Jacksonville’s tallest Downtown tower is changing its marketing identity.
What was built as Barnett Center and has been known as Bank of America Tower is now Jax Tower at 50 North.
Sarah Teagle, Cushman & Wakefield senior associate of office brokerage, said June 16 that Bank of America has reduced its footprint and no longer has the naming rights at the 42-story building at 50 N. Laura St.
As a result, ownership is seeking a new anchor tenant for the 36-year-old tower, which it says is the tallest building between Atlanta and Miami.
“That really is our premier tower when you talk about quality,” she said. “It is our premier tower and ownership wants it to be the standout building.”
Teagle said as the bank renegotiated its most recent lease, it gave up its naming rights, which expired in the past month.
She referred questions about Bank of America’s lease details to the bank, whose media representative has been contacted but has not yet responded.
Unlike other Downtown towers, the building never carried the Bank of America name at the top. Its obelisk shape left no suitable space for it, Teagle said.
Instead, it posted its name on a lower level of the building, where it will remain for now, Teagle said.
She said the tower has 698,015 square feet of rentable space. At 70% occupied, it has about 210,000 square feet of space available for lease.
Teagle said she and Cushman & Wakefield Senior Director Traci Jenks are seeking tenants for the available space, including an anchor who could negotiate naming rights.
Jax Tower at 50 North is a placeholder, Teagle said. The name won’t be posted on the building but is meant to give a larger tenant the chance “to have the naming rights on the city’s tallest tower.”
Teagle said that with technological advances, tower-top signage could be available with a light projection. It would require city approval.
“The technology is there to be able to do it,” she said. “It’s a matter of what’s allowable.”
Teagle said she and Jenks have shown the space to large prospective tenants that she declined to identify.
A naming-rights deal may not require a tenant to lease a specific amount of space but instead would be part of a negotiated package deal, she said.
Teagle said ownership is working on bringing the building “back to life.”
Several restaurants are lined up to open on the ground floor, including a Starbucks expected to open by the end of summer.
“We have had quite a bit of activity,” Teagle said, showing space to tenants “looking to relocate to come Downtown.”
With the activity at Pearl Square and the University of Florida, both large Downtown projects near the core of the city, Teagle said she sees “the tower following suit with all that is going on,” and expects people to return to Downtown over the next two to five years.
Tower tenants include law firms, real estate groups, construction and development companies and other professional services.
Teagle said ownership has been investing in the tower’s ground-floor restaurants, a water chiller system, HVAC and other infrastructure and amenities.
She posted on LinkedIn that two restaurants from Ariete Hospitality Group are planned, along with a hotel-inspired bar and an upgraded fitness center — upgrades she said reflect what today’s office tenants want.
She said the Cushman & Wakefield property management division manages the tower and took over leasing and management around January.
“Jax Tower has long been a defining part of Jacksonville’s skyline. We’re proud to be part of the team repositioning this landmark property for the next generation of tenants,” she posted on LinkedIn.
Signs are being posted on the property that say “You Should Be Here.”
Property records show the 729,185-square-foot high-rise was built in 1990 on almost 1.32 acres to house the headquarters for Jacksonville-based Barnett Banks Inc.
Its obelisk design by international architect Helmut Jahn made it a signature tower on the Downtown skyline.
It has been through a series of owners.
In December 2020, Group RMC of New York City bought the property through Jacksonville Tower Florida Realty LP from Hertz Jacksonville One LLC for $75.5 million.
The property includes a five-story, 42,000-square-foot adjacent bank building and a nine-story parking garage at 25 W. Forsyth St.