The seller is Bacardi Bottling Corp., which was represented byColliers Dickinson SVP Hobart Joost Jr. Joost tells GlobeSt.comthat Bacardi sold the land because it is divesting of all non-coreassets.

Joost adds that the impetus for the sale was the influx of Asianshippers to the Jacksonville Port. Mitsui is constructing aterminal and Han Jin has future plans to construct a terminal. Withthe West Coast ports at capacity, many Asian shippers are seekingEast Coast locations to accommodate customers in the Sunbeltregion. Jacksonville is an attractive East Coast location becauseInterstate 10, which connects the East and West Coasts, ends inJacksonville.

"As a result of the Asian shippers, developers are buying largetracts of land to build large distribution buildings," he says."After the Mitsui terminal is completed, it is estimated thatJacksonville will be eight million sf short of industrialproduct."