Jacksonville’s industrial market continues to improve as encouraging fundamentals are in place that are prompting developers to commit to building spec warehouse again. The lack of new construction over the last eight years, the expected reduction in regulations and taxes by the new administration in Washington and the commitment to upgrades in the local infrastructure will drive growth in our market. A 5.3 percent vacancy rate for warehouses and distribution space is also a major factor. With 126 million square feet of existing warehouse space spread over 860 square miles, our market has room to grow. Recent announcements of major expansions coming to Jacksonville include Amazon, General Electric and UPS. Amazon will occupy 2.5 million square feet in North Jacksonville and will have the largest impact on employment in the history of the city. General Electric is leasing 500,000 square feet in Hillwood’s Cecil Commerce Center. Situated on Jacksonville’s Westside adjacent to Pattillo’s Westside Industrial Park, UPS is adding 260,000 square feet to its existing 560,000-square-foot facility. When completed in the fall of 2019, the 820,000-square-foot facility will be able to process more than 80,000 packages per hour. Jacksonville is a tier-two market nationally and typically has a few large-scale …
