Hillwood is working on at least three large distribution projects of 1 million square feet and more, with one at 2 million square feet, at AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center.
As the master developer of the city-owned West Jacksonville business park, Dallas-based Hillwood is required to make quarterly reports to the Jacksonville Office of Economic Development.
In this third-quarter report to the city, covering July 1-Sept. 30, 2021, Hillwood said it received and responded to preliminary inquiries from brokers representing prospects and clients interested in large amounts of distribution space. The top three seek:
• 1.5 million to 2 million square feet.
• 1.2 million square feet
• 750,000 to 1 million square feet
Hillwood did not identify the prospects or brokers.
Hillwood also received and responded to a preliminary inquiry from a broker representing a client interested in buying land for a 500,000-square-foot distribution center.
It said it continued discussions that started in the second quarter with a prospect interested in about 250,000 square feet of distribution space.
Distribution space is one of the area’s hottest commodities, according to industrial market reports from real estate firms. Many companies are leasing warehouse space for e-commerce storage and delivery.
On the retail side, Hillwood said it continued discussions that began in the fourth quarter of 2020 with a prospect interested in buying part of Parcel Q for a retail facility.
Hillwood said that by the end of the reporting period, it and the prospect had agreed to business terms and were negotiating a purchase-and-sale agreement for the property.
In its second-quarter report, Hillwood said it was working with the prospect, which wants to buy part of an almost 112-acre parcel for a retail facility at southwest Normandy Boulevard and POW-MIA Memorial Parkway.
Hillwood Executive Vice President Dan Tatsch said Dec. 29 that the sale has not been completed.
"The prospect put the project on long-term hold, apparently related to a reassessment of their network of facilities," he said.
Also during the third quarter. Hillwood reported that the city issued a temporary certificate of occupancy for the Amazon.com build-to-suit facility on Parcel F.
A full certificate will be issued when Amazon’s vendors complete the work associated with their equipment installation.
Tatsch said Hillwood has completed its work and turned the building over to Amazon.
Hillwood said in the previous quarterly report that it executed a long-term lease in January for the Seattle-based e-commerce retailer, which is building a 278,237-square-foot center.
Hillwood is the owner of the development at 13450 Waterworks St. on Parcel F at southwest POW-MIA Memorial Parkway and Waterworks Street.
Amazon.com says sortation centers are “midmile” delivery centers in which the company sorts customer orders by ZIP codes before handing off to delivery partners for final delivery.
Amazon already operates a 1 million-square-foot fulfillment center in AllianceFlorida.
Hillwood won a competitive bid in 2009 to become the master developer of the 4,474-acre Cecil Commerce Center, which is a portion of the former Naval Air Station Cecil Field owned by the city.
