While not identifying the prospect as Amazon.com, developer Hillwood told the city in a required quarterly report that it and a prospective tenant executed a nonbinding term sheet to lease a facility at AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center.
Hillwood, the city’s master developer at the Westside business park, said in its third-quarter report for July 1-Sept. 30 that it and the tenant executed a nonbinding term sheet to lease an approximately 280,000-square-foot build-to-suit industrial facility on Parcel F.
“On the basis of this term sheet, Hillwood commenced design and permitting work for the proposed building. As of the end of the reporting period, Hillwood and the prospect were engaged in lease negotiations,” Hillwood reported.
Parcel F is at southwest POW-MIA Memorial Parkway and Waterworks Street.
The facility previously was identified in city documents as an Amazon center.
In October, the city began reviewing a permit application and plans for an Amazon facility at the Parcel F site at a construction cost of $40.4 million. The city is reviewing a permit application and plans for JAX9, a code name used by the Seattle-based online retailer.
Hillwood is the owner of the project, shown as a 278,237-square-foot industrial building at 13450 Waterworks St. Plans did not indicate the center’s functions.
Amazon already operates a 1 million-square-foot fulfillment center at AllianceFlorida.
Hillwood reported that in August, the Parcel F project received Federal Aviation Administration clearance for both the temporary construction crane and the building structure.
Hillwood’s civil consultants submitted the 10-set permit review document at the end of September and the report said the permit document would be submitted early in the fourth quarter, which it was.
As the master developer at the city-owned Cecil Commerce Center, Hillwood is required to submit quarterly activity reports.
Dallas-based Hillwood also told the city it sold the 1 million-square-foot Wayfair Inc. fulfillment center during the quarter. That building, at 13483 103rd St., is next to the large Amazon center.
Hillwood sold the Wayfair center to investor Stockbridge Capital Group LLC for almost $75.5 million, according to a deed recorded July 21 with the Duval County Clerk of Courts.
Hillwood sold the property through 103 BLDG A-B LLC. Stockbridge Capital, based in San Francisco, bought it through Cecil Distribution LLC.
The city announced Dec. 3, 2018, that Wayfair, the Boston-based online home furnishings company, would lease the building and open the $72 million center by the end of 2020 and create 250 jobs by the end of 2021.
Hillwood Senior Vice President Dan Tatsch said by email July 21 that he congratulates Wayfair on starting operations at the building.
City Council approved a $3.3 million Recapture Enhanced Value grant for the Wayfair center based on the additional property taxes generated by the project.
Hillwood also told the city that during the third quarter it:
• Continued its discussions that started in May with an unidentified prospect interested in leasing about 200,000 square feet of industrial space on Parcel P, which is at northeast Normandy Boulevard and POW-MIA Memorial Parkway. The goal of the discussions was to refine the physical features and delivery timeline for the proposed facility. At the end of the reporting period, Hillwood’s discussions with the prospect were continuing.
• Received a request for proposals from an unidentified prospect interested in buying land for construction of 350,000 to 450,000 square feet of industrial space. The prospect initially contacted Hillwood in February. Hillwood submitted a proposal to sell land on either Parcel P or Parcel E, west of POW-MIA Memorial Parkway north of Normandy Boulevard. By the end of the quarter, the prospect narrowed its focus to Parcel E and was continuing its discussions with Hillwood.
• Received and responded to a preliminary inquiry in late September from a prospect interested in acquiring a portion of Parcel Q at southwest Normandy Boulevard and POW-MIA Memorial Parkway for development of a retail facility.
Hillwood won a competitive bid in 2009 to become the master developer of the 4,474-acre Cecil Commerce Center, which is a portion of the former Naval Air Station Cecil Field owned by the city.
Tatsch said the sale of the Wayfair building generated a $1.98 million profit-sharing payment to the city.
Tatsch said including that payment, Hillwood has made about $7 million in profit-sharing and extension-fee payments to the city during the initial 10-year term of Hillwood's contract.
"These payments are a testament to the City’s vision, more than ten years ago, to entrust Cecil’s re-development to the private sector and to do so in a way that aligns the developer’s interests with the City’s interests," Tatsch said in an emailed statement.
He said the city renewed Hillwood's contract in September.
"We look forward to sharing more financial success with the City during our 5-year renewal term - and beyond," he said.
