BIG DOG RAYONIER HAS BIG PLANS HERE AT HOME.

[Ocklawaha]

Rayonier, is a company that is something of a 'sleeper.' Rayonier, Inc., a Fortune 1000 global supplier of timber, wood products and performance fibers, is headquartered along the majestic St. Johns River in downtown Jacksonville!

BEFORE THE STORIES, A LITTLE RAYONIER ALBUM FOR THOSE THAT HAVEN'T A CLUE

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LAST YEAR THE JACKSONVILLE BUSINESS JOURNAL REPORTED THIS:

YULEE â€" Rayonier Inc. and Nassau County officials are working on two major development sites designed to build housing, retail and office space, create jobs and drive economic growth.

Rayonier is prepping two of its large parcels for development: East Nassau, a 24,000-acre master-planned community in Yulee, and the Crawford Diamond, an industrial park in Callahan.

Rayonier will not develop the projects; it is working through the zoning and entitlement processes to ready the site for a developer.

The initiative ties into Nassau Tomorrow, a five-year economic development strategy launched in June with a goal of creating 3,800 jobs in the county. Rayonier is an investor in Nassau Tomorrow’s $2 million capital campaign.

“Obviously, it’s a terrible time to speculatively build things,” said Michael Bell, external affairs director for Rayonier. “But it was a great time over the last several years to position really strong properties for when the market turns.”

AND TODAY WE GET THIS ENCOURAGING ANNOUNCEMENT: 

TerraPointe LLC, a subsidiary of Jacksonville-based Rayonier Inc. (NYSE: RYN), owns Crawford Diamond in Callahan and has spent months on the zoning and entitlement process to get the project ready for a developer.

“Megasite certification provides certainty to prospective buyers that all the preliminary work is done and that the site is ready for acquisition and development,” Paul Boynton, chairman, president and CEO of Rayonier, said in a news release. “Prospective companies can expand or relocate to Crawford with the security of knowing that zoning and permits are secured, environmental and geotechnical testing is done, and engineering work for drainage, utilities and transportation infrastructure is complete.”

Crawford, an 1,800-acre site approved for 10.5 million square feet of industrial space, includes on-site rail frontage with access to both CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX) and Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) rail lines.The county will target manufacturing, assembly, distribution or warehousing users and use as a logistics center or inland port that would service cargo from the ports of Jacksonville and Fernandina.

Crawford joins three other megasites in Northeast Florida: Cecil Commerce Center, Westlake and Westwood, all industrial parks on Jacksonville’s Westside.

The initiative ties into Nassau Tomorrow, a five-year economic development strategy launched in June 2012 with a goal of creating 3,800 jobs in the county. Rayonier is an investor in Nassau Tomorrow’s $2 million capital campaign.

[spuwho]

This is good news for Nassau County.

[thelakelander]

Hmm. The easy part is out of the way.  Now let's find that mega site tenant and have a real celebration.

[vicupstate]

Hmm. The easy part is out of the way.  Now let's find that mega site tenant and have a real celebration.

Exactly. Cecil Field has been certified too, but nothing major has occurred there.

[tufsu1]

well they also have the East Nassau Community Planning Area....a new sector plan with 25,000+ people just off SR 200 east of I-95

[Ocklawaha]

Hmm. The easy part is out of the way.  Now let's find that mega site tenant and have a real celebration.

Exactly. Cecil Field has been certified too, but nothing major has occurred there.

Agreed, but I would argue that industry, especially 'heavy industry,' does not generally seek out airports as site locations. Major manufacturing is much more interested in having excellent (and hopefully competitive) railroad and highway access. If the surface transportation options are in place, having a port nearby should prove to be a pretty unbeatable combination.

For those that don't get the name of the project, THIS is the CRAWFORD DIAMOND'.

FROM BUSINESS WIRE:

“Today is an important milestone for Nassau County and Florida. In just over two years, we have already created over 330,000 private-sector jobs and our unemployment rate has dipped to 7.2 percent â€" well below the national average. Florida is ideally positioned to be a global hub for business and this site will allow any company to do business worldwide. Projects like this will help us continue to create jobs and opportunities for Florida families,” said Governor Rick Scott.

Crawford Diamond.

Crawford Diamond is the only site in Florida where two Class I railroads intersect and one of the few undeveloped dual-rail served sites remaining in the South, making it a truly rare, valuable site and an ideal location for a large-scale manufacturer or distributor. In addition to on-site frontage to both CSX and Norfolk Southern, Crawford Diamond is close to five deep-water ports, four marine terminals, and two interstates. It is located 10 miles from the Jacksonville International Airport, with a 700,000-strong workforce within a 50-mile radius. Due to its proximity to Interstate 95, distributors based at the site can easily service the entire U.S. Southeast.

"Crawford Diamond represents a stronger and more prosperous future for Nassau County. Our county's Vision 2032 Task Force, the Nassau County Economic Development Board, our Planning & Zoning Board, and my fellow County Commissioners are working tirelessly to listen to our citizens and execute our vision to create high-wage jobs in Nassau County for current and future generations,” said Daniel Leeper, chairman, Nassau County, Board of County Commissioners. We greatly appreciate the thoughtful and transparent land use planning that Rayonier and TerraPointe brought to this project.”

Crawford Diamond is already approved for up to 10.5 million square feet of industrial land use, which can include manufacturing, assembly, warehousing and distribution, as well as an intermodal inland port or logistics center. The site, which was recently recognized by Southern Business & Development magazine as one of the nation’s “Ten Rail-Served Sites that Deserve a Second Look,” has access to natural gas and is approved for on-site power generation.

“With the vast majority of rail-served facilities captive to just one railroad, companies put a major premium on being able to choose between two competing Class I rail companies,” said Boynton. “Shippers at Crawford Diamond will have 3,250 feet of frontage on CSX and 6,700 feet of frontage on Norfolk Southern to make their shipping costs more competitive and provide access to more rail origins and destinations.”

Here is the breakdown on transportation at the site:

Highway: Florida Department of Transportation is currently widening SR 200/US 301 from 2 to 4 lanes (approx. 15 miles). Work will be completed in late 2014 Crawford Road to US Highway 301; FDOT current traffic volumes along US 301 adjacent to the site. A summary of existing conditions is as follows: Two lanes (one in each direction), no median Daily volume â€" 4,600 vehicles PM Peak Hour Volumes â€" 554 total; 230 northbound, 324 southbound Heavy Vehicles: 31.61% of total Based on FDOT capacity values, the roadway currently operates at Level of Service B for PM Peak hour conditions

Railroad: CSX - Connection: Baldwin, FL to Waycross, GA = 3,250 ft. of frontage; Norfolk Southern - Connection: Jacksonville, FL to Valdosta, GA 6,700 ft. of frontage

Airport: Jacksonville International = 14 mi / 23 km

Marine Ports: Via Highway: Port of Fernandina Beach = 31 mi / 50 km; Port of Jacksonville - Mitsui OSK 32 mi / 51 km; Port of Jacksonville - Blount Island Terminal 32 mi / 51 km ;Port of Jacksonville - Talleyrand Terminal 28 mi / 45 km Via Rail: Port of Fernandina Beach = 51 mi / 82 km; Port of Jacksonville - Mitsui OSK 33 mi / 53 km; Port of Jacksonville - Blount Island Terminal 35 mi / 56 km; Port of Jacksonville - Talleyrand Terminal 20 mi / 32 km *Drayage from Crawford Diamond to local marine terminals is under 60 minutes
Utilities

Meanwhile at Cecil, the clueless legions that nixed funding for transportation improvements citywide, can't understand the slow growth. This comes after allowing new roads and buildings to claim the right of way that was once the Cecil Field railroad branchline. Who wants 19th century technology at a 'space port?'

[nagrom73]

They've actually been trying to rezone that same piece of land in the Yulee area since at least 2005.  They ran into a big snafu when the property appraiser wanted to assess the entire property as development land and deny the agricultural exemption even though Rayonier would have been operating the site for its timber for well, ten years+. I don't know that this is going to happen anytime soon, but it would be nice to see the property planned out so that they wouldn't run into problems with transit in the area as a results of haphazard development.

[spuwho]

CSX or NS wouldn't bother with any spur @ Cecil unless there was a high volume shipper at the site, pure and simple.

Normally I would say this is a prime site for a short line operator to run, but they don't have the capital.

Some authorities will put up the capital or use a local highway authority bonding abilities along with state economic grants to fund the line and then lease the line back to the short line operator for operations. But typically operators won't sign unless there is enough online business to recover their costs.

So unless Flex-N-Gate announces a major bumper assembly plant at Cecil, the return of rail is a reach at best.

[JayBird]

It is nice to see surrounding counties treating commuter rail as "its going to happen, eventually". It is also nice to see how much planning they are putting in already, especially when the area covers about 37 sq miles.

http://www.nassaucountyfl.com/DocumentCenter/View/10183

• The East Nassau Community Planning Area (ENCPA) is a State-approved Sector Plan that
includes approximately 22,675 acres located in eastern Nassau County. Most of the property lies
between I-95 and Chester Road on the north side of SR200/A1A. The entire property is owned by
TerraPointe LLC (a division of Rayonier). It was created and adopted into the County’s 2030
Comprehensive Plan as a Multi-Use land use designation in May 2011.
• A Sector Plan offers a unique opportunity to master plan for long-term future growth. It will
include a thorough and detailed program of development that incorporates planning principles
and policies that will provide for a mix of uses that will balance jobs and housing and ensure that
future development is fiscally and environmentally sustainable for a long range planning
horizon of 20+ years.
• The sustainable development program will include a maximum of 24,000 residential dwelling
units and 11,000,000 square feet of non-residential uses. This represents the absolute
maximum development allowed in a 20+ year planning period.

http://www.saintmarysriver.org/docs/reference/2012/ENCPA%20Sector%20Plan%20fact%20sheet.pdf