As one of Northeast Florida’s largest industrial markets, North Jacksonville is preparing for a new logistics park that sits within 4 to 9 miles of three JaxPort marine terminals and from 1 to 12 miles of the area’s three interstates.
Seven months after approving site clearing of about 136 acres for the park, called Eastport Exchange, the city issued a permit July 8 to clear a site to provide a spine road, called Abes Way in plans, to open up development access.
The Conlan Co. of Jacksonville is the contractor to clear 7.06 acres at a project cost of $2.7 million to create the entrance to the spine road to allow access from Eastport Road to the industrial park in Phase 1, comprising Parcels 3A and 3B.
The contract is to clear, prep and pave the access road for future nearby warehousing on the adjacent lot.
It includes installation of utility lines branching off the existing Eastport Road water main and force main.
The Eastport Exchange site is east of Eastport Road south of its intersection with Faye Road. The general site is south of Interstate 295, east of I-95 and Main Street.
New York City-based Zion Jacksonville LLC owns more than 700 acres in North Jacksonville. It is positioning the land as a master development of potentially more than 8 million square feet of warehouse use.
Zion Jacksonville LLC owns the spine road land, which is addressed as 9961 Eastport Road.
InLight Real Estate Partners
Ponte Vedra Beach-based InLight Real Estate Partners bought Parcels 3A and 3B in December to develop Eastport Exchange at 10145 Eastport Road.
Through Eastport Jacksonville Property Owner LLC, InLight bought about 136 acres from three Zion-affiliated entities for almost $26.75 million.
Ares Industrial Management is an equity partner in the park with InLight.
The Cushman & Wakefield commercial real estate company is marketing Eastport Exchange.
The land previously was marketed by the Colliers commercial real estate firm as Eastport Logistics Park.
The timeline
InLight Real Estate Partners confirmed in June 2024 that it intended to buy the property to start construction on four to seven industrial buildings totaling about 1.8 million square feet of warehouse space on Parcels 3A and 3B.
As the land owner at the time, Zion Jacksonville LLC applied to the city in October 2024 for a permit review to clear the 136 acres at a project cost of $20 million to lay the groundwork for the industrial park.
The city issued that permit Dec. 5, 2024, for clearing, installation of site utilities, roadways and building pads to construct future buildings.
Infrastructure contractor Phillips and Jordan Inc., based in Knoxville, Tennessee, is shown as the agent.
Before the Dec. 20 property sale to InLight, Zion Jacksonville applied for permits in October and November for four structures at a total estimated project cost of $37.9 million.
The first four speculative warehouses will comprise 889,086 square feet.
Buildings 100 and 200 are 312,278 square feet each and Buildings 300 and 400 are 132,265 square feet.
The Eastport Exchange brochure says there are flexible suite sizes starting a 25,000 square feet. It says that phase would be delivered – meaning it would be ready for tenant build-out – in the first quarter of 2026.
The Conlan Co. is the building contractor. Randall-Paulson Architects of Roswell, Georgia, is the architect. Prosser | Prime AE is the civil engineer.
A second phase is designed for another 900,000 square feet, although InLight has said that plan involves a build-to-suit warehouse or two that could change that amount. That land can be served by a CSX rail line.
Eastport Exchange is within a Foreign-Trade Zone, which is a free-trade zone near a port of entry that allows companies to import and export goods paying reduced or no customs duties, taxes or fees.
The marketing brochure cites the ready-to-activate spaces as a benefit. Activity at a site granted zone status needs separate FTZ activation by U.S. Customers and Border
More connections
The proposed Zion Parcel 3 spine road is designed for future parcel connections.
A site plan shows the road will connect from Eastport Road and will run east to create access to proposed Parcels 3A and 3B to the north and Parcels 4 and 5 to the south.
The spine road connects at Eastport Road where DHL Supply Chain is developing a logistics center on the west side.
Zion Jacksonville LLC sold almost 50 acres in November 2023 on the opposite side of Eastport Road to a company affiliated with DHL Supply Chain to develop an almost 400,000-square-foot, $64 million logistics and distribution center.
Warehouse use topping 8 million square feet
The Zion group has owned at least 900 acres in North Jacksonville and has been selling and deeding parcels, especially in the past two years.
Property records show that Zion bought the land in 1986.
Industry experts have said that after family leader Abraham Zion died eight years ago, the Zion family has been organizing in a long-term move to position the property for land sales.
Plans show the spine road named Abes Way, reflecting the name of the patriarch.