Cornerstone Economic Development Feature Stories

JACKSONVILLE -- Unilever, an international consumer products manufacturing company, is relocating its Southeast distribution hub to a 772,000-square-foot facility to be built in the Westlake Industrial Park on the Westside.

It's part of the company's decision to consolidate its 12 U.S. distribution facilities housing food or consumer goods into six facilities with both, according to a broker who represented Unilever.

Duke Realty Corp. (NYSE: DRE) will build both the Jacksonville facility at 1220 President's Court and the 822,000-square-foot Southwest distribution center in a Dallas suburb, the last two regions of the company's U.S. distribution center system to be consolidated. CSO Architects Inc. in Indiana-polis designed both the Jacksonville and the Dallas-area facilities.

Site preparation has started on the Jacksonville facility, which should be completed in September 2008. The Dallas facility is expected to be completed a month later.

Neither Duke Realty nor the U.S. headquarters of Unilever (NYSE: UL) in New Jersey would disclose the cost of construction, but Duke Realty paid about $6 million for the 50 acres just north of Interstate 10 and west of Interstate 295, according to Duval County Clerk of the Courts records. Duke bought the land from Norfolk Southern Corp., the railway company that is developing the Westlake Industrial Park.

Commercial Jacksonville Inc., a Cushman and Wakefield Alliance firm, represented Unilever in the transaction. Mark Scott, the senior director of global supply chain solutions at Commercial Jacksonville, said the company spent 18 months searching for the site in Jacksonville.

Duke Realty, based in Indianapolis, is a real estate investment trust that owns, manages or is developing 129 million rentable square feet of mostly industrial and office space in 22 U.S. cities, including 5.7 million square feet of space and 264 acres of land for future development in Orlando, Tampa and Fort Lauderdale.

The Westlake Industrial Park facility is the company's first development project in Jacksonville, said Duke Realty spokesman Joel Reuter.

For more information, please contact:
Christian Conte
cconte@bizjournals.com
904-265-2227

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Aircraft contract official for L-3, Boeing and Alenia

The U.S. military has selected the C-27J as its newest cargo aircraft, marking a major victory for the local aviation industry. The manufacturing team, including L-3 Communication Holdings, Boeing and a subsidiary of Italian manufacturer Alenia, issued a commitment last July to build the new planes in Jacksonville if awarded the contract.

“The selection of the C-27J for the U.S. Army & Air Force Joint Cargo Aircraft is an excellent moment for Alenia North America, its partners L-3 and Boeing, and the community of Jacksonville. Northeastern Florida has welcomed us with open arms and is a large part of our success. We look forward to the day the first C-27J rolls out of Cecil Field,” said Giuseppe Giordo, president & CEO, Alenia North America.

Before manufacturing of the C-27J aircraft can begin, the final contract must be signed, incentives must be agreed upon and decisions on the facility must be made. However, this announcement is a positive step in expanding the region’s existing aviation industry which has, until now, been largely dominated by maintenance and repair work.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for the City of Jacksonville to partner with a group of well-known, global companies and to continue the commercial expansion of Cecil Commerce Center,” said Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton. “It is also another great success in our ongoing redevelopment efforts. The presence of Alenia, Boeing and L-3 will serve as an attraction as we continue to target companies in the aviation and aeronautics industry.”

Jacksonville selected as IBA U.S. headquarters

The growing life sciences industry in Jacksonville received an international vote of confidence in May when Belgium-based Ion Beam Applications (IBA) selected Jacksonville as the future home of its U.S. headquarters, pending final approval of incentives by the State of Florida. The Jacksonville Economic Development Commission has already approved local incentives. The IBA Group is widely acknowledged as a leader in particle therapy, a precise and effective clinical radiotherapy method in the selective destruction of cancer cells.

“We strongly considered Jacksonville as a headquarters for our proton therapy operations in the US, based on the past two years experience we have had in the area. We have been charmed by the city and its business environment,” said Vincent Collignon, project manager for IBA. “In addition, we developed an exceptional relationship with University of Florida and people from the University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute (UFPTI). This is a relationship we can bank on for our R&D and marketing efforts.”

This operation will support the UFPTI in Jacksonville and the five other operational proton beam centers in the U.S. This new location will bring 20 new high-wage, high-technology jobs that will handle corporate Proton Therapy sales, purchasing, planning, training, research and development.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for Jacksonville and a key achievement in Cornerstone and JEDC’s goals,” said Cornerstone Chair Hugh Greene. “Chamber Chair Steve Wallace led a small delegation from Cornerstone and JEDC to help recruit IBA to Jacksonville. The delegation’s success means IBA will use its headquarters for training and procurement, likely introducing our city to an even larger international audience.”

Jacksonville in Top 10 Best Cities for African-Americans

The May issue of Black Enterprise magazine ranked Jacksonville as one of the nation’s 10 Best Cities for African Americans, an inaugural appearance notable for surpassing past list-makers like Baltimore, Memphis, Chicago and Philadelphia.

“The positive confirmation of racial opportunity adds to the overall impact of Jacksonville’s exceptional quality of life, and demonstrates to businesses considering relocating a diverse employee base that their existing staff will be welcomed by the community,” said Cornerstone's executive director, Jerry Mallot.

Black Enterprise magazine combined qualitative survey results with a statistical analysis that examined factors including: household income, unemployment rate, business ownership, graduation rates and home ownership.