When we decided to move the VyStar Credit Union headquarters to downtown Jacksonville, we had two main goals. First, we wanted to be more visible within the community and share the benefits of credit union membership with more local residents and businesses. Second, we made a commitment to help revitalize downtown by giving people a reason to spend more time there and infusing the neighborhood with new energy.
Our Name in Lights
As you drive across the Main Street bridge in the evening, it’s impossible to miss our electric blue lights reflecting off the St. Johns River. Our state-of-the-art branch is located on the first floor of the VyStar Tower, and there are also new food and retail businesses on the VyStar Campus in The Bread & Board, Bread & Burger, The Bread & Board Provisions and Estrella Cocina. We’re proud of our stronger presence in the downtown community.
Fueling Business Growth
We’re also happy to see that our commitment to revitalizing downtown is bearing fruit, as seen by the recently released State of Downtown report from Downtown Vision. Downtown Jacksonville has 2,387 businesses with 56,000 employees and a total of 7.5 million square feet of commercial office space. As of the first quarter of 2020, downtown’s 14.2% vacancy rate was its lowest in more than a decade. For comparison, the vacancy rate hovered near 25% in 2010 and was close to 20% just five years ago.
A lower vacancy rate means we’re making good use of Jacksonville’s beautiful architecture and seeing a decrease in urban blight. Even more importantly, we’re welcoming new businesses, such as Nymbus, a financial technology company, to the area by supporting local entrepreneurs with a variety of competitive business loans and other financial products.
Bringing Residents Downtown
Similarly, more people are choosing to live downtown as the neighborhood improves. In one year, the number of downtown residents increased 18% to more than 6,100, and the number of multifamily residential units increased 20% to more than 3,800, according to the State of Downtown report.
This level of growth helps us to fulfill our vision of bringing credit union services to more people through programs such as VyStar@Work and our High School Branch Program, which recently opened its 18th high school branch at Belleview High School.
We’re pleased to see so many new faces in the community, and we want to help you protect everything you’ve worked for. Whether you rent or own your home, we can help you sleep easy with one of our high-quality insurance packages.
Attracting More Visitors
Downtown Jacksonville had more than 20 million visits in 2019 as people came to see many of our local attractions. We’re proud of our partnerships with many of these institutions, such as the Museum of Science & History. We’re also committed to supporting community education and enrichment for locals and visitors alike through our work with organizations like the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville.
These are important signals of growth and together they reinforce our belief that a thriving downtown will improve other aspects of Jacksonville, where many of our members and employees live and work. We’re proud to be part of downtown Jacksonville’s development and we’re excited to continue our progress.