Dallas-based developer Hillwood reported to the city that during the final quarter of 2024 it was dealing with a prospective tenant needing about 1 million square feet for manufacturing, assembly and distribution operations.
Hillwood, the city’s master developer at AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center, said it received and responded to a preliminary inquiry from a site-selection consultant representing a company interested in the location.
The prospective tenant and site consultant were not identified.
Hillwood provides quarterly reports of its activities at the West Jacksonville industrial park. The fourth quarter was Oct. 1-Dec. 31, 2024.
Hillwood is not obligated to file the Q4 reports until the end of May.
In other marketing activities, Hillwood said it:
• Received and responded to an inquiry from a broker representing a company interested in buying about 50 acres for construction of a distribution facility. At the end of the quarter, the prospect was evaluating several options in Jacksonville in addition to AllianceFlorida. The prospect and broker were not disclosed.
• Continued discussions with an unidentified prospect interested in buying about 5 acres of Parcel U at southwest First Coast Expressway and POW-MIA Memorial Parkway for a potential retail facility. In late November, Hillwood provided utility maps to the prospect, which was evaluating the site at year-end. It had been looking at another site at AllianceFlorida.
• Continued to track an undisclosed prospect that first contacted Hillwood in late 2023 that is interested in leasing 1 million to 1.5 million square feet of space for “automated distribution.” At year-end, the prospect continued to evaluate its requirement and did not provide an estimate about when it expected to move forward with it.
Hillwood also reported that at year-end, mass grading was in progress in the upland areas and ponds were being excavated in Parcel E at 5550 POW-MIA Memorial Parkway.
In August, Hillwood’s senior leadership team approved development of a 603,000-square-foot speculative industrial building on 45 acres of Parcel E at northwest POW-MIA Memorial Parkway and Finger Lake Street.
The city issued a site-clearing permit Aug. 23 for the project at a job cost of almost $12.1 million. The city issued the construction permit March 5, 2025, at a job cost of almost $34.96 million.
Hillwood Construction Services L.P. of Dallas is the contractor for the 603,529-square-foot warehouse north of the Florida State College at Jacksonville Cecil Center.
Executive Vice President Dan Tatsch said May 29 he expects Building E to be completed in late October or early November.
It is designed as a cross-dock facility. Cross-docking is a logistics practice of unloading products from an incoming truck and immediately reloading into outbound trucks or trailers.
Tatsch said Hillwood’s goal is to lease Building E to a single tenant, but the structure is designed to be subdivided if necessary.
“At present, we’re working with several early-stage prospects, but no one I can identify,” Tatsch said.
Cecil Commerce Center
Cecil Commerce Center is generally between Interstate 10 and Normandy Boulevard, with some property south of Normandy, on both sides of the parkway. It is west of Interstate 295.
The city is the property owner. Hillwood is the operator.
The city’s master development agreement calls for Hillwood to build-out AllianceFlorida on about 4,499 acres of city property, the former Naval Air Station Cecil Field, off Normandy Boulevard and 103rd Street in West Jacksonville.
That agreement is designed for the city to share in the profits. As the master developer, Hillwood typically secures the tenant, buys the land from the city, develops the project and then sells it, sharing the proceeds with the city.
Tatsch said in January 2024 that Hillwood has developed about 3.225 million square feet at AllianceFlorida.
Building E will boost that to 3.828 million.
That includes the two 1 million-square-foot centers for online retailers Amazon.com on about 86.5 acres and home-furnishings company Wayfair on 80 acres.
AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center is represented by Hillwood and by Cushman & Wakefield Executive Managing Directors Tyler Newman and Jacob Horsley.