IKO Industries, a 71-year-old Toronto-based maker of roofing, waterproofing and insulation products for the residential and commercial markets, is working toward construction of an almost 700,000-square-foot manufacturing complex in Clay County.
A conceptual site plan for IKO South shows a 306,476-square-foot ISO (insulation) board manufacturing facility and office, a 265,381-square-foot shingles manufacturing facility, a 102,805-square-foot ice and water manufacturing facility and a 21,184-square-foot processing building next to a granule unloading area.
The St. Johns River Water Management District is reviewing an application for an environmental resource permit for the project.
Called IKO Project Gator, the project is described as a facility on 81.2 acres. The property is within two real estate property numbers that show a site east along U.S. 301, at County Road 218 about 10 miles south of Interstate 10.
While the Clay County Property Appraiser’s Office says the address is Jacksonville, the maps show the property is in northwest Clay County, south of Duval County and east of Baker County.
Plans show the manufacturing project comprises almost 700,000 square feet of enclosed space.
It will include the main manufacturing building, hot oil room, granule silos building, filler silo and product warehouse as well as an oxidizer plant, crushing plant and spur railways, according to the permit application.
It also includes storage, stockpile, loading and offloading areas along with roadways and utility and stormwater infrastructure.
IKO.com says the family-owned company is a worldwide leader in the roofing, waterproofing and insulation industry for residential and commercial markets.
It operates more than 35 manufacturing plants throughout North America and Europe.
IKO South in Wilmington, Delaware, is listed as the applicant and operator of the Clay County manufacturing complex. Tetra Tech Inc. is the civil engineering and environmental consultant.
The Clay County Board of County Commissioners agenda for Nov. 22 includes “consideration of business incentives for Project Gator.”
IKO South Inc. registered with the state Jan. 25, 2022.
The president is David Koschitzky; vice president is Dan Redmond; secretary is Andrew Soward and treasurer is Corbet Elder.
Koschitzky, Elder and Soward are based in Toronto. Redmond’s address is in Wilsonville, Alabama.
The principal address and mailing address are in Wilmington, Delaware.
Koschitzky is the CEO and co-chair at IKO North America.
IKO.com describes the company, founded in 1951, as “a pioneer and leader in the global roofing and related products industry.”
It initially made building paper and then expanded to include coated roll roofing. Its first asphalt shingle was made in 1954.
The company first established itself in Eastern Canada with the Brampton, Ontario, shingle plant in 1959.
That was followed by expansion into the European market with the construction of a shingle plant in Ham, Belgium, in 1972 and the addition of a new facility in Hawkesbury, Ontario, in 1976.
The site says IKO entered the U.S. marketplace in 1979 through acquisitions and has built plants across North America, most recently n Hillsboro, Texas, and Hagerstown, Maryland.
“In all of its plants, IKO implements a program of continuous improvement that includes updating equipment and refining systems and processes in order to maximize efficiency and productivity, reduce waste and enhance performance and safety,” the site says.
In North America, its headquarters is in Brampton, Ontario. There are 13 manufacturing plants and facilities supplying finished goods and raw materials.
In the U.S., IKO’s corporate headquarters is in Wilmington.
IKO.com said it opened its first U.S.-based asphalt shingle plants in Delaware, Illinois, and Ohio in 1981 and exports to about 100 countries.
Its U.S. sales and manufacturing plants are IKO Pacific Inc. in Sumas, Washington; IKO Southeast Inc. in Sylacauga, Alabama; IKO Midwest Inc. in Kankakee, Illinois; IKO Southwest in Hillsboro, Texas.
In April 2022, IKO announced the grand opening of its newest production facility in Hagerstown, Maryland. The $70 million facility opened with 40 employees and the possibility of expansion to meet consumer demand as the business grows.
IKO announced the plant in 2019 and it began producing in the second half of 2021.
IKO said the 460,000-square-foot production and warehouse facility marked the company’s first manufacturing site for thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO), a single-ply roofing membrane material used in the commercial flat roofing market.
The plant will also produce polyisocyanurate (ISO) insulation products for distribution across North America.
“IKO has made significant investments in expanding both its product lines and its manufacturing footprint in the U.S. market,” said Mike Mendoza, director of Single Ply Systems, in April.
He said the new Maryland flagship facility “is another key step forward in our company’s long-term strategic expansion plans.”
“This TPO plant will help to establish the IKO brand and its Innovi product line as a significant player for U.S. commercial roofing in the same way we are already a preferred brand in the residential market,” Mendoza said.
IKO InnoviTPO is a single-ply roofing system.
“While TPO may be new to IKO, we have decades of experience in the commercial market globally to leverage as we introduce commercial roofers to IKO in the United States.”
