Deutsche Bank revealed its long-awaited Jacksonville expansion plans today as it told employees it will lease the former PHH Mortgage building near its Meridian Business Park campus.
The lease allows the global financial-services company plenty of expansion space as it builds its job base in Jacksonville while restructuring its worldwide operations.
The decision to lease at 5201 Gate Parkway “definitely creates a more permanent commitment to the location in North Florida,” said Leslie Slover, regional head of Deutsche Bank in Jacksonville and in Cary, N.C.
Deutsche Bank has grown to 1,700 employees in Jacksonville and recently won approval from City Council for incentives to create 350 more jobs.
The lease elevates the physical profile of Deutsche Bank in Southside as it boosts its presence to 350,000 square feet, making it one of the largest office tenants in the city’s history.
Deutsche Bank will continue to lease the five-building, 200,000-square-foot Meridian Business Park at 5022 Gate Parkway. It has about 1,200 employees there and is at capacity.
It will consolidate employees from additional leased space in Butler Plaza along Belfort Road to the PHH Mortgage building, as well as add new employees there as the company expands.
The company will refer to the building as 5201. PHH Mortgage will move to Baymeadows early next year.
Slover said the 5201 building probably can accommodate 1,200 employees and allows the company to grow into the space rather than seek temporary offices as it expands. That indicates the company has more plans for the city.
“This gives us a glide path to grow strategically,” she said.
The city development agreement and legislation, adopted in October, calls for the 350 jobs to be created by the end of 2017 and for Deutsche Bank to invest $23 million in tenant improvements, technology, infrastructure, furniture and finishes.
Deutsche Bank will use the entire three-story, 150,000-square-foot 5201 building. Slover said there will be 500 seats to accommodate employees, on both the second and third floors.
There also will be space for some employees on part of the first floor, where the building includes a cafeteria, gym, a health and wellness center, and meeting space.
Slover said 5201 is a 10-minute walk from Meridian, which is convenient for all Deutsche Bank employees to access the amenities.
Deutsche Bank will take occupancy of the building next year in two phases. The timing is being finalized.
The Jacksonville center, which opened in 2008, is Germany-based Deutsche Bank’s largest U.S. operation outside of New York and the decision to lease 5201 reinforces that role.
“From a Deutsche Bank North America strategy perspective, this continues what we’ve said in the last two to three years, that the Jacksonville footprint is a critical element,” Slover said.
Since Deutsche Bank’s roll-out in April of its “Strategy 2020” plan, which includes reducing the number of countries or local presences by 10-15 percent, there has been no comment on plans for the Jacksonville site. However, the company has maintained the Jacksonville operations remained “a critical component” in the company’s Americas footprint.
In October, council amended and adopted a resolution for $959,000 in incentives for Deutsche Bank to add 350 jobs in Jacksonville by the end of 2017, boosting employment to more than 2,000.
Including state incentives, the package is $4,244,000, or $12,125 a job. The jobs will pay an average $64,356, along with benefits.
When legislation was filed in July, the company said it would add 475 jobs and the incentives were higher, but the deal was amended in September. The salary and capital investment remained the same.
Deutsche Bank’s schedule is to add at least 25 of the incentivized jobs this year, 150 next year and 175 in 2017.
It was the fourth incentives package approved for Deutsche Bank since it opened in Jacksonville. The 2008 deal was for the initial 1,000 employees, followed by legislation in 2012 for 260 jobs and in 2013 for 300 jobs.
Deutsche Bank has exceeded those commitments.
In seeking the current legislation, Deutsche Bank said it also was evaluating sites in New York and Jersey City, N.J. The project summary said, “DB has been very pleased with its operations in Jacksonville.”
Slover said the company is very happy with the talent pool in Jacksonville.
The jobs that will move from Butler Plaza comprise global technology, legal, compliance and finance.
At Meridian, the company maintains offices that include its Corporate Banking & Securities business; asset and wealth management; and global operations.
In addition, it houses a state-of-the-art regional incident management command center and the recent build-out of the Corporate Information Security Operations Center.
The lease caps a significant project for Slover, who came to Jacksonville in February 2014 when Deutsche Bank appointed her to serve in the new position of regional head of Jacksonville and Cary.
The 18-year Deutsche Bank employee has played a strong role in aligning the Jacksonville and Cary locations to create a leadership and governance structure that united the bank’s technology and operations functions along with connecting the locations to the business both regionally and globally.
“We are excited that we will be expanding our footprint here in Jacksonville,” Slover said.
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