Tampa-based GTE Financial is already building out a second Jacksonville office before its first one has even opened. Permits filed with the City of Jacksonville show the credit union is renovating a 2,848-square-foot former bank building at Intracoastal Plaza, at 14444 Beach Blvd. near Southeast Beach Boulevard and San Pablo Road, with plans to open the branch there in 2027.
The Beach Boulevard site sits on outparcel 1 next to Shores Liquors at the plaza, which is owned by Ash Properties and also includes Le Petit Paris Cafe on outparcel 3, according to the Jacksonville Daily Record. Jacksonville Beach-based Creo Contracting LLC is handling the 1,983-square-foot renovation within the larger building, which will include four offices, a break room and more, per the same report. The project carries a $1.75 million cost, matching the price tag on GTE's first Jacksonville build-out, and AEC Integrated LLC provided the private plan review while Tampa-based BDG Architects LLP designed the space.
A First Branch Already Underway on Gate Parkway
Before the Beach Boulevard project, GTE Financial's first Jacksonville-area branch was already taking shape at The Palms at Gate Parkway, on the ground floor of Building 1 in unit 105, with a planned opening in late 2026. That site sits at the northwest corner of Gate Parkway and Burnt Mill Road, west of Interstate 295 and south of Butler Boulevard, inside a three two-story-building complex that also houses Foxtail Coffee Co., The Chocolate Bar and Fore Score Golf Tavern.
The city issued a permit in July for Creo Contracting to renovate that 7570 Gate Parkway space, with the same architecture and plan-review teams — BDG Architects and AEC Integrated — working across both Jacksonville projects, the outlet reported. GTE's Gate Parkway office will include three offices, a break room, a lounge, a lobby, a rotunda and a walk-up ATM. The Palms is owned by Ash Properties, the same Jacksonville-based landlord behind the Intracoastal Plaza site, and the developer moved its own corporate headquarters to The Palms in June 2024, according to LoopNet.
The Gate Parkway location gives GTE Financial its first full-service retail presence in Duval County, and the corridor has been filling in fast around it. Hoodline previously reported on The Block Jax food hall, an $8.5 million, 2.5-acre outdoor complex with a 10,000-square-foot covered pavilion that opened in March directly across the street from The Palms. The corridor has also drawn a Korean restaurant and a burger concept into the same development in recent months.
Regulatory Green Light Opened Six New Florida Regions
GTE Financial announced its plan to expand into the Jacksonville market with two locations in May, after the National Credit Union Administration approved a field-of-membership expansion allowing the credit union to serve six new geographic regions across Florida. Before the move, GTE's network of 24 community financial centers was concentrated in West Central Florida, with its nearest existing branch located in Ocala.
Francesca Neuman and David Hillegas, both with Cushman & Wakefield, represented GTE Financial in lease negotiations for both Jacksonville locations. GTE Financial Chief Experience Officer Channing Thornton said the expansion into Jacksonville is part of the credit union's long-term commitment to meaningful growth, while GTE Financial President and CEO Brian Best said Jacksonville represented an opportunity to serve more communities with a personalized, community-focused banking experience.
GTE Financial traces its roots to March 4, 1935, when it was chartered during the Great Depression as Peninsular Telephone Employees Credit Union under federal charter No. 196, according to background compiled from Wikipedia. It was renamed GTE Federal Credit Union in 1958 after Peninsular Telephone was acquired by General Telephone & Electronics, and it rebranded again as GTE Financial in August 2012. The credit union now serves more than 230,000 individuals and businesses and manages about $3 billion in assets, with Federal Call Report data compiled by Weiss Ratings putting the mid-2026 figures at $3.13 billion in total assets, $2.77 billion in total deposits and a net capital ratio of 8.77%.
National Recognition and Active Hiring in Duval County
GTE Financial's Jacksonville push comes as the credit union has been picking up national attention as an employer. In February, Newsweek and Plant-A Insights Group named GTE Financial to their list of America's Greatest Midsize Workplaces for Culture, Belonging & Community 2026, giving it a 4.5 out of 5-star rating, according to CUbroadcast. That followed an August 2025 American Banker ranking that placed GTE Financial 20th nationally among 68 qualifying institutions on its Best Credit Unions to Work For list, based on employee surveys showing 91% overall satisfaction — one of only four Florida credit unions to make that ranking.
GTE Financial has already begun hiring for its Duval County expansion, posting job listings in August for personal bankers, financial advisors and community financial center managers, with target start dates in September for positions designated as Jacksonville Palms and Jacksonville Intercoastal, per job listings on Simplify Jobs. GTE Financial and its employees contribute millions of dollars annually to charitable organizations and dedicate thousands of hours to financial counseling, volunteerism and community outreach, according to a company news release.
The Jacksonville expansion is part of a broader statewide growth strategy for GTE Financial, and it remains unclear which of the other newly approved Florida regions the credit union will target next. For now, the two South Jacksonville projects — one on Gate Parkway opening late this year, the other on Beach Boulevard slated for 2027 — mark the credit union's first physical footprint in Northeast Florida after nine decades based around Tampa Bay.
