The St. Johns River Water Management District is reviewing an application for N.G. Wade Investment Co. and Pattillo Industrial Real Estate to develop a 1,101,600-square-foot speculative distribution warehouse in West Jacksonville.
Pattillo Vice President Peter Anderson said Feb. 27 that a building of that size will require an investment of $50 million.
“We are getting permits in order with a plan to begin construction in ’22,” he said.
Anderson said no occupant has committed.
The project includes a truck court and car parking on 88.61 acres at northwest Pickettville Road and Commonwealth Avenue.
The property is at WesJax Trade Center.
Taylor & White Inc. is the civil engineer.
The application is for a modification to the existing stormwater pond.
The property is at 7379 Commonwealth Ave., west of Interstate 295.
The property is marketed as design-build, which means construction would depend on a company that intends to use it as a tenant or owner.
Anderson said in July 2020 there was not an active tenant or buyer. “Until we commit to building speculatively we are offering it for build-to-suit,” he said by email.
Anderson said CSX Corp. has a rail line next to the property. “That aspect has attracted certain manufacturers interested in ‘on-shoring’ to serve the Florida and SE USA market,” he said by email.
Onshoring is the return of manufacturing to the U.S. as opposed to offshoring, the practice of companies moving some processes or services to international locations.
The WesJax project would be one of several proposed 1 million-square-foot projects around the area.
Centers that size typically are e-commerce facilities that ship orders to consumers or are other types of fulfillment warehouses that send goods to retail stores and other brick-and-mortar customers.
WesJax Trade Center is a venture between N.G. Wade and Pattillo. The venture owns the property, Anderson said.
Pattillo’s project brochure shows a 1.2 million-square-foot design build site on about 89 acres.
