Wells Fargo Center (originally Independent Life Building) is a

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...

in the downtown area of Jacksonville,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, at the southeast corner of Bay and

Laura Laura may refer to: People * Laura (given name) * Laura, the British code name for the World War I Belgian spy Marthe Cnockaert Places Australia * Laura, Queensland, a town on the Cape York Peninsula * Laura, South Australia * Laura Bay, a bay on ...

streets. Standing tall, it is the city's second-tallest building. It was formerly known as the Modis Building until 2011, when

Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...

acquired the

naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of t ...

.Bull, Roger (May 20, 2011)
"Wells Fargo name to replace Modis atop landmark building"
''

The Florida Times-Union ''The Florida Times-Union'' is a daily newspaper in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Widely known as the oldest newspaper in the state, it began publication as the ''Florida Union'' in 1864. Its current incarnation started in 1883, when th ...

''. Retrieved July 6, 2011.Patterson, Steve (September 25, 2011)
"Wells Fargo joins Jacksonville skyline"
''

''. Retrieved September 26, 2011.

History

The tower was completed in 1974 by the Independent Life and Accident Insurance Company, and was known as the Independent Life Building. Built by

The Auchter Company The Auchter Company was established in 1929Kerr, Jessie-Lynn"Wilbur H. “Bill” Glass Jr.: Headed firm that crafted Jacksonville's skyline"Florida Times-Union, October 21, 2010 in Jacksonville, Florida by George D. Auchter. The company was amon ...

. It was designed by

KBJ Architects KBJ Architects, Inc. (KBJ) is an American architectural firm based in Jacksonville, Florida. The firm designed 17 of the city's 30 tallest buildings and "created Jacksonville's modern skyline", according to ''The Florida Times-Union'' newspaper.Ker ...

, who received the Honor Award for Outstanding Achievement in Design by the Jacksonville Chapter of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

for the design. The design concept included a sloping base and large corner frames to provide a distinctive image not only for the company, but also as an identifying landmark for the city of Jacksonville. Beginning in 1995 Independent Life was acquired by the

American General Life Insurance Company American International Group, Inc. (AIG) is an American multinational finance and insurance corporation with operations in more than 80 countries and jurisdictions. , AIG companies employed 49,600 people.https://www.aig.com/content/dam/aig/amer ...

, and operations were gradually moved to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. The building was sold to Associated Capital Properties, and the Jacksonville staffing company AccuStaff moved in and acquired the naming rights, and it became the AccuStaff Building. In 2002, AccuStaff changed its name to

MPS Group The Adecco Group North America, based in Jacksonville, Florida, provides professional recruiting, staffing, consulting and business services to various industries in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia and Asia. For 2 ...

. It renamed the building the Modis Building, after one of the company's main brands, and added Modis signage. In 2009 MPS Group was acquired by the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

firm

Adecco Group The Adecco Group, is a Swiss-French company based in Zurich, Switzerland, and is the world's second largest Human Resources provider and temporary staffing firm, and a Fortune Global 500 company. They directly employ 700,000 people a day, an ...

, which announced the company would relocate to Jacksonville's suburbs. The move was completed in 2011 and the signage was removed, and the building was renamed Independent Square. In May 2011,

, which had acquired the

Wachovia Wachovia was a diversified financial services company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before its acquisition by Wells Fargo and Company in 2008, Wachovia was the fourth-largest bank holding company in the United States, based on total asse ...

financial services company, announced it would relocate local employees to the building. Signage went up on the Wells Fargo Center on September 26 and the relocation completed by April 2012.

Description and tenants

The Wells Fargo Center has 37 floors, and held the title of tallest building in Florida until 1981, when

One Tampa City Center One Tampa City Center, formerly known as GTE Center and Verizon Building, is an office skyscraper in Tampa, Florida. It was the tallest building in the state for three years and the tallest building in the city until the completion of the Bank o ...

was completed. It remained the tallest building in Jacksonville until 1990, when the Bank of America Tower surpassed it in height. The building takes up an entire city block in Jacksonville's downtown. A notable feature of the structure is a four-story atrium of tropical vegetation where the public enters.KBJ Architects website: Awards-Modis Building
/ref> The first floor also contained an auditorium with seating for 360 patrons, a bank, restaurants, and several retail stores.

Parkway Properties Parkway Properties, Inc. was a real estate investment trust that invested in office buildings in the Sun Belt. In 2016, the company was acquired by Cousins Properties. Notable properties owned by the company included Liberty Place, Phoenix T ...

is a third-party service provider for the building.

The River Club

One major tenant in the Wells Fargo Center is the River Club of Jacksonville, a private business club that occupies the top two floors of the building. Originally known as the Jacksonville Businessmen's Club, it was established in 1954 after the fashion of similar organizations in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and

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It was formerly located on the 16th floor of the Prudential Building (now known as the

Aetna Building Eight Forty One is a , 22-floor office building on the south bank of St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida. Completed in 1955, it was the tallest building in the city for 13 years until surpassed by the Riverplace Tower. It was "The Tallest Of ...

), the city's tallest building when it opened in 1955.Mathis, Karen (February 15, 2006
"River Club's first woman president the end of an era"
''

''. Retrieved September 12, 2011.Florida Times-Union: March 30, 2005-Essay contest celebrates high rise's 50th birthday
/ref> It relocated to its current space in 1976, but did not offer memberships to women until 1985. The club has been owned and managed by a subsidiary of

Gate Petroleum A gate or gateway is a point of entry to or from a space enclosed by walls. The word derived from old Norse "gat" meaning road or path; But other terms include ''yett and port''. The concept originally referred to the gap or hole in the wall ...

since 2003.Mathis, Karen (June 30, 2004
"Gate doing overhaul of River Club"
''

''. Retrieved September 12, 2011. In September 2017, Hurricane Irma's storm surge caused major flooding in the downtown area of Jacksonville. The parking garage of the Wells Fargo Center was impacted by these events and the building was briefly closed. The building reopened September 29.

Gallery

File:ModisBldg-Jul2009-a.JPG, Modis signage in 2000 File:ModisBldg-Feb2010-f.JPG, Aerial view in 2010 File:NightJXFL112.jpg, Wells Fargo Center with Go

Jaguars The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the thi ...

lights in 2011 File:Wells Fargo Center JAX.JPG, Interior File:Wells Fargo Center, Jacksonville, FL, US.jpg, Side

References

External links