The Suddath Cos. is nearing the start of work at Airport Commerce Center, the Jacksonville-based company’s North Jacksonville industrial park near Jacksonville International Airport.
The city issued four permits Dec. 16 for horizontal development for the Jacksonville-based company to start work toward its three-phase development.
In addition, city utility JEA is reviewing a service availability request submitted Dec. 16 for a 1,076,320-square-foot warehouse in Phase 3.
Suddath said previously the park will start with a distribution center for Suddath Cos.’ NXTPoint Logistics subsidiary, a distribution, warehouse and fulfillment company.
Airport Commerce Center is the launch for Suddath Cos., a global logistics company, to expand in Jacksonville with a significant industrial park of Class A industrial space.
Airport Commerce Center is west of Pecan Park Road, south of Gold Star Family Parkway and immediately north of the airport. It is west of Interstate 95.
The four permits are for Phases 1A, 1B, 2 and 3, totaling 315.4 acres.
Jacksonville-based England-Thims & Miller Inc. is the civil engineer.
The phases comprise:
Phase 1A, 14710 Pecan Park Road, 69.11 acres.
Phase 1B, 14720 Pecan Park Road, 51.14 acres.
Phase 2, 14730 Pecan Park Road, 76.64 acres.
Phase 3, 14740 Pecan Park Road, 118.53 acres.
The permits are for site clearing, timber harvest and mass grading.
Civil engineering plans filed in September show Airport Commerce Center LLC of Jacksonville as the owner and developer. The company says it controls the entire site.
The project description refers to a future industrial development with phased mass grading and stormwater management for an industrial development off of Pecan Park Road.
Engineering plans show that construction will include clearing, grading, stormwater management facilities and associated infrastructure.
The property is zoned as heavy industrial.
The company says 200.7 acres are upland, meaning they are above the wetland and can be developed.
Suddath buys property
The Suddath Cos. announced Aug. 22 that its wholly owned real estate development company acquired 107 acres at the Airport Commerce Center from Subema LLC with plans to acquire and develop the remaining acreage on the site.
Suddath now owns the land comprising Phases 1A and 1B and said it expects to close soon on the rest of the property for the next two phases.
Jacksonville-based Suddath Cos. said in a news release Aug. 22 that it previously formed the name Airport Commerce Center LLC and acquired the option June 26 from Flint Development to buy the land from Subema.
Suddath Cos. said the Aug. 12 purchase “marks a significant step forward for Suddath Property Management’s capabilities as a developer of industrial properties, both for affiliated Suddath companies and for third parties.”
Suddath paid $6.945 million for the first phase.
“The Airport Commerce Center property will be a Class A industrial park adjacent to the Jacksonville International Airport,” said Steve Suddath, chairman of The Suddath Cos., in the release.
“As a 106-year-old, Jacksonville-based company, we’re proud to continue investing in our hometown and the airport corridor. We will use the development of our own building for our NXTPoint Logistics subsidiary as a springboard for the development of the overall industrial park.”
The 1 million-square-foot Phase 3 NXTPoint building is in design, as are two – at 550,000 and 225,000 square feet - in Phase 2, the company said.
Phase 1 can accommodate up to 1.1 million square feet total of industrial use among one or several buildings.
Distribution center
The park will start with the NXTPoint Logistics subsidiary.
“This investment will not only serve the growth needs of current and future NXTPoint customers but will also be the future home of our new Logistics Innovation Center – where we will test and showcase the latest in supply chain technologies,” said Mike Brannigan, president and CEO of The Suddath Cos.
Suddath Cos. said in the release that the acquisition builds on Suddath’s recent 350,000-square-foot development in Tampa and current projects in Melbourne and in Lubbock, Texas.
“NXTPoint Logistics is one of our highest growth businesses, and we continue to look to invest in and grow NXTPoint in Jacksonville as well as other strategic markets in the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast and Southwest,” Brannigan said.
About Suddath
Established in 1919 in Jacksonville, Suddath Cos. said it has grown into a $900 million global transportation, relocation management and logistics company, serving 180 countries with 2,000 employees worldwide.
With more than 35 locations and 4 million square feet of warehouse space in the U.S., Suddath moves more than 80,000 households, including 30,000 military families, each year.
It says it is North America’s largest commercial mover, and is one of the fastest-growing logistics companies through the NXTPoint Logistics subsidiary.
NXTPoint Logistics says it delivers supply chain solutions spanning distribution, warehousing and fulfillment, managed FF&E (furniture, fixtures and equipment) logistics, domestic and international transportation, and final mile delivery.
The deed executed Aug. 12 shows that Airport Commerce Center LLC bought the property from Subema LLC of Tallahassee.
Airport Commerce Center LLC’s managers are Suddath Vice President and Secretary Barbara Suddath Strickland and Kevin Gannon, Suddath executive vice president and chief financial officer.
Suddath is the full developer of the project.