Hillwood Master Developer Agreement
Current Status
Jacksonville welcomes Hillwood as the new Master Developer of 4,475 acres at Cecil Commerce Center®. The Master Developer Agreement was approved by Jacksonville City Council on June 8, 2010. Hillwood is in the process of establishing an office at Cecil Commerce Center® and starting development promptly.
Vision and Goals
Since day one, the vision for Cecil Commerce Center® has been to be a job haven and economic driver for our community. A City referendum reaffirmed the expectation that Cecil Commerce Center® would serve as a long-term economic development asset attracting quality companies, job opportunities and capital investment.
The City's goals for the development of Cecil Commerce Center® are:
- To establish a business relationship with a Master Developer with sufficient experience and financial capacity to execute a long term development vision for this property.
- To create favorable conditions for the Master Developer to recruit end users to Cecil Commerce Center® bringing with them as many higher wage jobs in the manufacturing, supply chain logistics, and other industrial sectors, as possible.
- To create a world class commerce center to complement the multi-modal infrastructure indigenous to Jacksonville.
- To maximize the value of the property for the taxpayers through private capital investment.
- To create growing ad valorem base for the City by privatizing the ownership and accelerating the development of the property.
Why a Master Developer?
A Master Developer is needed in order to expedite the development and sale of the property; utilize private development talent, capital resources and expertise with large-scale industrial land development; and align the obligations and capitalization needs with a private entity that will be
better equipped than the public sector to execute on a long-term development strategy. Achieving the goals of Cecil Commerce Center® requires a strong private-development partner that has the resources necessary to spend a significant amount of capital for the preparation of our challenged property and convert it to development-ready sites. In addition, this private partner must invest additional capital to construct new facilities needed to attract companies and jobs.
RFP Process
In January 2009, the City of Jacksonville, through the JEDC, issued a formal request for proposals (RFP) for a developer with the experience, financial capacity and long-term commitment necessary to lead the development efforts of the 4,500 acres of city-owned property at Cecil Commerce Center®. The City engaged in a very public RFP process which provided ample time for developers to submit their proposals. The RFP was advertised extensively and was sent to more than 170 top prospects in the real estate industry. The RFP criteria considered both the firm's qualifications and business plan. The City received five responses, and of these, Hillwood's response was the only one that did not ask the City to pay a large annual fee or contribute the land as equity only.
Deal Points
- This agreement protects the city's land ownership by only allowing Hillwood to purchase development sites and move forward with development on a project by project basis. Hillwood cannot land bank the property acquired and failure to develop would result in the city's option to purchase the property.
- The land will be sold at an agreed upon purchase price based on the current raw land condition of the specific site and recognizing the significant private investment that will be required to produce development-ready sites. This arrangement and our vetting of the development requirements ensure that Hillwood will not realize an unfair or economically competitive advantage over other industrial developers or property owners throughout our community.
- Hillwood will bear all capital investments of development estimated at $1.3 billion, to include purchasing the property from the city, preparing the site for development, constructing additional public infrastructure and facilities for new businesses in our community.
- Hillwood will have minimum performance standards throughout the term of the agreement and such standards are significant. Through these performance standards and default provisions, the developer cannot tie up our property while not meeting our needs.
Hillwood will eventually rebrand Cecil Commerce Center® as 'AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center,' their nationally recognized, premier brand.
The JEDC and City of Jacksonville are looking forward to establishing a long-term partnership with Hillwood to turn Cecil Commerce Center® into a world-class commerce center and job generator.
Click here to view Hillwood's Master Plan (PDF 1.14M).
Click here to view Hillwood Master Development Phasing Plan (PDF 1.08M).
117 West Duval Street, Suite 275, Jacksonville, FL 32202
(904) 630-1858