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Daily Record Financial News &

Friday, January 5, 2018

Vol. 105, No. 035 • One Section

Tight industrial market drives speculative projects

35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com

City, state offering $54M for ‘Project Volt’ Global solar-panel maker to create 800 jobs, U.S. HQ

Pattillo Industrial Real Estate intends to start construction on a 240,000-square-foot warehouse in Westside Industrial Park as soon as the permit is issued.

By David Cawton Staff Writer

WAREHOUSES IN THE WORKS Here are some of the distribution projects proposed for development in Jacksonville:

Company

Location

Square feet

Land size

Johnson Development Associates Inc. Spartanburg, South Carolina

Westlake Industrial Park 9779 Pritchard Road

226,740

18 acres

Jackson-Shaw, Dallas

Jacksonville International Tradeport Airport Road and International Airport Boulevard

200,000

16.25 acres

Industrial Park Investments Inc. Orlando

Imeson International Industrial Park 10531 Busch Drive N.

140,790

10.99 acres

Lake Washington Partners Issaquah, Washington

10940 New Kings Road

373,650

25 acres

Port Jax II LLC Jacksonville

Port Jax Trade Center 10350 Alta Drive

120,000

8.91 acres

Port Jax II LLC Jacksonville

Port Jax Trade Center 10751 Alta Drive

80,000

Pattillo Industrial Real Estate, Atlanta

Westside Industrial Park 6282 Imeson Road

274,000

Pattillo Industrial Real Estate, Atlanta

NorthPoint Industrial Park New Berlin Road and Port Jacksonville Parkway

163,000

13.6 acres

Vacancy rate below 5 percent and rising rental rates attract attention. By Karen Brune Mathis Editor

I

n a tight Northeast Florida industrial market, more than 1.5 million square feet of industrial space is proposed in north and west Jacksonville, two of the primary areas for distribution centers. Industrial vacancy rates dropped below 5 percent. Analysts say strong economic growth, especially with e-commerce businesses, will continue to support

speculative warehouse construction. Also, at an estimated $50 a square feet, the projects represent an investment topping $75 million. No tenants are confirmed, although it’s likely that some construction won’t start until a lease is signed. Luke Pope, senior vice president with the JLL real estate group, said Jacksonville’s Westside is one of the tightest industrial submarkets in the Southeast. He said the vacancy rate for any industrial product constructed in the last 30

years on the Westside is less than 2 percent and most of that can be attributed to Hillwood’s most recent speculative facility at Cecil Commerce Center. Hillwood, the master developer at the city-owned Cecil Commerce Center, completed a 407,435-square-foot speculative warehouse. The city’s unidentified “Project Volt” intends to lease it as well as another large warehouse in North Jacksonville, further Warehouses

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An unnamed company described only as an international manufacturer of solar panels and modules is seeking almost $54 million in local and state incentives to establish a new U.S. headquarters and manufacturing plant in Jacksonville. The company, called “Project Volt,” promises to create up to 800 jobs and invest up to $410 million at two facilities in North and West Jacksonville, according to legislation to be introduced at City Council on Tuesday. According to the economic development agreement between Volt and the city Office of Economic Development, Jacksonville would be responsible for providing up to $24.6 million in incentives, with state programs picking up the rest, at least $29.3 million. Additional incentives are being determined and one training grant is recurring. A project summary of the deal says the jobs will be created by the end of 2019 at an average salary of $46,346. The agreement says Volt would hire 400 jobs by the end of this year and 400 more by year-end 2019. Renovations and equipment installation would start by June 30 this year with completion of that work by the end of 2019. Volt claims it would use JaxPort to import and export large volumes, with most of the materials sourced from China, at least in the first few years.

PROJECT VOLT Product: Solar panels Function: Manufacturing, assembly, U.S. headquarters Employment: 800 jobs Wage: Average $46,346 Locations: 4660 New World Ave. and 2969 Faye Road. Investment: $410 million Incentives: $53.9 million, city and state Starts: By Dec. 31, 2019 Volt

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You should know ... Will Ketchum Burdette Ketchum CEO helped city make pitch for new Amazon HQ. Public

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