Two federal agencies that help to enforce port security should move into a new $21 million office center in North Jacksonville in early 2016.
The U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Customs and Border Protection will use the building for offices and related services in support of security at the Port of Jacksonville and its surrounding waters, according to the General Services Administration.
General Capital Acquisitions LLC of Milwaukee, Wis., won a GSA contract July 31 to develop the two-story, 55,034-square-foot structure at 10416 Alta Drive, near the St. Johns River and the Blount Island and Dames Point marine terminals.
The new offices also will increase the efficiency of interagency operations and relations as well as allow the sharing of resources and spaces that are common to both agencies, the GSA said.
Steve Sirkis, vice president of General Capital, said Wednesday his group also developed the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Flagler Center in 2012.
Sirkis said construction should start in February for completion a year later.
The building will yield 46,014 square feet of rentable space. The Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection should take occupancy March 15, 2016, under a 15-year lease term.
According to the GSA, the contract amount is $20,925,000.
Plans filed with the St. Johns River Water Management District show an address of 10350 Alta Drive, which is near the GSA address. The 5.6-acre site is along the Interstate 295 East Beltway, north of Zoo Parkway/Heckscher Drive.
Sirkis said Duke Realty Corp., an Indianapolis-based company that built the Flagler Center site, will also build the new one.
The Arcus Group Inc. of Cleveland, Ohio, is the architect and Jacksonville-based Prosser Inc. is the civil engineer.
The Water Management District application shows the property owner as JCLA Development II LLC. Sirkis said the land is under contract.
The GSA was soliciting responses for sites in an area involving North Jacksonville and Arlington. Solicitation information showed the administration wanted a 46,014-square-foot, two-story office building with 254 parking spaces, including 162 inside a security perimeter.
Customs and Border Protection assists the port by inspecting incoming shipments and the Coast Guard patrols the surrounding waterways.
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