United Parcel Service Inc. continues driving toward its $196 million Westside Industrial Park package-delivery hub expansion.
The city issued a permit Dec. 4 for Kajima Building & Design Group Inc. to add exterior doors and make interior improvements at the 908,067-square-foot UPS building at a cost of $8.64 million.
In November 2016, Atlanta-based UPS said the 4420 Imeson Road facility would be expanded and retrofitted by fall 2019 with advanced technology and operations automation, although the timeline has changed.
UPS Media Relations Manager Kim Krebs said in September the hub expansion project timeline shifted and the first phase is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2020.
The Jacksonville hub expansion is part of the company’s multiyear capital investment program “to renovate facilities with higher levels of automation, acquire new aircraft and ground fleet vehicles, and enhance information technology platforms,” she said.
UPS developed the Westside Industrial Park center in 1989 and is almost doubling its size.
The city approved incentives legislation in November 2016 that specified the expansion would include $150 million in equipment, furniture and fixtures.
The incentives call for $4.3 million of city funding through a Recapture Enhanced Value grant.
UPS told the city in 2016 that more than 1,650 full- and part-time UPS employees work at the hub and its four adjacent package centers.
As that hub is being expanded, UPS also has retrofitted a 400,000-square-foot warehouse not far away in Westlake Industrial Park to handle additional package processing.
In addition to that, UPS landed permits in August to create a distribution facility in Southside.
UPS said its anticipated $50 million investment there comprises $5 million for real estate improvements and $45 million for machinery, equipment, furniture and fixtures.
Haskew Company & Associates is the contractor for the $2.7 million project to renovate 244,000 square feet and build a mezzanine foundation at 9431 Florida Mining Blvd. E.
Material Handling Systems Inc. is the contractor for the almost $30.7 million installation of conveyors for the parcel shipping ground hub.
For that project, Council adopted incentives legislation in January. The city agreed to pay up to $52,200 as its part of a $261,000 Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund. The state pays the rest.
UPS proposes to hire 87 employees at an average annual salary of $57,540 by year-end 2022.
That building formerly housed Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals and is owned by Dubow/Shad Road Limited Partnership.