City woos technology companies
New building for Avalex, AppRiver
Kimberly Blair • kblair@pnj.com • July 31, 2009
Ground could be broken on a $12 million, high-tech office building and a $5 million, four-level parking garage as soon as this fall if the City of Gulf Breeze obtains a parcel of land from the state.
"This is huge," said Gulf Breeze City Manager Edwin "Buz" Eddy. "With the Andrews Institute and Seashell Collections, this is another leg on the stool to support the city."
The Quietwater Office Park expansion, to be located on U.S. 98 east of the Pensacola Beach overpass, is bigger than construction of two buildings.
The project represents a six-month effort by the state, Santa Rosa County Commission, Team Santa Rosa and Gulf Breeze to retain two of the area's major technology firms — Gulf Breeze-based Internet security provider AppRiver, and Pensacola-based aerospace avionics development firm Avalex Technologies.
Both companies were poised to relocate to other states.
Instead, they partnered with Bob Savage, owner of Quietwater Office Park and formed Quietwater LLC to build the office building.
The city of Gulf Breeze will build and operate the parking garage.
State incentive grants
AppRiver was running out of space at Quietwater Office Park in Gulf Breeze, president and CEO Michael Murdoch said.
"We were looking at going to Texas. Austin actually offered us more incentives, but we'd rather stay here," he said. "Gulf Breeze is a great place to live and work. We recruit local talent and people from all over the country."
With the help of Team Santa Rosa, Murdoch said AppRiver qualified for $895,000 in state incentive grants to be used on the expansion project.
Among the grants is $400,000 that AppRiver secured because it is committed to creating 80 jobs in three years that pay salaries 125 percent higher — or $46,000 annually — than the average county salary.
AppRiver was founded by Murdoch and Joel Smith in 2002.The firm employs 108 and generated revenues of $20 million last year.
New home
Avalex's participation in the project hinges on securing a similar incentive package from the state.
Avalex President Tad Ihns said that if the package is approved, he will consolidate his two downtown Pensacola locations and his Atlanta operations to Gulf Breeze.
"We've been working on a new home for Avalex for some time," he said. "If the project goes through, we'll take 25,000 to 30,000 square feet of the new building."
Avalex moved to Pensacola from Atlanta in 2001 with four employees. It has grown to 54 employes, and last year it generated $12.5 million in revenues. The company continues to expand and is committed to paying annual salaries of $46,500 and more if it consolidates in Gulf Breeze, Ihns said.
Charles Wood, senior vice president of Economic Development for the Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, said he's glad Avalex plans to stay in the area.
"Would I like to see Avalex stay in Pensacola? Absolutely," he said. "But we'd like to see them grow first. In these economic times, it's a very good sign to see companies expand."
Monday vote
The city will send a formal request to the Florida Department of Transportation asking for the land.
The council will vote Monday to amend the city's land-use codes and comprehensive plan to allow for the construction of the 60-foot-tall office building. Current codes only allow for 35-foot-tall structures.
The new parking garage would be city-owned and operated and paid for with government grants, economic development grants or with the city's community redevelopment agency budget.
Shannon Ogletree, industry recruiter for Team Santa Rosa, said the project will put Gulf Breeze on the map as a technology hub.
This is how a technology cluster starts; two companies coming together and putting up a class A building and other companies want to be a part of it."
link:
http://pnj.com/article/20090731/NEWS01/907310337/1124