Florida Blue gets interest from sheriff on top of School Board for office space
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office is considering the Florida Blue tower on Riverside Avenue as a possible place to lease space for a portion of its workforce because a building that houses those police units now is rat-infested and outdated.
The interest by the Sheriff's Office in the Florida Blue building in the Brooklyn neighborhood of downtown marks the second government agency eyeing it as a possible place to lease floor space. The Duval County School Board also has been evaluating it for relocating its headquarters from the downtown Southbank.
The headquarters for the Sheriff's Office is the Police Memorial Building along Bay Street, but the department has outgrown the capacity of that facility and has put units in other buildings in the downtown area.
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Sheriff T.K. Waters said one of those buildings is not a suitable location any longer so he is looking for leased space elsewhere.
"That building has outlived its usefulness," Waters said. "There are rats in there that are horrible. We see new fire stations commissioned all the time, but I'm struggling to find space for our police officers."
The Sheriff's Office does not have a timeline for moving the officers and still is exploring the options. The possibility of using space at the Florida Blue tower has not advanced to an actual lease agreement.
The office tower also is in the running to be a future location of the Duval County School Board's headquarters if the School Board decides to move out of its long-time center at 1701 Prudential Drive on the Southbank riverfront.
A report given in June to the School Board recommended two options: leasing space from Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Florida at its Riverside Avenue building or at a new building that would be constructed by a partnership of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority and Preston Hollow Community Capital.
If the School Board were to choose the Florida Blue building, it would lease four floors, according to the presentation to the board.
Waters announced a revamp Wednesday of how the Sheriff's Office deploys patrol officers across the county. He said the consideration of leasing space at the Florida Blue tower has no connection to the change in the patrol areas.
He said it's being driven by a need to have more space beyond what's in the Police Memorial Building. Waters said that State Attorney Melissa Nelson helped the Sheriff's Office by providing some space in her building for police officers.
The Sheriff's Office declined to provide the address of the building Waters is trying to get out of that has the rats.
City Council President Ron Salem also plans to convene a special council committee that will examine relocating the jail, which is behind the Police Memorial Building, out of downtown. Waters said the construction of a new jail could be accompanied by a new, larger headquarters building.
"The ultimate goal is to put everybody together in a justice type system area along with a new jail facility," he said.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville sheriff considers Florida Blue tower for office space
