enter a Conditional Grant Agreement with EverBank to provide $980,000 annually to the financial institution over the 10-year term of the deal.
The funding would not be offered under a DIA redevelopment program, but rather would be drawn from the city general fund. Because a grant from the city fund would require Jacksonville City Council approval, several DIA board members said they did not believe the DIA’s recommendation was necessary or appropriate.
That legislation was not filed with Council.
Terms of the deal included EverBank retaining a minimum of 139,000 square feet of leased and occupied space and investing $7 million in its space for tenant improvements.
In addition, the building owner would have been required to invest $7 million in EverBank’s space and an additional $5 million in the remainder of the building for security, systems, amenities and site improvements.
Miami-based Amkin West LLC owns the building. It paid $47.4 million for the property in 2014.
Supporters of EverBank’s request said the retention grant was needed to maintain the momentum of Downtown redevelopment.
DIA CEO Colin Tarbert said losing the bank’s roughly 800-member workforce based Downtown would be a setback amid completion of such projects as riverfront parks and substantial progress on private developments such as the Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences, the Whole Foods-anchored One Riverside mixed-use project in Brooklyn and Gateway Jax’s $750 million-plus Pearl Square district in the North Core area north and west of City Hall.
During a discussion at a Feb. 9 meeting of the Council Special Committee on the Future of Downtown, committee members voiced opposing views, with some agreeing with DIA board members that the incentive would set a precedent in which other Downtown employers would seek public funding to stay put.
Downtown office vacancy
Downtown’s office vacancy rate was 25% as of the second quarter of 2026, CBRE found in its market report. The Northbank, which includes EverBank Center, was 26.2% while the Southbank was 21.6%.
The suburban rate was 23.1%.
DIA board members questioned whether the property owner offered a competitive lease rate to EverBank, considering the high vacancy overall, the difference between rates Downtown and in the suburbs, and that a relocation by EverBank would leave the building more than 90% vacant.
Oliver Barakat, a former DIA board member who is senior vice president of CBRE, said in February that the property owner factored in the higher cost of building operations in Downtown compared with the suburbs, costs of the agreement and contributions for building improvements. The negotiated amount, he said, was competitive with other Downtown buildings.
Citizens Property Insurance Corp., which moved about 1,000 employees into the EverBank Center in 2015, is relocating to the former Florida Coastal School of Law building at 8787 Baypine Road in Baymeadows.
Mike Weinstein, Deegan’s chief administrative officer, said in February that the mayor and administration “really wish we didn’t have to do this,” but felt offering the incentive was necessary.
“I think it’s a very different picture five years from now,” he said. “The parks will be done, the stadium will be done, some of the projects that you’re wanting to do will be done.”
A DIA analysis projected that EverBank’s 800 employees would spend $1.66 million per year Downtown, based on an assumption that employees would work at least four days per week Downtown and would spend an average of $40 on goods and services there weekly. Over 10 years, the annual spending would amount to $16.64 million.
During the Feb. 9 meeting of the Council Special Committee, an EverBank representative said the bank determined that the annual cost of operating Downtown is $1.4 million higher than in a suburban commercial property.
Lawyer Steve Diebenow, of the Driver, McAfee, Hawthorne & Diebenow firm, said then that the proposed $9.8 million incentive was the product of negotiations between the bank and Deegan’s office.
He said parking and security costs contributed to the differential.
Diebenow said EverBank employed seven security personnel Downtown. With a move to the suburbs, he said, the bank would likely only need to split the costs for one security guard with other tenants.
‘Strong preference’ Downtown
During the Feb. 18 DIA board meeting, EverBank executive Mark Gordon said the bank’s “strong preference” would be to remain Downtown.
He said factors in that preference included EverBank’s ties to the community, its proximity to the majority of its employees’ homes and its connection to EverBank Stadium, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ home stadium.
“Downtown makes the most sense to us,” he said.
Responding to a question from DIA board member Sondra Fetner, Gordon said EverBank explored other offices Downtown but found them insufficient. Some fell short because of older infrastructure that would increase the bank’s build-out costs, he said, and some had layouts that would require the bank to spread its staff across more floors when it wants to consolidate into a more contiguous stack.
EverBank moved its headquarters to 501 Riverside Ave. in 2006.
Six years later, EverBank Financial Corp. became the Bay Street building’s anchor tenant and put its name at the top of what became EverBank Center.
After being acquired by TIAA Bank and then sold to a group of investment funds in 2022, EverBank’s signage returned to the building in 2023.
In August of that year, the Jacksonville Jaguars stadium was named EverBank Stadium.