A team of developers have proposed a ground lease at Port Everglades for the construction of a logistics warehouse.

Port Everglades International Logistics Center LLC could build a warehouse of about 250,000 square feet with an attached office building on a 16.7-acre site west of McIntosh Road. The developer is a joint venture between International Warehouse Services (IWS), and ANF Group and Treadwell Franklin Infrastructure Capital.

Port Everglades has handled more than 1 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) for two consecutive years, although volume declined 2 percent for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2016. Still, it handled more containers than any port in Florida. The port is pursuing expansion plans, including dredging to deepen and widen its shipping channels and the lengthening of a turn-around area to permit five new cargo berths.

All of that should lead to more demand for cargo warehousing at Port Everglades. IWS is already the largest tenant in the portā€™s foreign trade zone (FTZ). The developer submitted an unsolicited proposal to Broward County in May. On Nov. 29, the county commission will vote on whether to bypass a process to consider other offers and set up public hearings on Dec. 13 and Jan. 10 to discuss the deal.

The site development costs are estimated at $2.5 million. Under the deal, the developer must build an office for the FTZ operator at no cost to the county over the duration of the lease. The facility would also have some refrigerated warehousing.

Port Everglades International Logistics Center has proposed a 30-year ground lease with the option for a 20-year extension. It would pay the county $22.96 million in total over the 30 years, but the county would pay the developer $3 million once it receives a temporary certificate of occupancy (TCO) for the building.

The developerā€™s lease payments to the county would start as soon as it secures the TCO. The payment in both years one and two would be $108,836, increase to $217,674 in years three and four, increase to $435,348 in year five and then reach $580,103 in year six. From there, the lease rate would grow 3.25 percent per year.

Construction of the building is estimated to take 27 months, with completion in April 2019. Once the new warehouse is complete, the county plans to demolish the old FTZ warehouse and replace it with additional marine terminal yards, according to a county memo.

 

Source: SFBJ