Florida’s Citizens to Shave Operating Costs by Consolidating Offices

Florida’s state-backed property insurer is seeking to control its operating costs by consolidating its office space, a move expected company officials say could save almost $12 million over the next five years.

Citizens Property Insurance Corp. currently has offices in Jacksonville, Tampa and Tallahassee, where its corporate headquarters is located.

Last year, Citizens hired the consulting firm of KPMG to analyze its operations and find ways to reduce operational costs. As a result of that study and the insurer’s own internal investigation, Citizens President Barry Gilway has decided to consolidate offices around the state.

Currently, Citizens leases nearly 364,000 square feet of office space spread across nine buildings. The goal is to decrease that square footage to 330,000 by continuing to maintain offices in Jacksonville, Tampa and Tallahassee, but consolidating those services into one building per city.

Such a move is projected to reduce Citizens annual lease costs by $1.3 million. In addition, it would lead to an annual savings of $1.4 million by reducing the cost of upkeep of the buildings.

Citizens has also decided to consolidate its systems and operations departments in Jacksonville. The insurer said it would provide relocation and other assistance to employees who move to Jacksonville from other locations.

Citizens estimates there will be a one-time cost of about $1.5 million to complete the transfer. However, that will be partially offset by an expected savings of $1.1 million. In the following year, Citizens estimates the move will result in savings of at least $2.6 million per year for a five-year total savings of nearly $12 million.

“Our high-level timeline for the overall space consolidated plan is to procure the appropriate office space this year and, in early 2015, to plan layout and design,” said Gilway. “We anticipate the transition will be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2016.”