The Northeast Florida Builders Association wants its membership to be “All In” in the organization’s quest to build its new headquarters.
Planned for 4 acres at 6789 Southpoint Parkway, NEFBA is raising money and in-kind donations of materials and labor from its members as part of its All In campaign.
The general contractor hired to build the headquarters, Thomas May Construction, has invited NEFBA members to submit bids for their scope of work as a contribution to the project.
Bids will be compared to a pre-set schedule of values, which, if selected, will be used to determine the value of a contractor’s contribution to the campaign and eligibility for available naming rights.
The architect is Kasper Architecture of Jacksonville.
NEFBA purchased the site in 2016. The organization currently is a tenant at its headquarters at 103 Century 21 Drive off Atlantic Boulevard.
The new location will be more centrally located with access to Butler Boulevard and Interstate 95.
“We’ve just outgrown our space in terms of staff and in terms of the activities we conduct,” said NEFBA Executive Director Bill Garrison, who assumed his role just more than a week ago.
“We have a monthly meeting with about 100 and 150 attending, and we’ve outgrown that meeting space,” he said.
The new 10,000-square-foot building will have an attached, auditorium-size room that will provide space for larger meetings and activities. The building also will include office space for NEFBA’s charitable arm, Builders Care, and the association’s apprenticeship program.
Auditorium space will be available for rent and is expected to attract professional workshops, seminars and promotions.
The cost of the building and site preparation is $1.9 million.
“We’d like to raise all of it,” Garrison said.
A start date has not been determined. NEFBA expects construction to take eight months.
The oldest and largest homebuilders association in the state and fifth-largest in the nation, NEFBA has about 1,250 members, the majority of them associate members.
“What the All In campaign is all about is giving our membership an opportunity to provide some in-kind contributions where they can bring their services into the project,” Garrison said.
He said the association hopes to offset its actual out-of-pocket expenses with contributions from the membership.
“What you are most likely to find is some level of service provided at cost. I’ve been impressed with how generous these folks are, so we look forward to working with them,” Garrison said.
@AndrewFWarfield
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