Raymond James to move operation The firm will head to East Memphis
After months of speculation, public documents show that financial services firm Raymond James and Associates, Inc. will move its operation out of Downtown to two office buildings in East Memphis.
Its employees will be split between 1100 Ridgeway Loop and 889 Ridge Lake Blvd.
The move comes after a lawsuit was filed against the owner the Raymond James Tower, the building named after the company at 50 N. Front St. The lawsuit called the elevators in the building “unsafe and unreliable” and said several employees and guests had been trapped inside them on several occasions.
“Because of the deterioration of its Downtown facility, Raymond James has recently signed two leases to relocate its operations into 250,000 square feet in two buildings located in East Memphis,” the Florida-based company said in an application for a tax break.
Raymond James has requested a $3.2 million payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) incentive to help curb the cost of the move, documents from the Economic Development Growth Engine (EDGE) for Memphis and Shelby County show.
In return, the company has promised to create 100 new jobs paying an average of $63,970 annually. Operations clerks and asset management clerks will take 90 of the jobs. Those positions pay about $50,000. The company also plans to hire eight supervisors and two managers who will earn between $75,000 and $110,000 annually.
The company has 863 employees across Memphis.
Raymond James already had two floors at 1100 Ridgeway Loop and will take over the rest of the building. The company will take full control of 889 Ridge Lake Blvd., which is now vacant.
It will cost the company $23.6 million to renovate and furnish both buildings. The company brought in $7.27 billion in revenue in 2018, EDGE records show.
“These leases are contingent on EDGE’S approval of our PILOT application,” the company said in the PILOT application.
The company has plans to move part of its operation out of its St. Petersburg, Florida, home, which is susceptible to hurricane damage, the application said. That move will fuel some of the job growth in Memphis.
The EDGE board will discuss the PILOT at 3 p.m. Oct. 16 at the Memphis Area Association of Realtors office at 6393 Poplar Ave.
Also on the agenda is the discussion of the economic impact plan for the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district in the Raleigh neighborhood.
If approved, a portion of the property taxes collected inside a TIF can be used to fund other projects within the district.
Desiree Stennett covers economic development and business at The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at desiree.stennett@commercial appeal.com, 901-529-2738 or on Twitter: @desi_stennett.