Duval Schools is preparing to move the district’s headquarters off of Downtown’s Southbank to the Southside.
On Tuesday morning, the School Board is set to discuss both the sale of its current HQ building at 1701 Prudential Drive and the purchase of a building at 8928 Prominence Parkway in the Prominence office park in Baymeadows just west of I-95.
Documents provided to Jacksonville Today by board member Melody Bolduc show Duval Schools expects to sell its current building for $20 million and pay $14 million for the new one. According to the documents, provided to the board in advance of Tuesday’s meeting, the district received 10 offers for the current building on Prudential Drive and selected one with the help of its real estate team, Trinity Commercial Group. It’s been on the market for several months.
The Baymeadows property, which the district proposes to purchase for an amount “not to exceed $14 million,” was last sold in June 2024 as part of a total $22 million sale of a larger portfolio of parcels. The buyer last summer was a company controlled by Dream Finders Homes.
According to the documents, the district plans to move more than 900 employees to the new headquarters and hope to “move in a direction that allows for a fiscally sound relocation of a non-student/family-oriented operation into a building of substantial improvement in facility quality.”
The district also expects to save on maintenance and utility costs with the new facility.
The conversation about the HQ move comes amid a massive cash shortfall for Duval Schools, which needs to trim nearly $100 million in spending to balance the district’s budget.
The board’s vote on both transactions is scheduled for Sept. 2. There will be opportunities for public comment at both Tuesday’s meeting and again before the votes in September. Here’s how to attend.
