Citizens draws bids for office space in Downtown and South Jacksonville

Citizens Property Insurance Corp. drew seven bids from its invitation to negotiate for "turn-key" office space in Jacksonville that is smaller than its current Downtown location.

The state insurer operates in the 30-story high-rise at 301 W. Bay St., for which it signed a 10-year, $41.7 million lease in 2015. At that time, the Daily Record reported the Citizens was consolidating offices and moving 1,038 jobs into about 232,000 square feet of space.

With its lease there set to expire in June 2026, Citizens issued an ITN with requirements that included 203,000 to 215,000 square feet of space, a minimum of 1,107 parking spaces, offices either in a single building or within the same campus, and and a lease with an initial 10-year term and renewal options.

On Jan. 17, Citizens unsealed bids from several respondents:

Rosecrans 2004 LLC for 225 Water St.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida Inc. for 4800 Deerwood Campus Parkway

841 Prudential MLB LLC for 841 Prudential Drive

Jax LC Owner 2 LLC for 14000 Citicards Way

The Atlantic Land and Improvement Co., care of CSX Transportation Inc., 550 Water St.

Amkin West Bay LLC, 301 W. Bay St.

Jacksonville IV FGF LLC, care of Boyd Watterson Asset Management, 8787 Baypine Road

In August 2024, Citizens launched an ITN seeking a space outside of Downtown in South Jacksonville. The insurer did not act on that invitation, and instead released a new one on Dec. 19 seeking space in South Jacksonville or Downtown.

Citizens says it plans to award the bid Feb. 28. It wants its new offices ready for full occupancy by June 1, 2026.

Miami-based Amkin West LLC acquired the 301 W. Bay St. building in 2014 for $47.4 million.

A marketing brochure for the high-rise by Ciminelli Real Estate Services says more than 360,000 square feet of space is available for new tenants in the 962,000-square-foot building. It shows eight complete floors as available, each between 34,000 and 35,000 square feet of space.

The Citizens space in 301 West Bay comprises eight floors and part of the first.

Tallahassee-based Citizens was created by the Florida Legislature in 2002 as a not-for-profit tax-exempt government entity to provide property insurance to Florida homeowners insurance policy holders unable to find coverage in the private market.