The Florida Blue office complex in Brooklyn. | Jacksonville Daily Record
Published on February 25, 2025 at 8:51 pm
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The Jacksonville City Council on Tuesday signed off on a lease to move nearly all Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office personnel from the current headquarters on East Bay Street to the Florida Blue office tower in Brooklyn.
The agreement between the city and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida Inc. adds 283,893 square feet to the 62,695 square feet that JSO’s Homeland Security Department and other services already occupy in the 20-story building at 532 Riverside Ave.
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“Essentially, each component/unit that currently resides at the PMB (Police Memorial Building) will be moving to Florida Blue — joining the small contingent of units that have already moved into the building following the initial lease,” Christian Hancock, JSO public information officer, said via email Tuesday.
Ordinance 2025-0069, which council approved 17-0, amends a 2023 city lease with Florida Blue.
The new agreement will cost just over $7 million in the first year, escalating 3% annually over the 195-month lease term, according to city documents. The lease also includes two five-year extension options.
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The lease will provide JSO a total of 1,738 parking spaces between the Brooklyn building’s parking structure and the nearby Forest Street Garage.
Florida Blue, which maintains ownership of the building and will operate as JSO’s landlord, has agreed to provide a nearly $19.85 million tenant improvement allowance for the expanded space, and an additional $20 million allowance that may be requested by the city and repaid by the landlord at a rate of 8% per year.
The latest agreement also has a 15-month rent abatement that could be converted into an additional $7.27 million tenant improvement allowance.
Hancock said, “There is no hard date set at this time” to move from the nearly 48-year-old Police Memorial Building at 501 E. Bay St. to the Florida Blue tower.
He said JSO has vetting, planning and build-out to complete before staff move. The city’s legislative summary filed with the bill says, “Based on the anticipated legislative timeline and the approximately 18-month build-out, it is anticipated that the lease will not require a full year of funding until FY27 (fiscal year 2027).”
Florida Blue completed a multiyear move from its Riverside headquarters to Deerwood Park a few years ago that left several floors available in its tower in Brooklyn.
The Sheriff’s Office employs about 3,500 people, including about 2,000 police and corrections officers.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office’s pending move out of the Downtown core comes as debate over the theoretical construction of a new jail took center stage Tuesday during the public comment portion of the meeting. Spending money on a new jail was also the target of a protest outside City Hall on Tuesday afternoon.
Dozens of residents spoke out against the potential new jail facility, which officials have previously said could cost $1 billion, and against its possible locations on Jacksonville’s Northside or Westside.
According to JSO, “The move for all that currently occupy the PMB is a separate endeavor from that of the (jail) replacement.”
