New "Project Rex" to bring 1,500 jobs, $200 million in improvement

[Rynjny]

Wonder which company could this Project Rex be? Amazon?

http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2016/04/12/new-project-rex-to-bring-1-500-jobs-200-million-in.html

[jaxlongtimer]

Here are a few more clues:

Times-Union:

City officials say the company, which says it employs 200,000 people worldwide and has more than 20 years of experience in retail and e-commerce markets, plans to open a "state-of-the-art fulfillment center." Jacksonville is one of several cities the company is considering for such a facility.

Amazon was founded in 1994, 22 years ago.
Per Statista.com:  In 2015, the American multinational e-commerce company, headquartered in Seattle, Washington, employed 230,800 full- and part-time employees.

Times Union:

Jacksonville is competing for an unnamed company that says it plans to invest $200 million in a project just south of Jacksonville International Airport that would create 1,500 jobs by the end of 2019.

Per Wikipedia article on Amazon: 

Fulfillment centers are located in the following cities, often near airports.   These centers also provide warehousing and order-fulfillment for third-party sellers.

and

Warehouses are large and each has hundreds of employees. Employees are responsible for four basic tasks: unpacking and inspecting incoming goods; placing goods in storage and recording their location; picking goods from their computer recorded locations to make up an individual shipment; and shipping.

Amazon clearly fits the bill !  Maybe they use the airport for their drone delivery air force 

[ProjectMaximus]

Makes sense. Figured they'd eventually give us a look though I imagine it's far from a done deal.

[thelakelander]

It could be anyone. Amazon's new hubs in Central Florida aren't near any significant airports. The one in Lakeland is a few miles from their airport but there's no real cargo activity taking place there.

[jaxlongtimer]

Maybe a Jax facility plays more than one role.  Such as a fulfillment center and a distribution/import/export hub for other fulfillment centers.  On that basis, the airport location makes more sense.

A $200 million dollar investment in a facility like this could go up to 2 million square feet or so, depending on how much goes into technology and furnishings.  That would seem far larger than what might be needed for a fulfillment facility for North Florida/South Georgia.  The 1,500 jobs also seems high for a fulfillment center that is typically highly automated.  Also, 500 jobs at $50,000+ implies some higher level activities may be involved.

We shall see.

[ProjectMaximus]

It could be anyone.

What other 200,000-employee e-commerce businesses do you think are the possibilities?

[Steve]

It might be Amazon, but their model is less about airports. With prime for example, they want to be within 2 days ground of a customer. If they had to air ship everything, then it wouldn't work.

[hiddentrack]

Amazon recently expanded the cities where they're offering same-day delivery. Looking over the list, I could see Jacksonville fitting into the next round where it's available.

FREE Same-Day Delivery is now in Charlotte, Cincinnati, Fresno, Louisville, Milwaukee, Nashville, Central New Jersey, Raleigh, Richmond, Sacramento, Stockton, and Tucson.

[RattlerGator]

Maybe a Jax facility plays more than one role.  Such as a fulfillment center and a distribution/import/export hub for other fulfillment centers.  On that basis, the airport location makes more sense.

A $200 million dollar investment in a facility like this could go up to 2 million square feet or so, depending on how much goes into technology and furnishings.  That would seem far larger than what might be needed for a fulfillment facility for North Florida/South Georgia.  The 1,500 jobs also seems high for a fulfillment center that is typically highly automated.  Also, 500 jobs at $50,000+ implies some higher level activities may be involved.

We shall see.

Hmmmmmm.

If it is Amazon, it sounds like it might be some sort of next-generation fulfillment center and blow away what they put down in West Central Florida.

Wouldn't that be sweet?

[hiddentrack]

JBJ has a few more clues that it could be Amazon:

To make the site work, a 2,000-foot-long section of Pecan Park Road would need to be realigned, during which it would be turned into a four-lane road, according to details on the project included with the legislation. Other road improvements would include installing a traffic signal on Pecan Park Road, relocating a water main and possibly adding a signal at the I-295 ramp.

The client for that work, according to the documents, would be Seefried Industrial Properties. That company's website shows it has built Amazon sites in Tennessee and Virginia.

Amazon has four fulfillment centers in Florida, but the company has been expanding its network as it looks to provide same-day delivery in more places. Last week, Amazon said it was expanding same-day delivery to 11 cities, all of which have distribution centers nearby.

[Steve]

BizJournal is reporting that it's likely Amazon:

http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2016/04/13/project-rex-is-likely-amazon-and-heres-where-its.html

[jaxlongtimer]

Here is a thought... if you assume that Amazon's fulfillment function displaces shopping at brick and mortar stores and that it has the ability to more rapidly turn inventory than a brick and mortar store due to its supposedly more efficient business model, even if some of its fulfillment displaces some existing e-commerce, one would have to conclude a potential 1.6 million square foot facility with near- or same-day delivery capabilities could reduce demand for retail brick and mortar real estate in the region by a similar or greater 1.6 million square feet.

Has anyone measured the impact of such centers in other regions on the retail real estate market?

[thelakelander]

I didn't realize Amazon ended opening four fulfillment centers in Florida back in 2014. I guess it's only logical to expand in remaining areas where they don't have decent coverage. The two big centers Jax lost the initial 2014 race to were built in Ruskin (suburban Tampa) and Lakeland.

Ruskin - 1.1 million sf (9/2014) - 2,500 employees
http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/retail/have-a-look-inside-the-1-million-square-foot-amazon-fulfillment-center-in/2271254

Lakeland - 1 million sf (12/2014) - 800 employees
http://blog.taxjar.com/amazon-fulfillment-center-lakeland-fl/


They also opened two smaller "sortation" centers in Davenport (Polk County) and Miami.

Davenport 400,000 sf (2014) - 100 employees
http://www.theledger.com/article/20141128/newschief/141129234


Miami 335,841 sf (10/2014) - 300 employees
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article4125518.html

Based on the description, what's proposed sounds moreso like the Ruskin and Lakeland distribution centers.  Here's a video of the Ruskin location's recent open house:

http://video.tampabay.com/?ndn.trackingGroup=90964&ndn.siteSection=tbtimes&ndn.videoId=30554907&freewheel=90964&sitesection=tbtimes&vid=30554907

As far as them impacting traditional retail locally, I think it's too early to tell. Amazon has three centers within close proximity of the I-4 corridor and retailers and shopping centers down there still seem to be humming along.

[jaxlore]

What would be interesting is if they started offering the one day turnaround delivery in jax because of this.

[codemonkey]

It might be Amazon, but their model is less about airports. With prime for example, they want to be within 2 days ground of a customer. If they had to air ship everything, then it wouldn't work.

Airports are becoming more important to them as they become their own shipper.  They recently leased a fleet of Boeing aircraft and have purchased significant stakes in European delivery companies.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-09/amazon-to-lease-boeing-767s-from-air-transport-atsg-shares-soar