Midwest Industrial Funds is investing in the Jacksonville market with plans for a speculative building in Westlake Industrial Park.
It plans to buy 30.2 acres in the West Jacksonville industrial park and develop a speculative 384,000-square-foot warehouse.
The site is along Pritchard Road.
The property is in two parcels. Norfolk Southern Corp. owns 20.7 acres and a private owner has almost 9.5 acres.
Matt Hubert, senior vice president of development, said Jan. 3 the property closing is expected in the second half of 2023 and construction will begin late in the year.
“The project will be built on spec with no tenants (in order) to capitalize on the strong tenant demand in Jacksonville,” Hubert said.
Civil engineer England, Thims & Miller Inc. applied to the JEA for a service availability determination.
Hubert said Colliers Senior Vice President Guy Preston and Colliers Associate Seda Preston will be the project’s listing agents.
He said the budget has not been determined for the project.
Midwest Industrial Funds is based outside of Chicago. It says it has developed or acquired almost 100 industrial real estate assets since its start in 2003.
Hubert joined in spring 2022 as senior vice president of development.
He said his goal is to expand investments across the country with a focus on the Southeast.
“Specifically Jacksonville,” Hubert said by email, “where I have been active in the industrial market for several years.”
Hubert spent eight years with Becknell Industrial as senior vice president of development, where he and his team “identified and closed over one billion dollars of speculative industrial and build-to-suit projects in 10 different states,” Midwest Industrial said.
During Hubert’s tenure at Becknell, the firm bought more than 200 acres in Jacksonville and developed several properties, primarily at Westlake.
