Investors hope old call center site may lure new call center

By KATE McCARDELL KERN
Published: July 3, 2008

The same real estate investment trust that is putting dollars down for the Marianna Commons project has also invested in the purchase of the old Sallie Mae facility by Chipola River LLC.
Project investor Byron Ward said it’s too early too say exactly what business will move in, but he and other investors hope to use the building’s existing infrastructure as a call center.
“Our goal is to try to market it as a call center. In the past, when Sallie Mae owned it and then vacated it, they would not take offers to lease the property or subdivide it,” explained Ward.
But smaller call center companies have come to Jackson County looking to do just that, said Ward.
“Our plan is to stabilize the building and offer smaller spaces to some call centers that may be interested. We’ve already got a workforce trained here from Sykes call center and Sallie Mae, and there’s about $4 million in ‘call-center’ infrastructure. So we have this space, we’re willing to subdivide it and a business can come lease a lot, which is a lot cheaper than building it. We’re trying to attract another business that will employ 200 to 500 people. We’re committed to that and we’re going to try to keep that possibility open for as long as we can financially,” said Ward.