IPEX Inc., a Canada-based wholesale supplier of specialized PVC and thermoplastic piping systems, has leased Building 2 at Florida Gateway Logistics Park in West Jacksonville.
At least four commercial real estate companies said in their second-quarter market reports that IPEX North America leased the 300,240-square-foot structure at 9909 Pritchard Road.
“We can confirm the building lease at Florida Gateway Logistics Park is the future site of an IPEX Distribution Centre set to open winter of 2024 distributing thermoplastic pipe and fittings to local markets,” IPEX Distribution and Logistics Director Scott Sinclair said Aug. 3.
Sinclair said IPEX employs more than 4,000 people across Canada and the United States but did not respond to a question about how many will be hired in Jacksonville.
The email said the company will issue a news release closer to opening.
CBRE Senior Vice President Terry Quarterman, First Vice President Ben Stewart and Associate Kyle Fisher represented IPEX in the lease deal.
JLL Executive Managing Director Luke Pope and Senior Vice President Ross Crabtree represent the owners in leasing Florida Gateway Logistics Park.
Ontario-based IPEX, a subsidiary of Belgium-based Aliaxis, has posted a job opening for distribution center manager in Jacksonville.
In the posting, IPEX says it is one of the leading North American providers of advanced plastic piping systems. The distribution center manager will be based in its Jacksonville distribution facility and report to the regional distribution manager.
CoStar Group Inc., based in Washington, D.C., reported July 3 that the specialized pipe manufacturer leased the newly built distribution center.
It said IPEX filled the building in CT Realty Investors’ Florida Gateway Logistics Park.
CoStar researches and provides commercial real estate information, analytics and news.
IPEX background
IPEXna.com says that Aliaxis operates in more than 40 countries with more than 14,000 employees to design pipe and fitting systems for the building, infrastructure, industrial and agriculture sectors.
IPEX has U.S. production facilities in North Carolina, Oklahoma and Fort Pierce in Florida that it acquired three years ago.
In August 2019, Asheville, North Carolina-based Silver-Line Plastics announced it was acquired by IPEX.
Silver-Line Plastics made plastic pipe products with production facilities in Asheville; Lawton, Oklahoma; and Fort Pierce.
In 2022, IPEX said it would add 28 new production lines to those locations to become operational in late 2022 through early 2024 and was considering further automation.
On Dec. 9, 2022, IPEX announced it would open a more than 250,000-square-foot distribution center in Middletown, Pennsylvania, its 16th investment in four years.
It said that region had been served from its distribution centers in Charlotte and Pineville, North Carolina; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Ontario.
“This DC is the newest in our multi-year strategy to expand our footprint in the United States,” said IPEX CEO Alex Mestres said in the release.
IPEX said the Pennsylvania center will incorporate industry-leading health and safety best practices and technologies, including scanning and material handling equipment, and pedestrian safety equipment.
It said it would require 20 full-time employees.
“This expansion is an important investment that complements IPEX’s other strategic investments, including the company’s new state-of-the-art flagship molding facility in Pineville, North Carolina that is currently under construction. Future growth plans for IPEX in 2023 include additional DCs in the southern and western United States,” the release said.
IPEX’s Charlotte, North Carolina, distribution center serves customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky.
IPEX announced in November 2021 that the North Carolina center follows the company’s U.S. opening in Garland, Texas, and in Canada in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.
In September 2020, IPEX opened a distribution center in the Chicago area to be operated by LeSaint Logistics, a Chicago-based third-party service provider. The size started at 50,000 square feet with possible expansion to more than 200,000 square feet.
Florida Gateway Logistics Park
In Jacksonville, Building 2 is one of three at Florida Gateway Logistics Park, which is in Westlake Industrial Park along Pritchard Road, west of Interstate 295.
A California-based partnership of CT Realty and Diamond Realty Investments LLC bought 251 acres to develop the more than $300 million, 3.2 million-square-foot, eight-building Florida Gateway Logistics Park.
DRI/CTR JAX Phase I LLC bought the vacant land from Southeast Toyota Distributors LLC of Deerfield Beach for $19.5 million. The sale was recorded May 10, 2021.
The first phase is 164 acres.
The city approved initial site clearing Aug. 24, 2021.
It issued permits April 18 and April 20, 2022, for Evans General Contractors to build the three buildings in the first phase of Florida Gateway Logistics Park totaling 1.72 million square feet of space.
The costs for the initial three buildings were shown on plans as:
• Building 2 at 300,240 square feet and a construction cost of almost $13.52 million. The foundation is $230,680.
• Building 3 at 416,000 square feet and $15.88 million. The foundation is $285,520.
• Building 8 is 1,000,350 square feet at $34.31 million. The foundation is $668,440.
Developers developed and sold the 416,000-square-foot Building 3 and expansion property to neighboring Southeast Toyota Distributors LLC for almost $39.5 million.