The city issued a permit Jan. 16 for FreezPak Logistics to build a 274,692-square-foot cold-storage facility in North Jacksonville at a project cost of $48.88 million.
The project, part of the cold-storage movement in Jacksonville, comprises 212,000 square feet of freezer space, a 43,680-square-foot loading dock, a 9,728-square-foot office and utility and mechanical space, according to the permit.
Industrial Building Group of Marshfield, Massachusetts, is the contractor for the project, which is in development at 8730 Somers Road about a half-mile east of the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens.
The contractor’s website, industrialbuildinggroup.com, said development began in August 2023 for completion in October 2024. The city issued the site-clearing permit Aug. 17, 2023.
FreezPak Logistics says it is a leading third-party food logistics company. The company said it will offer blast freezing, cross-docking, transportation, repacking and other services at the facility.
Michael Saoud is the co-founder and CEO of FreezPak Logistics, a family-owned business established in 2001 with headquarters in Carteret, New Jersey.
In August 2022, City Council approved a Recapture Enhanced Value Grant, which is a property tax refund, for the project.
A July 2022 city summary says FreezPak will lease a $116 million warehouse at 8730 Somers Road.
Resolution 2022-0618 authorized a REV grant capped at $3 million to BGFP Jacksonville LLC, the property owner, which is based in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.
FreezPak told the city its cold-storage and distribution facility would have at least 80 employees by year-end 2027. It would pay an average annual wage of $56,000 plus benefits, according to a city summary.
The summary said FreezPak was considering an $83 million investment in real estate and $33 million in machinery and equipment at the proposed facility.
For the grant, the private capital investment would need to be at least $95 million and FreezPak would need to create the jobs by year-end 2027.
According to the city Office of Economic Development at the time, the FreezPak site is where Philadelphia-based BG Capital proposes a $101.2 million development on Somers Road.
BG Capital paid $11.175 million on July 15, 2022, for 20.5 acres to develop what was called the 272,400-square-foot Jacksonville Cold Storage at the Somers Road property, which is near the JaxPort Talleyrand and Dames Point marine terminals.
BGFP Jacksonville LLC bought the property from Somers Road Jacksonville Propco LLC, which is InLight Real Estate Partners of Ponte Vedra Beach.
BGFP appears to refer to BG Capital and FreezPak.
At least five refrigeration and cold-storage projects are in development, primarily in North Jacksonville.
In addition to FreezPak in North Jacksonville, three more are:
• Argentina-based Axionlog built a cold and dry storage warehouse at 11370 New Berlin Road. The 38,000-square-foot facility is expected to expand to 100,000 square feet and create 60 jobs within five years.
• Arcadia Cold Storage & Logistics, Primus Builders Inc. and Saxum Real Estate are building a 332,701-square-foot food distribution center on 32.37 acres at 9765 N. Main St.
• FlexCold LLC is enlarging its cold storage warehouse to 346,000 square feet at 11180 Blasius Road.
In West Jacksonville, Karis Cold ceremoniously broke ground in November 2023 on a speculative 265,264-square-foot freezer-cooler warehouse, becoming the fifth refrigeration and cold storage developer to start a project in Jacksonville since 2021.
It is building in Westlake Industrial Park in West Jacksonville.
JAXUSA, the economic development division of JAX Chamber, has said Jacksonville is a target for refrigerated warehousing because products can reach half of the U.S. population in two days by truck and about 100 million customers in a day.