Bill Massey quoted in the Jacksonville Business Journal

8/26/2010 - By Staff Writer

PNC Financial moving to 60,000-sq.-ft. Southside office

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. is preparing to hire an estimated 100 to 150 employees in Jacksonville and open an estimated 60,000-square-foot office on the Southside.

The Pittsburgh-based financial services company�s move means not only new jobs and less vacant office space in the short term, but would also lead to a larger presence in Jacksonville and throughout Florida, according to a banking analyst.

Although a representative of PNC declined to comment on the new space or the expansion, some of the available jobs � including a human resources position, a mortgage market manager and a business analyst � are listed on the bank�s (NYSE: PNC) website.

One of the listings also lists the name of the building, the Collier Building, at 5011 Gate Parkway. The building also houses offices of Zurich Financial Services Ltd. and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida Inc. Brokers not involved with the deal say they have heard about PNC shopping the market for space since January.

Bill Massey, a CPA and shareholder at Saltmarsh, Cleaveland & Gund, said PNC�s decision to open the office indicates the company�s interest not only in Jacksonville, but Florida as a whole.

�They must be thinking there are some positive changes going on in the residential real estate market,� Massey said.

PNC has $178.8 million in net deposits and 2,710 branches in 16 states and the District of Columbia, including 115 in Florida, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The closest branches to Jacksonville are in Palm Coast, but according to the bank�s website, it operates 28 ATM sites at Hess Corp. gas stations in the Jacksonville area.

The company also operates a small residential mortgage office on the Southside, according to commercial real estate agents in the market.

Brad Chrischilles, a principal at CNL Commercial Real Estate in Jacksonville, said PNC�s move into Jacksonville will have a positive impact on the office market vacancy rate. Jacksonville�s overall office vacancy rate was 23.1 percent in the second quarter, up from 22.5 percent in the first quarter, according to Cushman & Wakefield of Florida Inc. statistics.

�That�s just an excellent user for the market,� said Chrischilles, who was not involved in the lease. �Jacksonville needs more than that.�

The market rate rent of empty floors in the Colliers Building is $20.50 per square foot, according to the website of the property�s management company, Parkway Properties Inc.

Chrischilles said he expects the tenant will get a rental rate discount and a concession package, however. Office leases such as this one are generally for at minimum five years and could be for as many as 10 years, Chrischilles said, and typically cost the tenant on average between $5 and $10 per square foot to become operational.

PNC did not request any financial incentives from the city, according to the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission office.