Approving what is considered the largest jobs announcement in Jacksonville’s history, the city issued a permit Monday for a North Jacksonville fulfillment center for Amazon.com.
The Conlan Co. will build the distribution facility, which will employ at least 1,500 people, at 12900 Pecan Park Road.
The Amazon.com center will be built at a construction cost of $87 million. The entire project is $200 million, according to the legislation for incentives to assist the deal.
The JAXUSA Partnership said the center should be completed by late 2017 in time for the holiday season. Hiring is expected to start about six months before opening.
Permit information puts the center at 2.13 million square feet. The footprint of the building is 855,000 square feet and will be multilevel, taking it to 2.4 million square feet in capacity, the plans show.
USAA Real Estate Company bought more than 170 acres in North Jacksonville, north of Interstate 295 at Pecan Park and Duval roads, for the project. Seefried Industrial Properties of Atlanta is the developer.
The site is being cleared and now proposed road improvements to ease access to it are under review.
Seefried Industrial Properties applied to the city and the St. Johns River Water Management District to realign part of Pecan Park Road and widen Duval Road for turn-lane improvements.
The Duval Road improvements extend from I-295 to Pecan Park Road with minor improvements on the east side of Pecan Park Road and down Biscayne Boulevard. At the intersection of Duval and Pecan Park roads, Duval Road continues as International Airport Boulevard.
The Pecan Park Road improvements extend west and north from the Duval Road intersection to a site south of Terrell Road. Pecan Park Road is closed in that area to through traffic.
Plans show two intersections into the Amazon.com site along the realigned Pecan Park Road, one being the main driveway and the other being the truck driveway.
Seattle-based e-commerce retailer Amazon.com announced July 27 it would open the center to pick, pack and ship small items, such as books, electronics and consumer items.
To recruit the center, City Council and the state pledged $18.4 million in incentives, including $5.5 million for road improvements.
Expected BMW site wins water permit
The St. Johns River Water Management District issued a notice of intent to grant a permit for a 28-acre site along Imeson Road designed for a warehouse facility believed to be for BMW of North America LLC.
Pattillo Industrial Real Estate wants to build a 448,043-square-foot warehouse distribution facility along Imeson Road near its Westside Industrial Park. No tenant or user is named on site plans, but it is expected to be the proposed $30 million BMW center.
BMW has announced plans for a 450,000-square-foot Westside Industrial Park center to replace a smaller one it leases there, but has not confirmed the Imeson Road building is the location.
The Water Management District permit will be issued to Imeson Industrial Park Land LLC of Atlanta, which is led by Stone Mountain Industrial Park Inc.
The Pattillo family owns Stone Mountain Industrial Park and other companies under the Pattillo Industrial Real Estate umbrella. Those include the Westside Industrial Park.
Houston Engineering Inc. is the civil engineer.
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