Handbag and accessories fans can only imagine the vast number of high-priced finds that pass through Jacksonville.
Coach Inc., which sells luxury purses, leather goods and accessories worldwide, maintains its North American distribution center in the Jacksonville International Tradeport near Jacksonville International Airport.
It was built for Coach’s use in 1994 and has expanded to reach 852,000 square feet.
That’s a lot of handbags.
Now the warehouse is up for grabs, reports the Real Estate Alert weekly trade publication about commercial real estate deals.
Coach doesn’t own the building. It occupies the structure under a lease that runs for another 13 years, with scheduled rent increases every five years, says Real Estate Alert.
The property is expected to attract bids from investors of just more than $90 million, or $108 a square foot. That square-foot price would buy a Coach leather bracelet or phone clutch, the low-end of Coach’s price points.
Designer women’s purses for sale on coach.com range from $125 to $1,095.
The company, begun in 1941, says it sells women’s and men’s bags, business cases, footwear, watches, sun wear, jewelry, travel bags and other lifestyle products.
Coach uses the Jacksonville distribution center to fill and ship orders across North America. It was built at 350,000 square feet and subsequently expanded.
Pantheon Properties of New York is selling the property and is advised by Cushman & Wakefield, according to Real Estate Alert. Pantheon CEO Ken Cohen has not returned telephone calls or emails.
Coach told the Daily Record it expects no change as a result of a property sale.
The 47-acre property is at One Coach Way. A Pantheon Properties site plan shows the structure was built in two phases and has two additional buildings for storage, shipping, pack and hold. About 50,000 square feet of offices occupy a two-story space within the structure, the publication says.
Coach has also been working on sales. It reported sales for its third quarter ended March 28 fell 15 percent to $929 million. However, sales would have increased by 3 percent if not for the currency impact of the strong dollar.
Coach still reported weakness in its North American sales, which dropped 24 percent to $493 million.
As of June, there were more than 500 Coach stores in North America, about 450 directly operated locations in Asia, and more than 25 in Europe. Coach also operates e-commerce websites.
In Northeast Florida, Coach operates a store at St. Johns Town Center and at the St. Augustine Premium Outlets. It also sells products at Dillard’s at the Town Center and at the Naval Air Station Jacksonville Navy Exchange, according to Coach.com.
Its luxury factor took on more luster this week. The company said it completed the acquisition of Stuart Weitzman Holdings LLC, a leading designer and manufacturer of women’s luxury footwear.
Prices for its “new arrivals” women’s shoes on its website range from $298 to $535.
Andrew Shaw Resnick, Coach global head of investor relations and corporate communications, said Coach has no current plans to distribute Stuart Weitzman products from the Jacksonville center.
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