Jacksonville has added around 8 million square feet of speculative industrial development over the past two years, according to a market update published by the Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT) on 7 August.
Around 2 million square feet of that space has been leased, leaving approximately 6 million square feet of speculative industrial capacity available on the market. The figures were provided by commercial real estate advisers interviewed by JAXPORT about warehousing and distribution activity in the region.
JAXPORT said leasing activity has included both new contracts and renewals. According to the port’s update, the previous year’s activity was split between approximately 48 per cent new contracts and 52 per cent renewals.
The port linked the industrial market to Jacksonville’s role as a distribution base for Florida and the wider US Southeast. More than 98 million US consumers are within a one-day drive of JAXPORT, while the region is connected to the I-95 and I-10 interstate corridors, with I-75 accessible via I-10.
Rail connections are provided by CSX, Norfolk Southern and Florida East Coast Railway. JAXPORT also operates an Intermodal Container Transfer Facility linking its main cargo terminals with inland destinations across the Southeast.
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The authority said JAXPORT connects businesses with 140 ports in more than 70 countries. It also highlighted ongoing investment in the 47-foot harbour, terminal modernisation, new cranes and improved air draft clearance. Once its Blount Island overhead power line project is complete, the port expects to accommodate vessels carrying up to 18,000 TEUs.
The latest warehousing update follows the addition of another weekly container connection at Blount Island. On 14 July, JAXPORT welcomed Sapphire, the first vessel to call Jacksonville on the ZCP-Amberjack service operated by ZIM and Mediterranean Shipping Company.
The weekly service calls at Blount Island Marine Terminal, with SSA Marine acting as stevedore. Its rotation includes Qingdao, Ningbo and Shanghai in China, Busan in South Korea, Manzanillo in Panama, Cartagena in Colombia, Charleston, Savannah, Jacksonville and Kingston before returning to Busan.
JAXPORT said the service provides North Asian import transit times of approximately 28 to 32 days and also offers onward connections through ZIM’s transhipment hubs in Kingston and Cartagena.
The port said those connections extend to markets in Latin America, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and Asia. Vessels deployed on the service are powered by liquefied natural gas and can be bunkered during calls at Jacksonville.
JAXPORT’s 7 August update places the new industrial inventory alongside those maritime and intermodal connections as part of the region’s wider distribution network, with a substantial volume of recently completed warehouse space still available to logistics and cargo users.
For more information:
Jacksonville Port Authority – https://www.jaxport.com/