DL Cabinetry’s investment in its new headquarters in Jacksonville reflects the boom in construction in recent years.
CEO Eddie Chen said that growth made it more challenging to find the right spot for a new warehouse with offices and a showroom.
It took him about two years to find the vacant property at Baymeadows Road and Philips Highway that he bought in December 2022 for $3.4 million.
He said he expects to spend about $10 million to build the 100,000-square-foot facility.
Chen said construction could begin by the end of 2023 and the warehouse to be operational in 2024.
The DL Cabinetry headquarters is at 3251 Newell Blvd., near Beach and Southside boulevards, in South Jacksonville.
The company sells cabinets manufactured in Vietnam primarily for single-family and multifamily dwellings. It markets directly to construction and building contractors as well as to renovation contractors.
The current headquarters has 17,000 square feet of combined office and warehouse space. The company is leasing another 100,000 square feet of warehouse space at 9444 Florida Mining Blvd. E., near Philips Highway and Shad Road.
The company will vacate the property on Florida Mining Boulevard to relocate to the new facility upon completion and will maintain ownership of the 17,000-square-foot site.
DL Cabinetry is growing, Chen said.
In addition to Jacksonville, DL Cabinetry has offices in New Orleans, where it was founded, and in Orlando, Tampa and Austin, Texas. It recently signed a lease for warehouse space in Nashville, Tennessee, and expects to be operational in early 2024.
Chen said its combined locations produced $40 million in revenue in 2022 and he projects an increase to at least $44 million by the end of 2023.
Chen’s father-in-law, Frank Lin, started the company in 2006. The DL Cabinetry headquarters moved to Jacksonville in 2016 and Chen inherited the business.
“When we were first looking for a new place to move to, we found Jacksonville is a very underestimated city,” Chen said.
“It has a low profile. But it’s growing like crazy and it’s growing fast.”
The new building is in permitting, he said.
“We had been looking in the market for at least two years looking for a warehouse to buy. There was just nothing available,” he said.
Chen attributes that to an increasingly jammed market for industrial development in the area. There are warehouses available in West Jacksonville and North Jacksonville, but he wanted to stay closer to the center of the city, or at least the more populous areas.
“We wanted to stay on this (south) side,” Chen said.
“I think it’s worth it because right now we are paying about $70,000 every month for rent” for the Florida Mining Boulevard location.
Chen spends about $20,000 each month on operational costs at the Newell Boulevard location, which he owns and plans to keep, but said he may revise the use of the property.
The DL Cabinetry buildings in other cities range from 30,000 to 40,000 square feet. Jacksonville essentially serves as a distribution center.
Though business is thriving in the other areas, Chen sees Jacksonville as the most promising site for his company.
“I like this city,” Chen said. “I also think, based on all the locations we have, Jacksonville has the biggest potential to grow.”
Jacksonville is cheaper compared with the other cities, he said.
It comes down to simple investment.
DL Cabinetry chose to leave New Orleans because the city was losing population. The company could have moved the headquarters to Orlando or Tampa, he said.
Jacksonville is the sweet spot.
“It’s business,” Chen said.
“We are looking for growth and that’s why we are investing all this money. I think it’s the right thing to do because there are a lot of people moving to Jacksonville and there is a lot of construction in Jacksonville.”