City Council is working on legislation to prepare the megasite at Cecil Commerce Center in West Jacksonville for development.
Ordinances 2023-210 and 2023-212 identify city money to help extend CSX rail service to the site and to work on wetland remediation.
The bills are in Council committee review. Both were introduced at the request of Mayor Lenny Curry.
The 745-acre megasite is at northwest Interstate 10 and Cecil Commerce Center Parkway at city-owned Cecil Commerce Center, a former naval air station.
About 600 acres of the megasite can be developed, according to the city.
The city owns the industrial park property and Dallas-based Hillwood is the master developer of what is AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center.
The megasite is bordered by I-10 on the north, Cecil Commerce Center Parkway to the east, a utility corridor and future rail spur to the west and POW-MIA Memorial Parkway.
Ordinance 2023-210 appropriates $250,000 from the Cecil Commerce Center Trust Fund real property account to the “other professional services” account to provide funding for engineering, design and permitting for the installation of a rail spur to the megasite.
It would provide more funding to Jacksonville-based civil engineer England, Thims & Miller Inc. for additional services to plan for the extension of a rail line from the CSX main line north of I-10 to the megasite “to make the site more attractive for future development.”
The bill says the city has received a $5.5 million transportation grant from the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund to pay for the rail line extension.
The $250,000 would come from revenue generated by the sale of land at Cecil Commerce Center.
Ordinance 2023-212 appropriates $5.6 million from the Debt Management Fund, Long Term Debt Issued account to the 2023 Authorized Capital Projects, Cecil Wetlands – DM Land account for the Cecil Wetlands Project at the megasite.
The legislation would provide funds for work related to wetland remediation at the site.
The bill says there are existing permits with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for remediation of wetland areas on the site that are set to expire Sept. 22, 2023.
The work is needed to fill and mitigate the wetland before the permit expires.
The bill says the appropriation is a loan from the city’s Debt Management Fund that will accrue interest on the date it is funded.
The loan will be repaid upon the sale of the megasite or sooner if the Cecil Commerce Center Trust Fund receives sufficient revenue.
On Nov. 29, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the state is awarding a $5.5 million grant to construct a 3-mile rail spur at Cecil Commerce Center.
He said the spur would help to bring 500 jobs to the area.
DeSantis said the project would be a dual-service line to increase access for manufacturing and logistics companies.
“I know they’ve (government officials) already been talking at the local and state level with some companies that are eyeing this. And this (rail spur) would be enough for them to want to come, so stay tuned,” DeSantis said.
A request for the availability of JEA services shows an unnamed manufacturer is considering a project for the Cecil megasite.
A project code-named Raptor Stone is considering a 410,000-square-foot facility with 180 employees, according to the request.
Hillwood contracted with the city to develop 4,474 acres as an industrial and business park in the 17,000-acre former Naval Air Station Cecil Field.
Hillwood buys sites from the city for development. After it sells the developed site, it shares revenue with the city per its contract.
The city said April 4 that the city has received just more than $11.9 million in revenue from Hillwood.
It said there have not been parcel sales at the megasite.