Hillwood Investment Properties didn’t identify JinkoSolar Holding Co. Ltd. in its fourth-quarter report to the city, but the China-based solar-panel maker was the biggest new deal of the period at AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center.
Dallas-based Hillwood is developing AllianceFlorida at the West Jacksonville commerce center.
The other big deal — a 1 million-square-foot fulfillment center for Amazon.com — concluded during the quarter. The city issued a full Certificate of Occupancy on Dec. 1 and the facility at 13333 103rd St. was fully operational by year-end.
For JinkoSolar, Hillwood reported that it received and responded to “multiple information requests from a prospect seeking to lease all of Hillwood’s 407,435 sf speculative building at 4660 New World Avenue.”
Hillwood Senior Vice President Dan Tatsch confirmed Thursday that the project was JinkoSolar, explaining that the deal was not completed at the year-end reporting period.
“The indicators were positive but nothing had been committed to and nothing had been signed yet,” he said.
Hillwood wrote that it met in Jacksonville with the prospect and the prospect’s legal and site-selection consultants. At the prospect’s request, Hillwood submitted a long-term lease proposal for the entire building.
At the end of the fourth quarter, in December, Hillwood drafted a preliminary lease agreement and was about to submit the draft to the prospect.
JinkoSolar’s identity was emerging through job postings and the city confirmed it in March.
JinkoSolar Business Development Director Jeff Juger said last week the project is on schedule and targets an initial launch by October
Shanghai-based JinkoSolar agreed to open the plant at Cecil Commerce Center with the support of city and state incentives.
JinkoSolar is hiring to staff the 200-job manufacturing plant.
CareerSource Northeast Florida will hold a Northeast Florida Construction and Manufacturing Job Fair June 14 that includes more than two dozen employers, including JinkoSolar.
The fair is scheduled 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Florida State College at Jacksonville Deerwood Center at 9911 Baymeadows Road.
JinkoSolar agreed to supply Juno Beach-based NextEra Energy Inc., which owns Florida Power & Light Co., with 2.75 gigawatts, or about 7 million panels, over four years.
The city approved tax incentives of $3.4 million, comprising a $3.2 million Recapture Enhanced Value grant to be paid over 10 years and a $200,000 Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund for JinkoSolar to be repaid over five years.
The state will pay the remaining $800,000 of the total $1 million QTI refund. Other state incentives were not specified in a city fact sheet.
The company agreed to employ 200 workers by the end of 2019 and invest $50.5 million to build-out at AllianceFlorida.
Hillwood’s quarterly report, covering Oct. 1-Dec. 31, referred to other projects. Hillwood said it received and responded to:
n Several site-related questions from a broker representing a prospect seeking to buy about 40 acres for a 300,000-square-foot distribution facility. It was the continuation of discussions that began in the third quarter and had not conveyed any decisions by year-end.
n Two separate inquiries from brokers representing two undisclosed clients seeking to identify development sites that could accommodate a 1 million-square-foot distribution facility.
n An information request from a broker representing a prospect seeking 25-30 acres for development of a medical facility.
Hillwood also said it hosted a lunch in late November in what became the JinkoSolar building for “20 of Jacksonville’s top industrial brokers.”
Hillwood intended to market the speculative building to highlight the leasing, sale and development opportunities at AllianceFlorida, to obtain relevant feedback and to foster relationships.
As the city’s master developer of the Cecil Commerce Center business park, Hillwood must file quarterly reports with the Office of Economic Development.
Its fourth-quarter report has a deadline of 150 days while the first, second and third are due within 90 days. That means the first-quarter report is due by the end of June.
Tatsch said there will be more activity included in the first-quarter report but declined to say what.
Asked about another spec warehouse, Tatsch said Hillwood is considering whether to develop one but has not decided.
JinkoSolar leased the second speculative building and GE Oil & Gas leased the first.
Cecil Commerce Center is along Cecil Commerce Center Parkway and Normandy Boulevard, south of Interstate 10.
In 2010, Hillwood began a 25-year contract with the city to develop 31 million square feet of industrial and retail space at the city-owned 4,475-acre property.
