The Downtown Investment Authority voted 7-2 not to recommend a grant to help pay for EverBank’s security and parking.<\/p>\n
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 The landscape of downtown Jacksonville could be changing.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“Our strong preference would be to remain downtown,” said EverBank Spokesperson Mark Gordon during Wednesday’s meeting.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“They have security in place,” said Gordon. “We’ve come to the conclusion it’s not fully adequate for what we need.”<\/p>\n
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%.<\/p>\n
He compared to other major cities like Tampa, Orlando and Miami, which are all in the 10-15% range.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n