WEDNESDAY December 5, 2018
Public legal notices begin on page 3
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Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
DEVELOPMENT
THE MATHIS REPORT
Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
Wayfair distribution center coming to West Jacksonville
Daily Record Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
KAREN BRUNE MATHIS EDITOR
Another big distribution center in works
JACKSONVILLE ABOUT WAYFAIR
Wayfair has been posting job openings for months for a Jacksonville “Large Parcel Home Delivery Operation.”
What: Online homefurnishings retailer
Online retailer, city reach economic development deal on 1 million square-foot center at Cecil with 250 jobs. BY KAREN BRUNE MATHIS EDITOR
With the deal done three weeks ago, the city announced Monday that the Wayfair Inc. online home-furnishings retailer will set up a 250-job distribution center in West Jacksonville. City Chief Administrative Officer Sam Mousa signed an economic development agreement Nov. 15 with Wayfair LLC to develop a $72 million, 1 million-square-foot warehouse and distribution center in AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center by year-end 2020. Wayfair General Counsel Enrique Colbert signed the document for the company, while Mousa signed for Mayor Lenny Curry. The announcement Monday said the center would serve customers throughout the Southeast. There’s little surprise about the identity because Wayfair has been posting job openings for months for a Jacksonville “Large Parcel Home Delivery Operation.”
THE DEAL
Wayfair expects to employ 250 workers by the end of 2021 at an average wage of $33,000 in exchange for a $3.3 million city Recapture Enhanced Value grant, payable over 10 years. The grant is based on the additional property taxes generated by the project. City Council approved the grant for Wayfair, code-named Project Empire, in October. A REV grant requires that a company create at least 10 full-time jobs at or greater than the state’s average wage. Council waived that, saying the grant was necessary for the project’s feasibility. According to the economic development agreement, Wayfair will start construction on or before Jan. 31 and complete it on or before Dec. 31, 2020. The grant payments start the year after construction is completed and the project is on the city tax rolls and end after 10 years.
Products offered: More than 10 million from more than 10,000 suppliers Headquarters: Boston CEO: Niraj Shah Employees: 10,900 Revenue: $6.2 billion for the year that ended Sept. 30. History: Founded in 2002 by Niraj Shah and Steve Conine. The company went public in 2014. NYSE stock symbol: W Website: Wayfair.com Other brands: AllModern, Birch Lane, Joss & Main and Perigold Source: Wayfair.com
With Wayfair Inc. confirmed for a 1 million-square-foot warehouse, the developer of AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center is working on plans for another big distribution center. Dallas-based Hillwood, the city’s master developer at the Westside business park, is preparing for a 1.5 million-squarefoot project on Parcels H and I, near POW-MIA Memorial Parkway. No tenant is identified. “Hillwood is permitting the parcels to allow site clearing and mass grading, all with the goal of shortening the site’s ultimate delivery timeline for a prospect, should one materialize,” Hillwood Senior Vice President Dan Tatsch said Tuesday. He said he would have no comment on a specific prospect. Plans for the second large center emerged in September. AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center’s corporate roster includes Amazon.com, which is next to the Wayfair site; FedEx Ground Package System; GE Oil & Gas; Saft America Inc.; Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations; and Industry West and JinkoSolar (U.S.) Industries Inc., which are the newest companies to join the park. In 2009, Hillwood won a bid to become the master developer of the city-owned 4,474-acre Cecil Commerce Center, which is part
SEE WAYFAIR, PAGE 2
SEE MATHIS, PAGE 2
Day of mourning honors Bush Federal government offices will be closed Wednesday to honor former President George H.W. Bush in a national day of mourning. Bush died Friday night at his home in Houston at the age of 94. All federal offices will be closed, including the courts and post office. There will be no mail delivery. U.S. financial markets, including trading on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, will be closed, as will some banks. The Duval County Courthouse and city of Jacksonville will be open.
VOLUME 106, NO. 14 • ONE SECTION