Hillwood is working with a prospect that wants to buy part of an almost 112-acre parcel for a retail facility at southwest Normandy Boulevard and POW-MIA Memorial Parkway in AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center.
Dallas-based Hillwood, the city’s master developer for the West Jacksonville business park, also received and responded in the second quarter to a preliminary inquiry from a broker representing a prospect interested in leasing at least 1 million square feet of distribution space.
It did not identify either the retail or the distribution prospect.
Hillwood told the city in its second-quarter activity report Sept. 27 that it continued discussions in the April-June period with the retail prospect for a portion of Parcel Q. The retail center would be the first at the park.
The discussions started in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to the report.
“By the end of the reporting period, the prospect’s broker had submitted a purchase offer and Hillwood was evaluating its response,” said the report.
"The prospective purchaser has not shared a site plan with us," said Dan Tatsch, Hillwood executive vice president.
Regarding the distribution space, Tatsch said he could not provide information beyond what is in the report to the city.
In a third update, Hillwood reported that the Amazon.com build-to-suit on Parcel F could be completed by the end of the third quarter, which is July-September.
“By the end of the quarter, the exterior building walls had been erected and the roof was complete,” the report said for the April-June period.
It said painting had begun, a large percentage of site paving was placed and the underground utilities were completed.
It said JEA had installed the transformer and work was progressing in the main office area with drywall and the installation of HVAC equipment.
Hillwood also said it responded to general requests for information from prospects and brokers.
As the city’s master developer at AllianceFlorida, Hillwood is required to report quarterly activity.
For Amazon.com, Hillwood said it executed a long-term lease in January for the Seattle-based e-commerce retailer, which is building a 278,237-square-foot center.
Hillwood is the owner of the development at 13450 Waterworks St. on Parcel F at southwest POW-MIA Memorial Parkway and Waterworks Street.
Amazon.com says sortation centers are “midmile” delivery centers in which the company sorts customer orders by ZIP codes before handing off to delivery partners for final delivery.
Amazon already operates a 1 million-square-foot fulfillment center in AllianceFlorida.
Hillwood won a competitive bid in 2009 to become the master developer of the 4,474-acre Cecil Commerce Center, which is a portion of the former Naval Air Station Cecil Field owned by the city.