JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (July 31, 2008) – Hillwood has leased its 601,500 square-foot West Point Trade Center building in Jacksonville, Fla. to the Dr Pepper Snapple Group, which will utilize the facility primarily to distribute its Snapple and Mott’s brands to the southeastern United States. Dr Pepper Snapple Group is consolidating its operations from several buildings in the Jacksonville area into West Point Trade Center.
Dr Pepper Snapple Group will employ 40 workers in the new facility, which is expected to be fully operational in the first quarter of 2009.
“This is an important step toward strengthening our distribution in the southeastern United States,” said Dan Flowers, senior vice president of logistics & distribution for Dr Pepper Snapple Group. “With great access to major highways and rail lines, as well as close proximity to our manufacturing plant in Jacksonville, this facility will enable Dr Pepper Snapple to get our Snapple and Mott’s brands to our customers and consumers more efficiently and will lay the foundation for future growth in the Southeastern region.”
Located on the city’s Westside, West Point Trade Center is a prime logistics location. The building is located within two miles of the CSX Intermodal rail facility and the Interstate 295/10 interchange, close to the Norfolk Southern Intermodal Facility, and near the JAXPORT port terminals. Site clearing began in March. The building is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
“It’s not every day that you have the opportunity to lease an entire 601,500 square-foot speculative building before the slab has even been poured…let alone lease to an industry leading company like Dr Pepper Snapple,” said T. Preston Herold, vice president of Hillwood Investment Properties. “The timing was fortunate for both parties. For Dr Pepper Snapple, catching us in the early stages of the building design, allowed us to design in specific improvements to maximize the logistical efficiency of the facility for them. For Hillwood, it means we can leverage off this success and immediately start on our next Jacksonville development, which we hope to announce shortly.”
Representing Hillwood were T. Preston Herold of Hillwood and Terry Quarterman and Jeff Nelson of CB Richard Ellis. Dr Pepper Snapple Group was represented by Jim Brice and David S. Parker of Holt Lunsford Commercial and Seth Kelly of CB Richard Ellis.
In the past two years, Hillwood has either developed or purchased three buildings, totaling more than 1.3 million square feet, in the Jacksonville market. In addition to West Point Trade Center, the company developed a 400,000 square-foot build-to-suit distribution center for Laney & Duke on Presidents Court in 2007 and purchased a 360,998 square-foot facility on Faye Rd. in 2006.
About Dr Pepper Snapple
Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. (NYSE: DPS) is an integrated refreshment beverage business marketing more than 50 beverage brands to consumers throughout North America. In addition to its flagship Dr Pepper and Snapple brands, the company’s portfolio includes 7UP, Mott’s, A&W, Sunkist Soda, Hawaiian Punch, Canada Dry, Schweppes, Squirt, RC Cola, Diet Rite, Penafiel, Rose’s, Yoo-hoo, Clamato, Mr & Mrs T Mixers and other well-known consumer favorites. Based in Plano, Texas, Dr Pepper Snapple Group employs approximately 20,000 people and operates 24 bottling and manufacturing facilities and more than 200 distribution centers across the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. For more information, please visit http://www.drpeppersnapplegroup.com/.
About Hillwood
Hillwood, (www.hillwood.com) a Perot company, is ranked as one of the top commercial real estate developers in the country. The company’s developments currently house facilities for close to 90 companies listed on either the Fortune 500, Global 500 or Forbes List of Top Private firms. In addition to its projects in Jacksonville, Hillwood is best known for its development of the 17,000-acre AllianceTexas project, located 15 miles northwest of DFW Airport; the $420-million American Airlines Center and Victory district near downtown Dallas; and AllianceCalifornia, the 2,000-acre redevelopment of the former Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino.
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