Dallas-based developer Hillwood reports that one of its primary second-quarter 2024 activities was its start in April toward development of a speculative building on Parcel E in AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center.
While not in Hillwood’s second-quarter report submitted to the city Sept. 30, Hillwood applied for a permit in September to build the speculative Building E at an estimated job cost of almost $34.96 million.
Hillwood Construction Services L.P. of Dallas is listed as the contractor for the 603,529-square-foot warehouse on 45 acres at 5550 POW-MIA Memorial Parkway in the West Jacksonville business park.
The building site is at northwest POW-MIA Memorial Parkway and Finger Lake Street. It is north of the Florida State College at Jacksonville Cecil Center.
Hillwood started site work in August and intends to launch vertical construction in the first quarter of 2025.
Executive Vice President Dan Tatsch said previously he expects Building E to be completed by Sept. 1, 2025. It is designed as a cross-dock facility.
Cross-docking is a logistics practice of unloading products from an incoming truck and immediately reloading into outbound trucks or trailers.
Tatsch and Hillwood Senior Associate Brennen Clifford represent the project.
The city issued a site-clearing permit Aug. 23 for the project at a job cost of almost $12.1 million.
Site preparation contractor Morgan Corp. of Duncan, South Carolina, is the contractor on that permit.
Tatsch said Sept. 12 that the developer has one prospect but could not discuss it. He said the building is suited for a single tenant but can be subdivided.
As the city’s master developer at Cecil Commerce Center, Hillwood submits quarterly activity reports to the city.
In the report for April 1-June 30, 2024, Hillwood said that in April, it engaged environmental, geotechnical, wetland and civil engineering consultants to start due diligence for the potential development of a speculative light industrial building of about 500,000 square feet on about 45 acres of Parcel E.
The size grew by the time Hillwood filed permits.
More reports
In Hillwood’s second-quarter report for April 1-June 30, Hillwood also said it:
• Received an inquiry from a broker representing a client interested in leasing 600,000 to 1.5 million square feet of industrial space.
• Received and responded to an inquiry from a broker representing a client interested in buying about 5 acres of Parcel R for retail or mixed-use development. That parcel is south of Normandy Boulevard and north of 103rd Street.
The report did not identify the brokers, prospects or clients.
Cecil Commerce Center
Cecil Commerce Center is generally between Interstate 10 and Normandy Boulevard, with some property south of Normandy, on both sides of the parkway. It is west of Interstate 295.
The city is the property owner. Hillwood is the operator.
The city’s master development agreement calls for Hillwood to build-out AllianceFlorida on about 4,499 acres of city property, the former Naval Air Station Cecil Field, off Normandy Boulevard and 103rd Street in West Jacksonville.
That agreement is designed for the city to share in the profits. As the master developer, Hillwood typically secures the tenant, buys the land from the city, develops the project and then sells it, sharing the proceeds with the city.
Tatsch said in January 2024 that Hillwood has developed about 3.225 million square feet at AllianceFlorida.
That includes the two 1 million-square-foot centers for online retailers Amazon.com on about 86.5 acres and home-furnishings company Wayfair on 80 acres.