Developer Cross Regions Group is advancing its plans for The Fountains at Westside, a proposed mixed-use development in West Jacksonville.
The St. Johns River Water Management District is reviewing plans submitted May 28 for the 26.21-acre project.
The property is east of Lane Avenue off Ramona Boulevard, south of Interstate 10, at the former Westside Plaza.
Cross Regions is the developer of the 100-acre The Fountains at Saint Johns mixed-use development at County Road 210 West and Interstate 95.
President and CEO David Ergisi said the Westside project will be similar but smaller, bringing retail, restaurants, health care and hospitality to the area.
It will be developed over multiple phases starting with the renovation of an existing 36,000-square-foot building at the site where Office Depot operates.
Ergisi said he is in talks with potential tenants that are “desperately needed in the area” for the first phase.
At build-out, Ergisi said the project will include up to 100,000 square feet of retail space. Outparcels “will bring in key niche users that are needed in the marketplace,” including restaurants.
“It’s amazing how much demand there is in that area,” he said.
Ergisi is exploring senior living, multifamily housing, a hotel and a medical office at the southern end of the site.
Cross Regions, through Fountains at Westside LLC, purchased the site in four parcels Dec. 23 for about $9.8 million.
The Jacksonville Aviation Authority unanimously approved a ground lease May 20 for a Wawa gas station and convenience store on about 3.4 acres of undeveloped land owned by the authority.
The city issued a building permit for the project May 13. Site prep is beginning, according to JAA.
The site is near the Pecan Park Road entrance of the Amazon fulfillment center, about a half-mile northeast of Interstate 295.
Duval Road turns into International Airport Boulevard north of Pecan Park Road.
According to lease terms, the agreement starts at $60,000 annually for the first five years, with incremental increases thereafter. Rent will adjust for years 21 and beyond.
Rent will start on the earlier of the day Wawa opens, 240 days after receiving all permits and approvals, or two years after the lease is executed.
After more than six years of renovation, the historic Union Terminal Warehouse opened March 6 at 700 E. Union St.
The building, constructed in 1913, is near Jacksonville’s Eastside and EverBank Stadium.
Atlanta-based Columbia Ventures is the developer of the $73 million project.
There are 228 apartments, ranging from studios to three-bedroom units, and 50,000 square feet of small office, food and beverage and maker space on the site, according to columbiaven.com. Rents are $1,314 to $3,140 a month, according to the utwjax.com website.
As of June 6, the leasing office said 13% of the residential apartments are occupied and 19% are pre-leased. On the first floor, 46 offices are rented not including coworking space. In the basement, the light industrial space is 46% rented.
Vantage Point Coffee Co. is the first signed retail tenant.
Columbia Ventures bought the more than 7-acre property through East Union Property Owner LLC for $4.6 million Dec. 3, 2018. The city issued a build-out permit for $34 million in renovations.
The Columbia Ventures website says the total cost of the project was $73 million.
“Since day one we’ve been welcomed with open arms in Jacksonville,” Columbia Ventures Development Manager Ryan Akin said at the March 6 ribbon-cutting.
The Jacksonville City Council voted in April 2021 to designate the Union Terminal Warehouse as a local landmark. In May 2022, it authorized $8.29 million in public financing for Columbia Venture’s plan to renovate and adapt it into mixed-income housing and retail.
More than a year after breaking ground, Eden Prairie, Minnesota-based engineering company Wunderlich-Malec opened its Baldwin manufacturing plant May 28.
It is at 1190 Baldwin Tradeplex Drive just east of U.S. 301.
The 61,000-square-foot facility will support the company’s modular manufacturing operations that primarily serve utility providers and their substations.
Also known as modular cabinets, the enclosure systems protect and organize electrical and electronic equipment, components and systems.
The Baldwin facility complements Wunderlich-Malec’s 105,000-square-foot plant in Winslow, Maine.
Dan Gilbert, vice president of operations at Wunderlich-Malec, said the facility will employ up to 50 people. It also has space on the property to add 30,000 square feet when there is demand.
What was once code-named Project Bluebird is cleared for takeoff.
The Jacksonville City Council approved a request for $20 million in incentives to bring an Otto Aviation aircraft manufacturing plant to Jacksonville.
Council approved the deal June 10 with a a vote of 18-0.
The package is in the form of a tax break for the Texas-based company to build its Phantom 3500 corporate jet at Cecil Airport. Otto has shortlisted Jacksonville for production. The company said it looked at about 50 potential host cities over several years.
It has said it plans to make a decision “very soon.”
Otto says its two-engine Phantom aircraft is designed to minimize drag and maximize fuel efficiency, allowing it to operate with 60% less fuel than competing aircraft while outperforming them in range.
It is in the super-midsize category, in which planes typically carry eight to 10 passengers.
On May 19, the Jacksonville Aviation Authority board approved a separate $34.9 million package for Otto that includes a direct JAA $22.5 million investment and rent abatements.
The company would begin operations in a hangar vacated by Boeing before building a larger manufacturing and production facility on up to 90 acres on the grounds of the airfield.
If it selects Jacksonville, Otto would invest at least $430 million and move its headquarters to the city. The company says it would employ a workforce of 1,200 at an average annual compensation of $90,000.
As part of the city incentives package, it will offer a 20-year, 75% Recapture Enhanced Value Grant of up to $20 million on $140 million in tangible personal property at the manufacturing facility, such as machinery and office equipment.
According to the city Office of Economic Development, the state of Florida also is considering incentivizing the project through its Corporate Income Tax Credit and High Impact Performance Incentive Grant programs.
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