In a move to consolidate its distribution operations in the Jacksonville, Fla., area, where it operates a manufacturing plant, Dr Pepper Snapple Group has leased West Point Trade Center, a 601,500-square-foot distribution facility, from Hillwood, which is scheduled to complete the speculative building by the end of the year. The new facility is expected to be fully operational in the first quarter of next year and will employ 40 workers. The building will be used primarily to distribute the beverage giant’s Snapple and Mott’s brands in the Southeast. Hillwood was represented by T. Preston Herold of Hillwood Investment Properties and Terry Quarterman and Jeff Nelson of CB Richard Ellis Inc. Dr Pepper Snapple Group was represented by Jim Brice and David Parker of Holt Lunsford Commercial, and Seth Kelly of CB Richard Ellis. In addition to the facility’s proximity to Dr Pepper Snapple Group’s Jacksonville plant, Dan Flowers, senior vice president of logistics and distribution for Dr Pepper Snapple Group, in a prepared statement, cited highway and rail access as advantages to the location. West Point Trade Center is close to two intermodal rail facilities (CSX and Norfolk Southern), less than two miles from the I-295/I-10 interchange, and near the JAXPORT port terminals. “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,” Herold said in the statement. In 2007, Hillwood developed a 400,000-square-foot BTS distribution center on Presidents Court in Jacksonville for Laney & Duke Terminal Warehouse Co., a third-party logistics company. And in 2006, Hillwood bought a 361,000-square-foot facility on Faye Road in Jacksonville. Hillwood is a Perot company and has developed the 17,000-acre AllianceTexas project, 15 miles from Dallas/Fort Worth 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.
News Article | 8/1/2008