Jacksonville’s Industrial Fast Lane: Aviation, Auto and Infrastructure Moves Heat Up (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal) — Big money continues to land in Jacksonville’s industrial corridors — and much of it is tied to planes, pipes and pickup trucks.
The First Coast’s aviation and automotive sectors are drawing a fresh wave of capital investment, as Signature Aviation gears up for a $14.5 million expansion at Jacksonville International Airport, Duval Ford eyes a new fleet conversion hub off Interstate 10, and a New York real estate firm drops $4.5 million on a local foam manufacturing site.
In a week packed with multimillion-dollar moves, Jacksonville again proved why it’s fast becoming a go-to market for manufacturers serving the aviation, auto and infrastructure sectors.
Signature Aviation FBO receives green light at JIA
Construction is set to begin on Fixed base operator Signature Aviation’s new aircraft hangar and office facility at Jacksonville International Airport.
City officials approved a $14.5 million permit to build the new hangar and office space, which includes enclosed and unenclosed spaces for aircraft storage and administrative functions, records show.
Dana B. Kenyon and Commercial-Permits are doing work on the project.
Signature Aviation is making substantial investments at the airport, as it moves forward with approximately $16.7 million of improvements to its fueling infrastructure at JIA.
Work on the infrastructure includes a rebuild of three existing truck loading racks, site grading, drainage and fence line work, along with construction of a new 96-square-foot electrical controls building, new site lighting and electrical systems and controls associated with the new fuel system.
The installation of a new 12,000-gallon double-walled UL-142 diesel tank and associated general spill containment is also a part of the project and demolition of existing storage tanks will take place after new tanks are constructed and commissioned, records show.
Ford fleet services site under review
Jacksonville may soon be a destination for police departments and companies to refit Ford vehicles for their fleets.
Live Oak Engineering Inc. applied for an environmental resource permit Tuesday to begin work on a fleet storage and refit facility for Duval Ford, according to records from the St. Johns River Water Management District.
The project is dubbed Duval Ford Ramona as it’s on the southeast quadrant of the Interstate 10 and Interstate 295 interchange at the end of Ramona Boulevard.
The proposed use of the site is a fleet storage and refit facility for Duval Ford.
The fourth generation, family-owned business plans to refit cars, vans and trucks into fleet service vehicles, such as police cars and delivery trucks, the records show.
Two parcels, one 4.11 acres and the other 39.27 acres, make up the site. for a total parcel area of 39.27 acres.
Ramona Boulevard will lead to the access point for the site, which will have a building for the refits and approximately 1,500 parking spaces to be used for vehicle storage.
Foam manufacturing facility sold for $4.5M
A facility located at 5409 Highway Avenue, housing a manufacturer of foam materials for marine, transportation, industrial and aerospace uses, is under new ownership.
New York-based Bluerock Real Estate LLC purchased the site through Bri Highway Ave LLC for $4.5 million from a subsidiary of QRST Properties.
Polyumac USA operates at the site, according to its website. The company produces polyester foams, polypropylene honeycomb, fiberglass reinforced foam cores and pourable polyurethane foams, the website shows.
The area has seen a steady stream of manufacturing investment in recent years.
Adjacent to the site acquired by Bluerock, Canadian Company Infra Pipe opened its new manufacturing plant, where it produces colossal pipes that have a variety of uses.