QuoteBy David Bauerlein
Plans to build a "superport" on about 1,000 acres on the Northside would make Keystone Industries a major force at Jacksonville's port, its president said Wednesday.
Tom Scholl discussed the plan after he joined Gov. Rick Scott and Mayor Alvin Brown for a ceremony dedicating a different Keystone project â€" the company's recently opened shipping terminal on 110 acres in the Talleyrand area.
Scholl said the Northside development would be 10 times as big as the Talleyrand terminal and would contain a manufacturing plant in addition to areas for cargo shipments.
"It's going to create thousands of jobs," he said.
QuoteHe did not elaborate during his speech. But after the event he said Keystone has entered into an agreement with landowner Abraham Zion to develop property owned by Zion along Heckscher Drive.
The plan envisions areas for cargo shipments and a manufacturing plant. The site would have railroad tracks to connect with a CSX line. The total cost would be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, Scholl said.
Scholl declined to identify the company that would do the manufacturing. He said the development would need a deeper ship channel to handle large, heavily loaded ships. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is in the midst of studying the cost to deepen the river's 40-foot channel to 50 feet. The study compares the expense to the commercial benefits of a deeper channel.
Scholl said he wants the Zion property "to be a superport, and to be a superport, we have to have the dredging."
The Jacksonville Port Authority previously considered the Zion property as a site for a container cargo terminal for Hanjin Shipping. JaxPort pulled back when it couldn't reach a purchase agreement with Zion and decided to use land on Dames Point for Hanjin.
http://jacksonville.com/business/2011-07-07/story/company-plans-build-1000-acre-superport-jacksonvilles-northside
Wow, that would be something serious.
I guess this is the undeveloped area south of Imeson industrial park?
I believe the Zion property straddles Eastport Road, near the paper mill. I wonder would Heckscher Drive have to be elevated to allow for better access to the riverfront?
This would be a HUGE plus for us....
Wow, this would be major. Normally I wouldn't put much faith into a passing announcement like that but Keystone seems to be serious business. Could be great for our port.
Would be fantastic. BUT, the river needs to be dredged and Mile Point needs to be dealt with first.
Quote from: thelakelander on July 07, 2011, 08:32:11 AM
I believe the Zion property straddles Eastport Road, near the paper mill. I wonder would Heckscher Drive have to be elevated to allow for better access to the riverfront?
Lake you're right. According to GIS the property is pasically everything along eastport outh of Kraft Rd, except the papermill site. The parcel includes the strip along the river south of Heckscher where the Hess terminal is also.
It seems they would have to raise one of the Heckscher bridges as the current river frontage isn't that much.
Quote from: SMoody84 on July 07, 2011, 10:20:13 AM
Would be fantastic. BUT, the river needs to be dredged and Mile Point needs to be dealt with first.
Hopefully something like this could make a major impact on the schedule for getting those two issues dealt with.
Quote from: SMoody84 on July 07, 2011, 10:20:13 AM
Would be fantastic. BUT, the river needs to be dredged and Mile Point needs to be dealt with first.
QuoteThe U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is in the midst of studying the cost to deepen the river's 40-foot channel to 50 feet. The study compares the expense to the commercial benefits of a deeper channel.
This is a large scale project that would contribute directly to our local economy. This isn't just cargo passing through our city, some of this cargo will originate or terminate within Duval county, which has a greater financial impact. This would be adding a significant amount of money to the 'benefits' side, without adding much to the 'expense' side. This will help us in the fight for federal dollars.
We need to come up with about a $1 billion in funding to handle the dredging issue. Without that, neither this nor Hajin will happen. Any ideas of how to come up with that type of money for a city who's $62 million in the hole already?
Quote from: thelakelander on July 07, 2011, 11:03:21 AM
We need to come up with about a $1 billion in funding to handle the dredging issue. Without that, neither this nor Hajin will happen. Any ideas of how to come up with that type of money for a city who's $62 million in the hole already?
A bake sale??
We could "assess a fee" on all marine related activities that would in 10 years be able to fund the port.
Do we have any sort of revenue figures on what adding Hanjin and Keystone as well as the projected growth from other carriers if we do dredge the port??
I like how Mayor Brown has hit the ground running as far as JaxPort goes! I see he is touring JaxPort with Ray LaHood today.
http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2011-07-07/story/transportation-secretary-ray-lahood-tour-jacksonville-port-facility (http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2011-07-07/story/transportation-secretary-ray-lahood-tour-jacksonville-port-facility)
That's a good point, Lake. Let's not get ahead of ourselves.