$150M remodel
JM Family Enterprises is renovating its Deerfield headquarters.
JM Family Enterprises is launching a $150 million headquarters campus renovation and expansion in Deerfield Beach, as part of efforts to attract new generations of workers
Over three years, the automotive giant will remodel its iconic campus into a pedestrian one, demolishing seven buildings and keeping three. The plan is to build eight structures, including three office buildings, a two-story dining hall, 20,000-square-foot sports complex, 900-vehicle parking garage, and 55,000-square-foot conference and training center, the company announced on Monday.
“Our intention is to reinvest in our company, our loyal associates, and our headquarters in Deerfield Beach,” said Colin Brown, chairman and CEO, noting that the upgrade marks JM Family’s 50th anniversary.
Brown said JM Family’s investment in Deerfield Beach reaffirms its commitment to the community.
“We know that these efforts will modernize the way we work and build an even stronger and more unified JM Family,” Brown said. JM Family employs more than 4,200 people, including 1,700 in South Florida.
Mike Tiufekchiev, vice president of corporate services for JM Family, who is overseeing the renovation project, said the new campus will retain the Prairie style inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture. JM Family founder Jim Moran was a fan of the legendary architect.
“We’re going to pull from design elements Mr. Moran loved in the original building, with a much more up-to-date flair,” he said. “We believe it will be one of the marquee locations here in the city.”
Currently, some of the nearly 30-year-old office structures are “dated and inefficient,” he said.
“This is going to position us well for the next 50 years,” he said. “We see this as a way to attract new and young talent, retain existing talent with state-of-the art facilities, create a more fun and collaborative work environment, and modernize our existing facilities,” he said.
The campus’ original architecture was a nod to its Japanese business ties, as the exclusive distributor of Toyotas in the southeastern United States in 1968. That’s when Moran brought his business to South Florida from Chicago. The company moved its headquarters to Deerfield Beach in 1981.
Jacksonville architect Robert Broward, an apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright, designed the campus’ master plan. For the renovation and expansion, JM Family has hired Kaufman Lynn Construction of Delray Beach, which is working with PGAL Architects of Boca Raton.
The company said the city of Deerfield Beach is reviewing the required approvals for the building and expansion.
Mike Kaufman, CEO of Kaufman Lynn Construction, said the JM Family renovation will be a “flagship” project for the construction firm. Construction is planned in phases to avoid displacement and any major disruption of employees working on the campus, he said.
JM Family is looking to attract more millennial workers with the updated campus. “The millennial generation is looking for a work environment where they can be more open, not necessarily tied to a cubicle,” Tiufekchiev said.
“We see this as a way to ... create a more fun and collaborative work environment.”
Mike Tiufekchiev, JM Family
JM Family is already among Fortune magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For,” and is known for employee amenities such as on-site health clinics; anniversary celebration weekends at beachfront resorts; 15 percent retirement plan contributions; discounts on new or leased Toyota or Lexus vehicles; and a paid parental leave of 12 weeks for maternity and four weeks for paternity, with adoptive parents also eligible. The company provides “adoption assistance” funds to defray the cost of adopting children up to age 18.
In 2015, the company was one of a handful of South Florida companies that increased its minimum wage. JM Family raised its minimum to $16 an hour and increased salaries for 400 others.
JM Family had $15.1 billion in 2017 revenues, ranking 20th on Forbes’ 2017 list of “America’s Largest Private Companies.”
And Southeast Toyota had its best year in 2017, selling 363,910 vehicles, an all-time record 19 percent share of the nation’s retail sales for the year, up from last year’s 18.8 percent.
Moran died in 2007 at age 88. His daughter, Pat Moran, was chairman from 2003 to 2007, when she retired. Brown has been the CEO of JM Family since 2003 and last year was appointed chairman of the board as well.
Tiufekchiev said the company’s decision to renovate the campus reflects Jim Moran’s philosophy that “the future belongs to those who prepare for it.”