SouthState Bank is hauling a big slice of its Winter Haven workforce into a brand-new five-story office in the middle of downtown, betting that hundreds of daily bank employees will help keep the city’s core buzzing. The roughly 40,000-square-foot building at 233 Central Avenue carries an estimated $17 million price tag and is expected to house about 125 operations staff, a move local leaders say will help lock in Winter Haven’s long-running downtown revitalization.
Project Details
The new administrative office will rise on a long-vacant parcel in the downtown core, topping out at five stories and roughly 40,000 square feet at 233 Central Ave, according to public property records on LoopNet. The project is being developed by Winter Haven firm Six/Ten LLC, and SouthState will own the completed building, as reported by Florida Trend.
Cost And Capacity
The development comes with a roughly $17 million budget and will consolidate about 125 workers into a single downtown operations hub. It will be smaller than SouthState’s existing regional operations center in Winter Haven, but still a major outpost for the bank. Filings put the project cost at about $17.2 million, according to the Tampa Bay Business Journal.
City Leaders Cheer The Move
SouthState CEO John Corbett said the new office will give the team “the modern environment they need,” in a statement to Florida Trend. Local officials and economic-development leaders are treating the project as another win for downtown, with Sean Malott of the Central Florida Development Council calling SouthState’s commitment “a strong statement about the future of our community,” per the Central Florida Development Council.
Next Steps And Timeline
Project documents reviewed by local outlets call for construction to start in July 2026 and run about 12 to 16 months, according to Tampa Bay Business & Wealth. Those filings also show plans for an elevated pedestrian connection from the building to a nearby public parking garage for employees. SouthState has requested performance-based incentives through Winter Haven’s Community Redevelopment Agency, and documents estimate the new office will boost the site’s taxable value by roughly $15 million.
