Hillwood Investment Properties has spent almost $15.4 million so far on the building whose existence is credited for helping to attract GE Oil & Gas to Jacksonville.
Building permits outline the project costs to date for site clearing, construction, roofing, sprinklers and other work necessary to prepare the Cecil Commerce Center building for a tenant, in this case a GE Oil & Gas manufacturing plant.
Next, Hillwood will start tenant work for GE Oil & Gas, listed on the pending permit application only as “Alpha Build” because the application was made before GE confirmed its plans and lifted the confidentiality agreement with city recruiters.
The application seeks approval to construct three partition walls and install warehouse lighting in 100,000 square feet of the 510,000-square-foot building.
The job cost of $1 might be adjusted now that GE is the known tenant.
At a news conference Friday, Gov. Rick Scott and others announced that GE Oil & Gas will invest about $50 million into the building. That initial minimum $50 million investment will pay for manufacturing and IT equipment as well as additional real estate improvements, according to a city news release.
The project is expected to ultimately include more than $89 million in real estate construction and improvements and expenditures on manufacturing equipment. The initial 510,000-square-foot building is designed to double in size to 1 million square feet.
Hillwood Investment Properties is the master developer of the city-owned West Jacksonville business park. To meet a city-required timeline, it had to build the speculative building.
However, the design of the initial 400,000-square-foot speculative structure was adjusted to a much more specific 510,433-square-foot tilt panel warehouse when a tenant became involved.
The building is under development at 12970 Normandy Blvd. GE expects to move into the structure in November.
GE will make Becker control valves and Mooney regulators there, turning out its first products at the end of the first quarter, according to the JAX Chamber.
City building records show at least 11 permits for the address since May 2013.
• May 17, 2013: Site clearing and grading for phase one, $500,000.
• Feb. 10: Construction of a 510,000-square-foot tilt panel warehouse and completing associated site work for auto and truck parking, $12.88 million.
• Feb. 24: Installation of lighting and electrical service for the general contractor’s temporary office trailer, $750.
• March 6: Plumbing fixtures, no job cost listed.
• March 14: Installation of lighting and power services for the warehouse with a small office build-out, $364,000.
• June 20: Underground fire main, $230,000.
• July 7: Early suppression fast response sprinkler systems for shell warehouse, $490,600.
• July 17: Installation of new roof over steel deck, $875,300.
• Sept. 25: Lawn sprinklers, $35,000.
• Pending: Fire alarm system, $20,000.
• In review: Tenant build-out of three partitions and warehouse lighting in 100,000 square feet of the building, $1 (to be adjusted).
The Conlan Co. is the contractor for the shell construction and tenant build-out. Other contractors include Coastal Electric Company of Florida; Sunshine State Plumbing; J.B. Coxwell Contracting Inc.; Allsouth Sprinkler Co.; Barber & Associates Inc.; The Tree Amigos Outdoor Services Inc.; and Future Computer Systems Inc.
dd’s Discounts to open 3rd area store
Another dd’s Discounts store will open in Jacksonville. The city OK’d build-out Monday for a dd’s Discounts at the Highland Square shopping center at 934 Dunn Ave. in North Jacksonville.
The Miken Corp. will renovate 24,806 square feet of space at a project cost of $450,000.
Owned by Ross Stores Inc., dd’s Discounts operate two stores in Jacksonville in Arlington at 9822 Atlantic Blvd. and in West Jacksonville at 6310 103rd St.
Ross Stores’ main chain is Ross Dress For Less, which operates eight stores in the Jacksonville area.
Ross Stores is based in Dublin, Calif. It operates 1,146 Ross Dress For Less stores in 33 states, the District of Columbia and Guam. It says it sells in-season, name-brand and designer clothing, accessories, shoes and home goods at 20 percent to 60 percent below department and specialty store regular prices.
It says it operates 130 dd’s Discounts in 10 states that sell more moderately priced in-season, name brand clothing, accessories, shoes and home goods at prices that are 20 percent to 70 percent below moderate department and discount-store regular prices.
Gate buys site at River City Marketplace
Gate Petroleum Co. continues to expand, this time to River City Marketplace in North Jacksonville.
Jacksonville-based Gate bought 4.7 acres of vacant property Monday from South State Bank for $1.35 million. The land, sold in two parcels, is along Airport Center Drive.
South State, based in North Charleston, S.C., was formerly known as First Federal Bank.
Gate plans to build a 5,800-square-foot convenience store with 20 fueling positions and a car wash.
Gate has been building stores, expanding others and selling underperforming sites.
Its newer stores are near the St. Johns Town Center; in East Baymeadows; a replacement store along Emerson Street; and at the World Commerce Center along International Golf Parkway in St. Johns County. Development should start in the spring at a site along Philips Highway in Bayard.
Gate also is expanding its Busch Drive location in North Jacksonville, while it sold smaller stores along University Boulevard North in Arlington and at 319 S. Third St. in Jacksonville Beach.
Gate owns and operates about 80 locations in the Southeastern U.S. — Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and North and South Carolina — and also has about 200 dealer accounts.
Olive Garden removing destroyed restaurant
The remains of the fire-damaged Olive Garden restaurant in Regency are coming down.
The city approved a permit Wednesday for Armored Metal Works Inc. to demolish the structure at a project cost of $27,780.
Olive Garden intends to rebuild a new prototype Olive Garden at the site, 9465 Atlantic Blvd.
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