The East Park Business Park in South Jacksonville has a new tenant – the U.S Navy.
The Navy is preparing a 50,000-square-foot shell tenant space for a training facility at 11660 Central Parkway at a cost of almost $16.4 million. The city is reviewing the permit application for an MMSC – Multi-Mission Surface Combatants – vocational and training facility.
The Navy said June 7 the location will be used to provide training facilities and administrative space for electronic ship operator and maintenance training to about 300 military students as part of a U.S. Foreign Military Sales case.
It said it chose the location because it was large enough to provide the required office space with desks, chairs and computer workstations to accommodate the Multi-Mission Surface Combatants training mission and associated administrative spaces.
The Navy said there was no available space at Naval Station Mayport for the facility, which will host up to 300 MMSC and shore support students plus staff and instructors.
The facility will provide MMSC ship-specific training courses, as well as high-fidelity simulators and virtual reality training devices to prepare crew members, watch teams and shore support personnel to operate and maintain the ships.
Brantley Construction of North Charleston, South Carolina, is the contractor. STOA Architects of Pensacola is the architect.
Colliers International Senior Director Eric Bumgarner, who represents the property owner, said June 1 that the lease was executed about two months ago and the construction time frame is about 320 days.
Bumgarner said the building fits the Navy’s needs for size and proximity to Naval Station Mayport. He declined to provide the lease terms.
He said the owner of the Store51 bedding e-commerce site owns the property and decided to rent a separate office and provide his distribution through a third-party logistics provider.
Jacksonville-based Store51 sells bedroom decor for children, students and adults in themes including movies, performers, animals, Disney, colleges and professional sports teams.
Bumgarner also is listing the property for sales as an investment with the U.S. Navy as a tenant.