With construction markets continuing to grow, a California-based HVAC distributor is almost doubling the size of its Jacksonville warehouse.
TRUaire intends to build and own a 163,615-square-foot distribution center in NorthPoint Industrial Park in North Jacksonville.
That will replace the 90,000 square feet TRUaire leases in the park at 3509 Port Jacksonville Parkway. It took occupancy there three years ago.
Pattillo Industrial Real Estate is developing the center for TRUaire.
TRUaire Managing Director Tim McDonald said he expects the project to be completed in December or January. TRUaire employs 23 people now and will scale up as it opens.
Jacksonville is one of four distribution centers that include Houston, Baltimore and at headquarters near Los Angeles.
McDonald said all the distribution centers are in expansion mode. “We’ve been one of the leaders in our industry,” he said.
TRUaire is an HVAC manufacturer that distributes residential and commercial grilles, registers and diffusers that end up with contractors who install them in homes or businesses.
McDonald said the market is showing mid-single digit growth.
The city issued a permit for foundation construction at a job cost of $5.726 million.
Dana B. Kenyon Co. is the contractor for the project, called Building 12A, at 12128 New Berlin Road.
NorthPoint is a master-planned development at Alta Drive and Interstate 295. The park is within 5 miles of Jacksonville International Airport and 3 miles of the Jacksonville Port Authority’s Blount Island Marine Terminal.
Atlanta-based Stone Mountain Industrial Park Inc., which is related to Pattillo, owns the 362-acre NorthPoint.
TRUaire is privately held and does not disclose sales, McDonald said. It owns a factory in Vietnam that employs about 1,200 workers. Its U.S. workforce is 100 to 120 people, he said.
Pattillo Senior Vice President Peter Anderson said the TRUaire project differs from the other industrial developments taking place.
“If you look at all of the projects being announced, those are developer-driven. There have not been that many projects that have been user-driven,” Anderson said.
TRUaire intends to buy the facility after Pattillo completes it. “It is remarkable because the banks are very favorably postured to lend money to companies that use industrial real estate. We’ve had unprecedented low interest rates,” he said.
Anderson said it is interesting that companies have not built facilities to own. “We’re hoping to see more companies like TRUaire who would like to own their own facility and participate in the appreciation that’s occurring,” he said.
