International Décor Outlet is negotiating a lease to move its headquarters to One Enterprise Center in Downtown.
Chief Operating Officer Bill Connerly said IDO signed a contract and is in final negotiations to relocate its offices from Baymeadows.
He said IDO will lease the 21st floor of the 22-story tower at 225 Water St.
Landlord representative Oliver Barakat, senior vice president of the CBRE Inc. real estate firm, said the deal is “very, very close.” He said IDO will lease 10,700 square feet.
Connerly said IDO, which is represented by NAI Hallmark Partners, wants to take occupancy in August.
“Jacksonville has been good for our investors,” Connerly said, and they want to be a part of the city’s revitalization.
“Our culture is taking areas and making them fresh again,” he said.
IDO is a relatively young company. International Décor Outlet LLC was registered with the state in April 2015. Its managers are Karin Jia Lee and Warren Hickernell.
International Décor Outlet Corp., designated in state records as the LLC’s president, was created in 2013.
The company is based at 7807 Baymeadows Road W. It describes itself as a direct-to-consumer outlet for manufacturers and retailers of interior décor and home-improvement materials.
Its website, idooutlet.com, says global manufacturers, including from China, will sell from the storefronts they lease. It plans several locations.
IDO is recruiting international and domestic décor-related manufacturers for its first two leased locations — the Darien Outlet Mall in Georgia and the 200,000-square-foot West Mall of Regency Square Mall.
Connerly said IDO has 18 employees. He projects 75 to 100 workers in the next four years, with a few at the malls where the company intends to open the décor outlets.
Connerly said both centers should open at the same time this fall so that visiting manufacturers can mark both occasions. He said IDO hopes for the first of September, although it might be later.
The Regency wing can accommodate 86 tenants. IDO holds the master lease on that part of the mall at 9501 Arlington Expressway and will sublease to tenants, while the East Mall continues as a shopping center.
Two tenants, who sell lighting and tile, are in for permitting, while Captain’s Catch Seafood Restaurant and Sports Bar has been permitted and will be substantially renovated.
“We’re doing showroom designs, not just regular retail,” Connerly said.
Connerly hopes to open IDO with 30-40 stores, but that will depend on the extent of remodeling needed for each.
He said IDO has hired property managers at both malls to handle domestic recruiting. IDO also wants to lease to coffee shops and restaurants.
IDO said in a previous news release the international manufacturers primarily are from Asia and South America.
Connerly also wants to create a Foreign-Trade Zone in Jacksonville that would allow international manufacturers to set up assembly and storage facilities and streamline clearance.
Jacksonville Port Authority spokeswoman Nancy Rubin said JaxPort is discussing a possible application with IDO. She said it is in the initial stages because a site must be selected and a formal application made.
JaxPort’s Foreign-Trade Zone No. 64 includes eight counties within Northeast Florida.
Commonwealth warehouse sells
Winthrop Realty Trust of Boston and Newmark Grubb Phoenix Realty Group announced the sale of a West Jacksonville warehouse for $10.5 million.
Winthrop, based in Boston, sold the property at 5245 Commonwealth Ave. to Tower Investments LLC of Woodland, Calif. It sold the building through FT-WD Property LLC.
Jacksonville-based Newmark Grubb Phoenix Realty Group represented Winthrop. It said the 588,000-square-foot warehouse, on 28 acres, is fully leased to two tenants — Fanatics and Dickinson Fleet Services.
Winthrop, a real estate investment trust listed on the NYSE, said in a news release it provided the buyer with $8.4 million in seller financing. Winthrop said shareholders adopted a plan to liquidate and wind down its assets to maximize shareholder value.
The building was developed in 1960. Commonwealth Avenue Warehouse LLC, a successor to Winn-Dixie Southwest Inc., sold the property in 2004 to FT-WD Property.
Newmark Grubb Phoenix Realty Group principals President John Richardson and Senior Vice President Bryan Bartlett represented the seller.
Tower Investments, formed in 1989, is a family-owned real estate investment and development company that already had invested in Jacksonville.
In May, it paid $1 million for a 72,373-square-foot cold storage and distribution center at 1505 Dennis St. It bought the structure from Caribbean Cold Storage Inc.
Its portfolio comprises more than 100 real estate projects in 15 states, including 10 million square feet of industrial space as well as commercial space, agricultural land and residential communities.
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