Pattillo Industrial Real Estate’s proposed 1.11 million-square-foot warehouse in its NorthPoint Industrial Park in North Jacksonville has generated industry speculation about a distribution center tenant.
That tenant is Pepsi North America, according to Jacksonville-area industrial market observers, who say Pepsi is on the radar for the site. Pepsi officials have not responded to requests for comment.
Peter Anderson, vice president of new investments for Atlanta-based Pattillo Industrial, said June 2 that Pattillo had no comment as to the NorthPoint project.
Pepsi Beverages North America is PepsiCo’s beverage manufacturing, sales and distribution operating unit in the U.S. and Canada.
It posted a job opening in mid-May for a warehouse associate leader in Jacksonville, but did not say where. It also posted jobs for a forklift operator and food safety and quality coach.
Those could be for Pepsi’s existing bottling plant and warehouse in South Jacksonville.
Pepsi has had a presence in Jacksonville for decades.
Bottling Group LLC, based at PepsiCo’s headquarters, owns a bottling plant and warehouse property on 23.33 acres at 5829 Pepsi Place at southeast Interstate 95 and Bowden Road.
The site comprises a light manufacturing center at a gross area of 165,535 square feet built in 1986 and a warehouse at a gross area of 97,339 square feet built in 1997.
Calls requesting comment have not been returned.
PepsiCo Inc. is based in Harrison, New York.
Its annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in February 2026 says PepsiCo Beverages North America either independently or with third parties makes, markets and sells beverage concentrates, fountain syrups and finished goods under brands that include Aquafina, Bubly, Diet Mountain Dew, Diet Pepsi, Gatorade, Gatorade Zero, Mountain Dew, Mountain Dew Baja Blast, Pepsi, Pepsi Wild Cherry, Pepsi Zero Sugar and Propel.
It operates its own bottling plants and distribution facilities and sells branded finished goods directly to independent distributors and retailers, according to the report.
It also sells concentrate and finished goods for its brands to authorized and independent bottlers, who in turn sell the branded finished goods to independent distributors and retailers in some markets.
It also manufactures and distributes some brands licensed from Keurig Dr Pepper Inc., including Crush, Dr Pepper and Schweppes and some juice brands licensed from Dole Food Co. Inc. and Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc.
It also distributes brands owned by Celsius Holdings Inc. and by Tropicana Beverages Group.
In March, Anderson said the company is working on the project in preparation to meet demand.
“We are confirming our ability to construct a building of this size,” Anderson said March 16 by email.
He said there are no commitments from prospects, but interest is surfacing after several years of soft demand for large buildings.
“The WSJ and others are forecasting an increase in demand in coming years. We hope to be ready,” Anderson said, referring to a March 11 report in The Wall Street Journal.
City utility JEA issued a service availability determination letter March 21, 2026, for Building 11 at 3855 Port Jacksonville Parkway at NorthPoint.
Moore Civil Consulting Inc. of Perry, Georgia, is the applicant.
A JEA request means a project is being explored.
The overall plan shows a proposed building of 1.11 million square feet, truck courts and 430 proposed parking spaces on 66.43 acres.
A letter from Moore Civil Consulting says the building need were based on 350 employees, 76 docks and 13,000 square feet of office space within it.
The St. Johns River Water Management District approved a permit April 10, 2026, to modify an environmental resource permit for NorthPoint 11, also described as a 1.11 million-square-foot building with a truck court and car parking on 66.43 acres.
NorthPoint is at northwest Port Jacksonville Parkway and New Berlin Road, north of Faye Road and Interstate 295.
Anderson said construction costs typically are $70 to $90 per square foot for the base building, without tenant build-out. That means the project could be $77.8 million to $100 million to build.
The Wall Street Journal report said demand is bouncing back for the biggest warehouses after several years of slow leasing activity.
It reported that companies signed 146 leases across the U.S. for warehouses of more than 500,000 square feet last year, up more than 31% from the previous year to the highest level since 2022, citing real-estate firm Cushman & Wakefield.
It said 42 agreements were signed in the fourth quarter, the most activity in a quarter since the third quarter of 2022.
The WSJ said the uptick in demand is being driven by third-party logistics companies and manufacturers, including companies moving production to the U.S. from overseas.
Other dynamics include demand by companies supplying electrical systems, power racks and other hardware to support data-center build-outs across the U.S., as well as companies nearing the end of lease agreements made during the pandemic.
Anderson wrote in a Daily Record guest column Feb. 18, 2026, that after five years of constrained supply and rapidly increasing rental rates, relief had arrived for Jacksonville’s industrial tenants.
He wrote that the market was reaching equilibrium as Jacksonville continued to attract industry due to rent affordability, the available labor force and the business environment.
Anderson said geography and interstate highway access benefit Jacksonville; newly entitled industrial land provides a supply available for build-to-suit projects; and the “once volatile construction market has also calmed.”
“All in all, market equilibrium eliminates uncertainty, which bodes well for a robust Jacksonville industrial market in 2026,” he concluded.
Area commercial real estate firms reported that the first quarter of 2026 marketing activity has stabilized.
The Colliers firm reported that tenants are looking for 10.4 million square feet in the market, averaging 208,085 square feet each. That indicates about 50 active tenants might be looking.
At least four “active requirements” top 1 million square feet.
One of those is Johnson & Johnson Vision Care’s proposed 1 million-square-foot packaging and distribution facility in Northwest Jacksonville at a site identified as Airport Commerce Center north of Jacksonville International Airport.
The other three have not been identified, other than the whispers about Pepsi.