Shoreside Logistics doubled its warehouse capacity prior to Jacksonville’s expected volume boom (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal) — Shoreside Logistics further invested in its transition into a full-service logistics company with the opening of a 220,000-square-foot warehouse in Imeson Park late last month.
“The key thing for us is (we want) to be a full-service logistics company for our clients,” Shoreside President Tim Nelson said. “What we’re trying to do is build a moat around our clients and Shoreside. Our warehouse (clients) are quickly becoming our largest trucking customer.”
Providing the additional warehouse space into a Northeast Florida commercial real estate market where both real estate brokers and the logistics industry agree more space is needed, Nelson believes, provides more opportunities for Shoreside’s fleet of 31 company-owned trucks and 100 affiliated owner-operators.
Many of the clients Shoreside has served in its two previous warehouses were in the retail industry. Nelson said it remains to be seen whether the e-commerce spikes fueled by pandemic-era spending on goods instead of experiences will continue in the years to come.
However, with Jacksonville harbor deepening finishing in a few weeks, Nelson said the need for all forms of warehousing – whether its general, bonded, FTZ space, cross-docking – is paramount.
Reefer storage is another part of the logistics supply chain where more capacity is needed in Jacksonville. However, Shoreside focuses more on its retail clients.
“If the right opportunities present themselves, we will go get more warehousing if it’s available,” Nelson said. “There is just not a lot of space around right now.”
In its 2022 Florida Ports & Infrastructure report that was released earlier this year, Cushman & Wakefield found that Jacksonville is building more warehouse capacity than Florida’s three other large metropolitan areas.
Renting warehouse space is also more affordable here than elsewhere in the state. Nevertheless, the price is increasing. Nelson noted warehouse space has become more expensive since Shoreside opened its first facility in 2017 and even more costly than a year ago.
As he sat in his office, Nelson explained how and why the company needed another warehouse space less than one year after it opened 129,000-square-foot warehouse.
“It was very overwhelming,” Nelson said. “An old colleague of mine contacted me. (Someone in) their company needed help with a customer. They contacted me on a Wednesday. We were preparing to move in April 1. (On) Thursday (March 29) they came and visited. They brought the client by on Friday. By Monday, we brought in 20 truckloads into that building. And it just kept coming. We already had some business in that building. It was filled by April 7.”
A year later, Nelson smiles when asked how fast the new warehouse space will reach capacity.
Last month’s opening gives Shoreside 470,000 square feet of warehouse space across three facilities all within 15 minutes of Jaxport. Nelson anticipates warehouse space in Jacksonville will become more expensive in the months to come.
“To have the security of warehouse space (means that companies) can plan,” Nelson said. “…That’s where nearshoring is becoming very important. For me, as a business owner, it’s finding the right clients. No one is recession-proof, but we are trying to go after customers (who have consistent growth), so whatever happens with the economy, they are going to be all right.”
Photo courtesy of LSR Services