The Downtown Investment Authority voted 7-2 not to recommend a grant to help pay for EverBank’s security and parking.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The landscape of downtown Jacksonville could be changing.

The Downtown Investment Authority (DIA) voted to not recommend an idea that could keep EverBank at its downtown corporate office, which is home to 800 employees.

“Our strong preference would be to remain downtown,” said EverBank Spokesperson Mark Gordon during Wednesday’s meeting.

Gordon brought a proposal to the Downtown Investment Authority to keep EverBank right where it is – a grant from the city for about $10 million over the course of 10 years.

Gordon says that money would help offset parking and security costs, costs Gordon says wouldn’t be as much of an issue if they moved to the suburbs.

“They have security in place,” said Gordon. “We’ve come to the conclusion it’s not fully adequate for what we need.”

One presenter laid out the unfortunate situation for the DIA to consider – vacancy rates in downtown Jacksonville spiked during the pandemic and currently sit over 30%.

He compared to other major cities like Tampa, Orlando and Miami, which are all in the 10-15% range.

“We are currently at record highs,” said the speaker on behalf of EverBank. “If you extrapolate the moves that are happening on top of what EverBank will do if they do leave, we’ll be at dangerously high vacancy rates.”

One board member pointed out if EverBank leaves along with Citizens Insurance, which announced its plan to leave the tower last year, the EverBank tower would be 93% empty.

That led several board members to call it a tough decision.

“The cost of losing them is also high,” said DIA Board Member Sondra Fetner. “I’m struggling with it, but I think, at the end of the day, we need EverBank to be in downtown.”

“We’re paying someone to tolerate being in downtown, which instead, they should want to be here,” said DIA Board Chair Patrick Krechowski. “They should see the value in downtown.”

 Ultimately, by a 7-2 vote, the DIA decided not to recommend the grant idea.

“I would rather use our resources, I think, to continue to build, rather than subsidize something that is already there,” said DIA Board Member Carrie Bailey.

This is just a recommendation from the DIA, now it’s time for the city council to make the final decision.

The council’s next meeting is Tuesday.