The Jacksonville Aviation Authority board unanimously voted July 27 to approve a ground lease agreement with Amazon Services LLC at Jacksonville Executive at Craig Airport in East Arlington.
The board approval came after residents and landowners along Atlantic Boulevard spoke against the project over concerns about traffic congestion and questions about the property’s rezoning to planned unit development.
The Amazon delivery station would operate a last-mile distribution center for deliveries in the Arlington, Beach and east Jacksonville communities.
The authority proposes to build Blue Angel Road between the Amazon site on nonaeronautical land to link to Atlantic Boulevard as the primary access for the Amazon drivers.
Craig is the authority’s airport for corporate aviation and flight training. It has acreage that can be developed and does not impede aviation activity.
The road is proposed on land owned by the authority between Duval Acura and Land Rover Jacksonville.
The Amazon site also is served by the existing General Doolittle Drive as a secondary access. That road connects to Atlantic Boulevard west of the proposed Blue Angel Road access.
Resident concerns
Three speakers asked board members to delay the vote to allow time to resolve questions and concerns. A representative of the Sutton Lakes Owners Association asked for time for “a fair hearing” of the PUD.
Sutton Lakes is on the south side of Atlantic Boulevard and its entrance would be part of the new intersection with Blue Angel Road.
Atlantic Boulevard has at least 20 auto dealerships open or planned from Monument Road to Kernan Boulevard, with Craig Airport along that route.
“We’re opposing the land lease,” stated Joe Hassan, representing Hanania Automotive Group’s Audi Jacksonville, which is east of the Amazon road site.
“Doing anything of this magnitude is going to have an impact on our ability to do business,” he said.
Smith Hulsey & Busey attorney John Wallace represents Duval Motor Co., which owns the Duval Acura dealership property east of the proposed Blue Angel Road.
Wallace asked for a delay to review the ground lease and the PUD.
After discussion, the board voted 7-0 to approve the lease.
A delay “sends the wrong signal to the customer,” said JAA board Chair Jay Demetree.
He said a vote to delay the lease could potentially lead to losing the tenant.
Board member Ray Alfred asked Demetree what would be gained or lost with a delay.
“The loss might be the developer gets cold feet,” Demetree said.
JAA staff said the public hearings on the project were publicly noticed. The Florida Department of Transportation and Council both held hearings on their parts of the project.
Authority Properties Manager Jeff Taylor told the board that the Amazon drivers would be driving on off-peak hours, leaving at 10 a.m. and returning at 7 p.m.
The lease terms
Amazon Services and the JAA negotiated terms for a 20-year lease with three 10-year options, totaling 50 years.
Amazon Services LLC will design, develop and build:
• A 180,000-square-foot distribution facility and parking.
• An east-west extension of General Doolittle Drive.
• The new north-south Blue Angel Road to connect Atlantic Boulevard to General Doolittle Drive.
• Intersection modifications and stop light improvements at Atlantic Boulevard and Sutton Lakes Boulevard.
The initial annual rent is 30 cents per square foot with a 2.5% yearly increase.
If Amazon Services LLC exercises an extension option, a fair market appraisal on the ground rent will be done in contract years 20, 30 and 40.
The agreement says that in consideration of the roadway improvements Amazon Services LLC will make at its cost, JAA will provide $3 million in rent credit spread over the first six years.
The total project rental revenue in the initial term after the credit is more than $14 million, the submission says.
Approval recommended
JAA management recommended the board approve the ground lease agreement and authorize authority CEO Mark VanLoh to execute the documents.
The submission explains that the south side of the Craig Airport property, which is at northeast Atlantic Boulevard and St. Johns Bluff Road, contains about 101 unimproved acres designated for nonaeronautical uses outside the perimeter of the airfield.
A master plan approved by the Federal Aviation Administration designates the property for long-term commercial uses.
The submission says the authority bought about 2 acres in 1976 near the Atlantic and Sutton Lakes boulevards intersection to allow for a future access road to be built to provide the property better connectivity to Atlantic Boulevard.
The property is between the two car dealerships.
The submission says that the only access to the site currently is General Doolittle Drive, which is limited to right-turn-only access in and out.
Project history
In October 2020, the JAA conducted a public solicitation through a request for interest to identify parties to lease and develop the property.
Seefried Development Properties Inc. was chosen as the highest-scoring proposer among the three submissions received.
Seefried, on behalf of Amazon Services LLC, proposed a warehouse and distribution facility to use 78 acres, most of the property in the solicitation.
In January and February 2022, the city rezoned the property to industrial business park for the development.
In July 2022, the Florida Department of Transportation, as the owner of Atlantic Boulevard, reviewed Seefried’s vehicle traffic study and determined that modifications and design changes were needed “to ensure the intersection operates in a safe and efficient manner.”
The submission says the department’s recommendations “in collaboration with the City of Jacksonville’s traffic engineers included a tear-drop roundabout that preserves stoplight access to all of the car dealership operators and their patrons.”