JACKSONVILLE, FL—Cushman & Wakefield has brokered the sale of Coach's North American Distribution and Fulfillment Center, which is thought to be the largest industrial transaction of its kind in Jacksonville in the last two years. The buyer, Intercontinental Real Estate Corporation, paid $90.5 million, or more than $106 per square foot for the acquisition.

According to Cushman & Wakefield research, this transaction is the largest non-portfolio industrial sale in the Jacksonville market dating back to 2013.

This premier, class A facility is located in the Jacksonville International Tradeport on Coach Way and serves as the hub for all distribution and fulfillment services of Coach products throughout North America.

The brokerage team of executive director Mike Davis, senior director Michael Lerner, senior director Rick Brugge, vice chairman David Bernhaut, senior director Karl Johnston, and associate director Tyler Newman represented the seller, Pantheon Properties.

The center totals 851,696 square feet on a 47.02-acre site. The facility was initially developed in 1994 and subsequently expanded in 1998 and 2008. The buildings constructed in 2008 have been awarded LEED Silver Certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.

“Today's more sophisticated industrial tenants are looking for warehousing capability, ease of access and office capability,” said Davis. “This changing dynamic has made the Northside submarket – and Jacksonville International Tradeport in particular – a location of choice for major corporate users.”

Cushman & Wakefield's Q2 2015 Jacksonville Industrial Marketbeat report documents a strong rebound for the local industrial market due to continued job growth and increased port activity. The Northside submarket appears to benefiting greatly from these drivers.”

The property includes ±50,000 square feet of two-story office space with the remaining square footage devoted to air-conditioned warehouse space. Coach has invested substantial capital in its effort to create a state-of-the-art, automated distribution and fulfillment operation.

The property is equipped with modern building amenities, including dock-high doors, concrete truck courts, and a parking ratio of 1.3/1,000. Construction is tilt-up with 26' clear heights, 48'x48' column spacing, wet sprinklers, and high-efficiency fluorescent fixtures with lighting sensors. The facility is capable of operating on a fully-redundant power supply system.

Coach is the lone tenant in the facility and occupies 100% of the space. However, the facility was initially designed to accommodate multi-tenant occupancy.

The distribution center is located within the master-planned Jacksonville International Tradeport, a premier 425-acre business park adjacent to the Jacksonville International Airport. This business park setting offers a high-end corporate image for major users such as Mercedes-Benz, Ecolab, Biomet, Patterson Logistics, Sally Beauty Supply, Cintas, and Smurfit-Stone while providing easy access via Interstate 95, Interstate 295, and Interstate 10.

The facility is situated within the Northside industrial submarket, the third largest in Jacksonville with an inventory with 21.1 million square feet of space. This submarket has witnessed heightened interest from both buyers and users in 2015.

“The increasingly positive structural dynamics in Jacksonville's economy and heightened tenant demand has led to a sharp decrease in the industrial market's vacancy rate during the second quarter,” said Florida research manager Chris Owen. “The Northside submarket saw the largest decrease, falling 1.8 percentage points quarter-to-quarter.”

“Overall absorption was strongly positive in the second quarter with all submarkets showing gains,” added Owen. “The majority of activity took place in the Westside, Northside and St. Johns County submarkets.”