The city issued a permit June 4 for demolition of the 43-year-old former AT&T American Transtech building in Baymeadows to make way for a new industrial park.
HGR Construction of Altamonte Springs is the contractor for the $2 million project at 8000 Baymeadows Way, west of Interstate 95 and north of Baymeadows Road within the Deerwood Center office park.
The project calls for removal of the three-story, 456,000-square-foot office building.
In its place, Foundry Commercial Group of Orlando wants to develop two speculative warehouses.
The city has been reviewing permit applications for Foundry Commercial to build 403,936 square feet at a combined estimated project cost of $16.83 million.
The ownership timeline
AT&T American Transtech developed the Baymeadows campus in 1983 to handle shareholder services for the court-ordered breakup of AT&T.
In early 1998, AT&T sold the Transtech business to Cincinnati Bell Inc., which added the entity to its customer service division called Matrixx Marketing. Cincinnati Bell spun off Matrixx and another division into a new public company called Convergys Corp.
In 2018, Convergys Corp. was bought out by California-based Synnex Corp., which combined the business with its customer services subsidiary, Concentrix.
Concentrix had operated at the Baymeadows Way property, with ownership listed as Convergys Customer Management Support Inc. and Concentrix CVG Customer Management Support Inc., both in Cincinnati. The building appears to be vacant.
Concentrix CVG Customer Management Group Inc. sold the property March 26 to Foundry Commercial LLC, which bought the land and buildings through Baymeadows Property Owner LLC for $18 million.
Simmons Bank, an Arkansas state-chartered bank, made a $42.85 million mortgage to the buyer.
The demolition
The permitting scope filed with the permit says demolition of the pavement and concrete flatwork, such as driveways and sidewalks, should take about three months.
After determining that utilities are inactive or capped, the contractor will demolish the concrete and pavement with hydraulic breakers, excavators and other equipment. Material will be taken by dump trucks to a recycling facility or licensed disposal site.
Work takes place 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday and on Saturday as needed.
The property will be fenced, posted and restricted to authorized personnel.
The three-story concrete and steel frame building will be demolished by excavator over 20 weeks, which is just more than four months.
The site will then be cleaned up, including the removal of fencing, signage and traffic control devices.
Foundry’s plans
Foundry Commercial announced April 13 it bought 8000 Baymeadows Way, a 457,000-square-foot office property in Jacksonville, and will make it the firm’s first office-to-industrial redevelopment in the Jacksonville market and its 11th nationwide.
Foundry said it will transform the site into two Class-A industrial buildings totaling about 400,000 square feet “in one of the city’s most desirable infill locations.”
It said the redevelopment builds on its repositioning of “obsolete office assets to meet sustained industrial demand.”
“Foundry’s acquisition of 8000 Baymeadows Way represents our continuing efforts to provide Class A warehouse space in areas of demonstrated need,” said Mark Scott, partner in Foundry’s Industrial Real Estate Solutions in Jacksonville, on March 31.
Scott said Foundry will demolish the existing building and replace it with “new, modern warehouses similar to our development at Butler/95 Logistics Center.”
Foundry completed the 183,345-square-foot Butler/95 Logistics Center in early 2024 at Baymeadows Way and Cypress Plaza Drive, south of Butler Boulevard between I-95 and Philips Highway.
Duval County property records show that Transtech built four, three-story connected buildings totaling 353,269 square feet and a two-story, 106,275-square-foot computer/telecom data center on 28.29 acres. The square footage totals almost 460,000 square feet.
The Foundry purchase included two parking lots, boosting the acreage bought to 32.2 acres.
Foundry is listed on plans as the owner and developer of “Baymeadows Way Industrial.”
Plans show Building 100 at 199,086 square feet and an estimated project cost of $8.04 million and Building 200 at 204,850 square feet at an estimated $8.79 million project cost.
C4 Architecture LLC of Orlando is shown as the architect and the mechanical and plumbing engineer. Langan Engineering of Jacksonville is named as the civil engineer. The city received civil engineering plans in December.
About Foundry
Foundry Commercial is a full-service commercial real estate company that works in the office, industrial, retail, multifamily, healthcare, religious and not-for-profit sectors. It has a Jacksonville office.
Foundry said April 13 the purchase followed a competitive bid process that drew interest from multiple buyers.
The company said J. Paul Reynolds, deal principal at Foundry Commercial, led the project, with Senior Development Manager DeWayne Gordon overseeing design, permitting and construction management.
Foundry said in April that delivery of the new industrial buildings was anticipated in the third quarter of 2027, although that may be adjusted based on construction progress.
Foundry said it has removed 25 office buildings totaling 2.6 million square feet and is delivering 13 industrial buildings totaling 4 million square feet, about an $800 million investment.