DHL Supply Chain sold its “Project Empire” refrigerated warehouse in North Jacksonville on Dec. 11 for $192 million.
The 625,308-gross-square-foot building is on 49.8 acres at 10030 Eastport Road, at Kraft and Eastport roads south of the San Mateo Little League ballfields.
DHL Supply Chain sold the property building through RES Jacksonville 1 LLC. The buyer was New York private equity investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. through Eastport Exchange Owner LLC.
KKR took out a $140.5 million mortgage with Forethought Life Insurance Co. of New York.
Arco National Construction of Richmond Heights, Missouri, was the contractor.
Arco announced in November it completed the facility for DHL Supply Chain “and a Fortune 500 world-leading food company.”
Arco said the facility includes a 482,560-square-foot, 36-degree cooler, more than 100,000 square feet of dry warehouse space and a 12,500-square-foot office.
It said key features of the warehouse include a Freon refrigeration system, a layer picker system, 38-foot clear height, 64 dock positions and a solar-ready roof.
By comparison, Arcadia Cold Storage & Logistics sold its warehouse in Imeson Industrial Park in March for $111.76 million. That structure was 310,922 square fee, or about half the size of the DHL Supply Chain facility.
Project Empire
In September 2024, Jacksonville City Council approved a resolution for the city to execute a $1.5 million Recapture Enhanced Value Grant for Project Empire, described as “a major international logistics and distribution company.”
A REV grant is a refund on ad valorem tax revenue generated by a new development or property enhancement. It can apply to property and tangible personal property.
In August 2024, the Jacksonville Daily Record reported that DHL Supply Chain was building its “Project Empire” distribution center in North Jacksonville at a job cost of $72 million after the city issued a permit.
The city issued a foundation permit in May 2024 at a cost of $565,113.
RES Jacksonville I LLC of Westerville, Ohio, was the developer and land owner. RES Jacksonville is part of Excel Inc. of Westerville.
Excel does business as DHL Supply Chain and the two share the Ohio address.
A legislative summary of the Council resolution described a 400,000-square-foot, $64 million center to provide logistics and distribution services throughout the Southeast U.S.
The economic development agreement said it would be completed by Dec. 31, 2025, and create 100 full-time jobs by Dec. 31, 2026. Empire’s 100 full-time employees will include logisticians, warehouse receiving and shipping personnel.
In Duval County Property Appraiser records, new construction on the property is listed at $47.43 million.
GMA Architects of Richmond Heights, Missouri, was the architect. BGE Inc. of Jacksonville was the civil engineer. Environmental Resource Solutions LLC of Jacksonville was the environmental consultant.
About DHL
Adrian Dalsey, Larry Hillblom and Robert Lynn in San Francisco founded DHL in 1969.
DHL, which became a wholly owned subsidiary of Germany-based Deutsche Post in 2002, has four divisions. One is Supply Chain for contract logistics, providing warehousing, managed transport and value-added services.
DHL Supply Chain’s U.S. headquarters is in Westerville. A new distribution center there brought DHL’s total footprint to about 15 million square feet in Ohio and more than 161 million square feet in North America.
Costs
The sale price is influenced by factors such as replacement costs.
To determine that, a search finds that Clarion Construction Inc. of Walnut, California, reports that cold-storage building construction costs depend on size, location, design complexity and the level of temperature control needed.
It says that on average, the cold storage construction cost per square foot ranges from $130 to $350, making it two to three times more expensive than standard warehouse construction, which typically costs $78–$85 per square foot.
Based on $130 to $350 per square foot, the cost of the DHL warehouse now could cost $81.3 million to $218.8 million to build.