North of Miami, the Industrial Story Wanes

MIAMI—For all the talk about Miami's industrial market, North Florida is still a player. Although there's not nearly the activity in Jacksonville and other northern Florida cities on the industrial front that could change in the years ahead as the Panama Canal expansion project doubles capacity of the waterway by 2015.

In the meantime, brokers like Terry Quarterman, first vice president of CBRE Jacksonville, are waiting and watching for the opportunity. In part one of this exclusive two-part interview, GlobeSt.com caught up with Quarterman to ask him what's changing in Jacksonville and how that's impacting the appetite for risk in the capital markets.

GlobeSt.com: How is the development horizon changing Jacksonville and north Florida during this recovery period?

Quarterman: There is no industrial development to speak of in Jacksonville other than the upcoming FedEx 300,000 square foot distribution center at Florida Alliance at Cecil Commerce Center scheduled to break ground in the 1st quarter of 2014. As goes Jacksonville so goes North Florida including Ocala—where FedEx is also building a new regional distribution center—Gainesville, Tallahassee and Pensacola. All are seeing sparse activity.

GlobeSt.com: Have any sectors been reshaped or have evolved during this recovery period?

Quarterman: The flex and office warehouse sectors are slow. Large distribution buildings have had the most activity with several leases over 100,000, including a recent 130,000-square-foot expansion by Tucker Rocky at Westside Industrial Park.  

GlobeSt.com: How do the capital markets fit into the Jacksonville industrial picture?

Quarterman: You need to have institutional investors with cash in pocket, other than a bank, if want to buy or invest in industrial property. Everybody keeps saying it's going to get better, but that's a matter of opinion. The market has retrenched but don't want to take any risk.