Plans were filed this week for a 100-acre, 1 million-square-foot distribution-warehouse center at Cecil Commerce Center.
No project name was prominent in the filing, although it appears to be similar to speculation about FedEx, which has been widely speculated as the project for a large project at Cecil Commerce Center.
Jacksonville Cecil Commerce Center LLC of Dallas, whose managing member is Hillwood Investment Properties V LP of Dallas, applied to the St. Johns River Water Management District for a permit. The filing is dated April 2.
The property is south of Normandy Boulevard.
A project introduction description dated March says:
"The applicant proposes to develop the 103-acre± project site for the purpose of constructing a warehouse facility and associated car parking lots, driveways and associated infrastructure.
"The site lies within the central portion of Cecil Commerce Center, a 17,000-acre former Naval Air Station which was recommended for closure by the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission in 1993."
It says Cecil Commerce Center is in western Duval County between Interstate 10 to the north and the Duval/Clay county line to the south. Normandy Boulevard separates the center.
According to the application, the project proposes the construction of a 1 million-square-foot industrial warehouse on 103 acres off of Normandy Boulevard near the intersection of Normandy Boulevard and Alcoy Road.
The proposed project will bring 400,000 square feet and 600,000 square feet of distribution-warehouse space. Plans indicate two phases.
The City owns the land. Prosser Hallock is the engineer.
In February, a FedEx Corp. spokesman confirmed that FedEx Ground Package System Inc. has been considering a project in Jacksonville, but did not confirm the details circulating among those who are hearing about the search.
"I can confirm FedEx Ground is looking into something in the Jacksonville area, but nothing is confirmed," said Jesse Bull, FedEx communications coordinator.
"We're still in the preliminary phase," he said at the time. "We don't have further details."
FedEx is based in Memphis and FedEx Ground is based in Pittsburgh.
Several sources have been saying FedEx is looking at Jacksonville for a potential 500,000-square-foot logistics operation at Cecil Commerce Center in West Jacksonville.
AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center is a former Naval Air Station owned by the City and being developed by Hillwood, A Perot Company.
Previously, City Council member Doyle Carter would not comment about FedEx, although he said he was aware of a logistics company that wanted to build a distribution center at Cecil Commerce Center and was negotiating with Hillwood.
He said in February that he hoped a deal could be completed in a couple of weeks. He said a third-party company was negotiating with Hillwood on behalf of the prospect and he did not know how many jobs were involved.
Carter said it would be another gain for Cecil Commerce Center, which is the site for the Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire LLC distribution center and the Saft America Inc. battery plant, among other companies.
"There's a lot of movement out there," he said.
A Cecil Commerce Center site would help FedEx qualify for economic incentives.
The property, south of Interstate 10 and on both sides of Normandy Boulevard and 103rd Street, is an Enterprise Zone that provides for tax credits and tax refunds as well as a Qualified Target Industry Enterprise Zone Bonus.
Hillwood reports that more than 50 million consumers live within one-day truck transit of the site, which has an interchange at I-10 and is near I-95 and I-75, which provides direct access to the Southeast U.S. and beyond.
Hillwood explains that in 2009, it won a competitive bid to become the master developer of the 4,474-acre Cecil Commerce Center, which is a portion of the former BRAC-closed Naval Air Station Cecil Field owned by the City of Jacksonville.
The Jacksonville Aviation Authority operates the airport portion as JAA Cecil Airport.
While speculation centers on Cecil Commerce Center, sources also cautioned that until a deal is signed for FedEx at the property, "they're not there."
The Dallas-based Fischer & Co. corporate real estate consulting and brokerage firm lists FedEx as a client.
Fischer & Co. says on its fischercompany.com website that its services include portfolio management, strategic planning, acquisitions, dispositions, transaction and construction management, capital markets and sale-leasebacks.
In 2000, Fischer & Co. helped FedEx Ground choose Winston-Salem, N.C., for a package distribution center.
A news release on the Fischer site said FedEx Ground contracted with Regional Development Group Inc., an Orlando-based real estate developer,to build the 115,000-square-foot facility on a site in Union Cross Business Park.
Regional Development Group bought a 17.6-acre site in Union Cross Business Park to build the center to replace a 30,000-square-foot facility in Greensboro, N.C.
The new facility was estimated to generate 208 jobs including office personnel, package handlers and truck drivers.
According to its annual Securities and Exchange Commission filing, FedEx Corp. described its four business segments.
One is FedEx Ground Package System Inc., described as a leading North American provider of small-package ground delivery services.
The SEC report said FedEx Ground operates a multiple hub-and-spoke sorting and distribution system consisting of 525 facilities, including 33 hubs, in the U.S. and Canada.
It conducts its operations primarily with 30,770 owner-operated vehicles and about 35,000 company-owned trailers. It said advanced automated sorting technology is used to streamline the handling of millions of packages daily.
"Using overhead laser and six-sided camera-based bar code scan technology,
hub conveyors electronically guide packages to their appropriate destination chute, where they are loaded for transport to their respective destination terminals for local delivery," says the filing.
As of May 31, FedEx Ground had about 50,500 employees. In addition, it said FedEx's Ground relies on owner-operators to conduct its line-haul and pickup-and-delivery operations.
Duval County property records show FedEx owns or leases warehouse, transportation and shipping sites around Jacksonville.
Among them is a 28.12-acre site owned by FedEx Ground Package System Inc. at 2480 Lane Ave. N. in West Jacksonville.
Other FedEx sites include a 13.43-acre site owned by FedEx National LTL Inc. at 6611 Pickett Drive in Northwest Jacksonville and a 10-acre World
Service Center shipping location in Southside at 3736 Salisbury Road owned by Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corp.
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