Project Speed, confirmed Friday as a GE Oil & Gas factory, dominated Hillwood Investment Properties’ marketing action at Cecil Commerce Center during the second quarter.
While the largest deal, Project Speed wasn’t Hillwood’s only second-quarter action.
In its second-quarter report to the city, covering April 1-June 30, Dallas-based Hillwood said it also:
• Dealt with an international manufacturing company interested in a 150,000- to 200,000-square-foot build-to-suit structure or the purchase of land to support its own development of a facility.
• Responded to an inquiry from an undisclosed prospect seeking a build-to-suit distribution center of 500,000 square feet or larger on 100 acres.
• Continued discussions with a confidential prospect for an e-commerce distribution center, which is believed to be Amazon.com as it develops two large fulfillment centers in mid-Florida but might consider more.
• Coordinated with the city economic development staff about the city’s potential lease of an existing building at Cecil to a prospective tenant pursuing a U.S. Department of Defense supply contract.
• Continued previous discussions from the second quarter of 2013 with a prospective retail operation of a fueling/convenience store facility.
• Held a meeting on-site with a company that provides 3PL and 4PL services and discussed potential build-to-suit opportunities for the company and/or its client company or companies. A 3PL is third-party logistics provider that offers outsourced or contract services to other companies. Fourth-party logistics is an arrangement in which a firm outsources its logistics to two or more third-party firms and hires another – the 4PL – to coordinate the activities.
• Worked with consultants and secured a permit extension for the wetlands on Parcel D, which is east of the Federal Express and Saft buildings. In June, a site work contractor was released to clear and fill the wetlands and the work is expected to extend into late summer or early fall. Parcel D is listed as a speculative building.
Hillwood reported it also was contacted in April by a broker representing a company interested in developing a large fueling station/convenience store facility at AllianceFlorida.
Hillwood concluded its overall market assessment essentially was the same as its view for the first quarter of 2014, which was similar to that of the fourth quarter of 2013.
“We continue to see slow and steady improvement, a trend we expect will continue through the remainder of 2014,” it said.
Hillwood is the city’s master developer of AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center. In 2009, the company won a competitive bid to become the master developer of the 4,474-acre Cecil Commerce Center, which is part of the closed Naval Air Station Cecil Field.
Hillwood has a long-term contract with the city to develop up to 30 million square feet of industrial and retail space there. CBRE Inc. is listed as the broker to contact for information about AllianceFlorida.
An AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center retail brochure at the hillwoodinvestmentproperties.com site shows available retail sites at Normandy Boulevard and New World Avenue, not far from the GE Oil & Gas facility.
That plan outlines seven retail parcels at southeast Normandy and New World. Those sites range from 1 to 2.3 acres each.
With 500 more jobs coming with GE Oil & Gas, those sites might see action as well.
Other large Cecil companies are Saft America Inc., which operates a lithium ion battery manufacturing plant; FedEx Ground Package System Inc., which is developing a distribution center; and Bridgestone, which has a large distribution center there.
Another potential development is whatever will be built on Cecil Commerce Center’s mega-site, north of Saft and FedEx and south of Interstate 10 and north of the end of Waterworks Street. The mega site can accommodate up to 9.4 million square feet of developed space.
The jaxcecilcommercecenter.com site features a conceptual site plan of the top half of the mega-site that shows two 2 million-square-foot manufacturing facilities and a future rail spur, with a rail product support yard between the buildings, along with a headquarters office building and a training facility.
No name or type of industry is referenced.
The website describes the property as part of the “only CSX/McCallum-Sweeney certified mega site in Florida (with) 1,500 available acres, with suitable infrastructure to support a major manufacturing facility.”
CSX Corp. is the Jacksonville-based railroad and logistics company. CSX sponsors six sites on its network that it considers ideal for large-scale development and are certified by McCallum Sweeney.
Hillwood’s next quarterly report for July-September is due in December, which is a month after GE Oil & Gas begins staffing its Cecil Commerce Center factory.
@MathisKb
(904) 356-2466