The developer of Port Jax Trade Center is preparing to add two speculative warehouses at the North Jacksonville industrial park.
Jacksonville-based Spinner Construction LLC applied to the city for a permit to build the 61,230-square-foot shell Building 900 on 4.18 acres at 2690 Port Industrial Drive at an estimated project cost of $4.2 million. A smaller Building 1000 also is planned.
The park is east of Alta Drive and west of Interstate 295, north of Zoo Parkway, which also is Heckscher Drive.
Developer Bill Spinner said April 22 that he has started the site work and has St. Johns River Water Management District permits in place.
“After earthwork this past week we are starting on the storm drainage and utilities. We will start vertical construction as soon as we get the building permit which may start early June,” Spinner said by email.
Zinn Architecture + Interiors of Jacksonville is the architect.
Spinner said the warehouse is designed for up to two tenants with spaces of about 35,000 and 25,000 square feet.
“We see a need for that size increment,” Spinner said.
However, the entire building can be leased to one user.
“We have a possible tenant for the entire building and this would be ideal as it would save project costs,” he said.
Building 1000
Spinner said the 11,400-square-foot Building 1000 also is in permitting along with Building 900 to provide an economy of scale in construction costs.
He estimated a total $9 million investment for both buildings, land and other costs.
Spinner said he will build those two structures speculatively, meaning no tenant has been signed prior to construction.
He said Building 1000 will probably be leased by one of the park’s existing tenants, or it “will lease quickly to a new customer.”
“There is little risk in Building 1000 since it is so small,” he said.
He expects to complete those two buildings by year-end.
Port Jax Trade Center
Port Jax Trade Center is a mile from the Jacksonville Port Authority Blount Island Marine Terminal the Dames Point Bridge.
The park is inside and south of the I-295 beltway between two access points onto the interstate from Alta Drive and New Berlin Road.
Tenants include Lockheed Martin and W&O Supply.
Port Jax Trade Center comprises eight completed buildings of about 475,000 square feet.
Spinner said they are fully leased.
He plans three more this year and early next year, adding 175,000 square feet.
Building 1100
In addition to Buildings 900 and 1000, that space would include Building 1100, which is about 102,000 square feet.
Spinner said permits are in place for that structure but he is waiting on a 25,000-square-foot tenant to pre-lease to start construction.
“If the market picks up and or interest rates are lowered, we will start 1100 on speculation,” he said.
That structure is at 10350 Alta Road, across the street from Port Jax Trade Center.
The developer is Jax Green Industrial, a full-service real estate development company led by Spinner.
That completes the 650,000 square feet of buildings on about 45 acres by the end of 2025, Spinner said.
Spinner said he started the project in 2009 with site development and a spec building.
“It was rough going economically for a few years after the start until lower interest rates spurred growth again,” he said.’
Since 1992, Jax Green Industrial has developed more than $250 million in properties comprising about 3 million square feet of office, flex industrial and heavy industrial commercial buildings.