More than a year after work began on a Clay County roofing plant, the project’s contractor said it should be completed by the end of 2025.
Representatives from global roofing manufacturer IKO Industries Ltd., the Clay County Economic Development Corp. and the Clay County Board of County Commissioners broke ground March 27, 2024, on Clay Hill, a $270 million, 300,000-square-foot plant to make residential roofing products.
Dana B. Kenyon is the project contractor. Kenyon President Jamison Chattin estimates the project is 60% to 70% complete.
He said the project has remained on schedule since it began and that there have been no surprises.
“IKO did a good job when we were procuring. They ordered a lot of things early. That’s the story of construction,” Chattin said. “With COVID there were delays on materials and things like that, so a lot of those surprises were averted.”
He said 200 people are on the jobsite.
The manufacturing facility is on 80 acres east of U.S. 301, at County Road 218, about 10 miles south of Interstate 10.
IKO said it will create about 100 jobs and is hiring. The company said it will begin operating in mid-2026.
IKO, founded in 1954, is headquartered in Brampton, Ontario. Most of its U.S. facilities operate in the Northeast, along with operations in Texas and Alabama.
Clay Hill is the eighth shingle production line in IKO’s North American manufacturing operations.
IKO paid $5.26 million in April 2023 for the 80 acres of timberland.
County commissioners approved incentives and a mobility fee exemption for the project in May 2023, which at the time was code-named Project Gator.
A commercial development that could include up to seven freestanding businesses is planned in Middleburg.
Clay County is reviewing the project.
The project is at 1607 Blanding Blvd., a vacant 11.4-acre lot across the street from Annunciation Catholic School and St. Luke Catholic Church.
It is about a half-mile south of a Waffle House and about a mile north of a cluster of restaurants that includes Whataburger, Chick-fil-A and Culver’s.
Ricky Ostrofsky of Franklin Street is the broker.
He said the developer is in “deep discussion” with several potential tenants, including a preschool that will anchor the development, fast-casual restaurants, an automotive parts retailer and a national coffee chain.
Saratoga Springs, an “agrihood” planned in Clay County west of Green Cove Springs, behind Spring Park Elementary School, could bring as many as 4,489 homes to the area.
This development will be anchored by multiple working farms and include five neighborhoods, connected walking trails, parks and other amenities, according to a news release.
Developer Boston-based Freehold Communities bought the Saratoga Springs site Jan. 10 for $70.02 million.
According to Freehold.com, agrihoods are defined as “an organized community that integrates agriculture into a residential setting.”
There are three phases planned for the project, according to a Clay County filing. They are Saratoga Springs West, Saratoga Springs East Mixed Use Planned Unit Development, and Saratoga Springs East Rural Fringe Planned Rural Development.
As of June 6, the county has approved three construction plans for commercial use and residential subdivisions and is reviewing several more applications for the project.