Land sales, new distribution center give boost to Baker 

By Priscilla Goudreau

Florida Real Estate Journal

There’s some big activity going on in little Baker County, population 22,000. Lying just west of Jacksonville on Interstate 10, the county is fast becoming a bedroom community to its larger neighbor.

Thrusting the community into the big league last year was the opening of an 880,000sf Wal-Mart food distribution center, slated to service Super Wal-Marts in the region from Florida to South Carolina, and the sale of about 47,000 acres of timberland by International Paper.

In addition, two industrial parks in the area under development for the last several years are drawing tenants like Wal-Mart, which takes up about 124 acres of the 250-acre Enterprise East park east of Macclenny on U.S. Highway 90. Enterprise West in Sanderson is an 80-acre industrial park with rail. Wiremil Inc., a manufacturer of pre-stressed steel cable for bridges and roads, takes up 33 acres of property next to Enterprise West, and Sanderson Pipe Corp. sits on about 34 acres within the park.

“The industrial boom here is causing a lot of commercial activity. It’s across the board — retail and office. We have very little building vacancy so if they (developers) need space, they’ll have to build it,” said Ginger Barber, executive director of the Baker County Economic Development Commission.

Barber says the $152 million economic impact of the new distribution center over the next five years will be a catalyst for commercial development, and she hopes that some of the new commercial activity will include a Wal-Mart superstore in Macclenny.

But what’s really happening now is a boom in residential activity due to the availability of land.

“The residential has opened up because of the sale by IP. Before that, our hands were tied,” said Tina Roden, owner and agent with Thomas Roden Real Estate. “We bought a large chunk to subdivide. The land here is probably the biggest change. Our agency had one of the first developments, but it was very sparse because the land wasn’t available.”

Roden and husband, Tommy Roden, are partners with Gainesville developer John Curtis in the new gated subdivision, Glenn Plantation. Roden says that property will be divided into five-acre, 10-acre and “larger” lots, and there will be an equestrian trail.

“People in Jacksonville want to get out of the city and have larger tracts of land. Macclenny is a bedroom community to Jacksonville — about 75 percent of the residents work in Jacksonville. They come out here and buy a nice tract of land and our school system is great. I think Baker County is the new Mandarin or Orange Park.”

Roden believes the commercial development will follow, but it will happen after the infrastructure to support the growing community is in place.

“They’re four-laning S.R. 121, and Publix and Walgreen’s are looking to buy some land. I look for the next venture to be a steak house and possibly a Cracker Barrel. Some banks have also looked into the area. With the Wal-Mart supercenter, the problem will be water and sewer,” she said.

County Manager Josie Davis Jr. agrees. “I think we’re going to see quite a bit of commercial growth, but right now it’s Wal-Mart in industrial and residential growth. Because of the residential demand, we’ve created a separate ordinance to allow that development. It will have a big impact on infrastructure — roads and water management. We’re putting most of that burden on developers.”

Davis says that Baker County has been slowly evolving as a bedroom community for Jacksonville, but that evolution is intensifying now because “people enjoy the country life with the big city nearby.”

Although there have been other real estate developments, they were nothing of major impact, said Davis. A new health department building was built in 2001, and the vacated property will be up for sale and “is in a prime location for commercial development.” He says that there have been inquiries about a drug store in that location, and the county has built a post office right next to the parcel.

“We’re a rural community that’s growing. The residential is beginning now, and we approved a development recently. I think that within a couple of years the developers will have everything subdivided and sold,” he said.

Ricky Davis, president of CDD Investments, is the developer of Copper Creek Hill by the Pineview Golf Course. The first phase began in 1995 and included 50 lots, and last year, the company developed 51 third-acre lots. CDD Investments plans to develop 72 lots this year.

“We’re developing a large planned development and have about 100 acres total in that area. We’ve also sold five-acre, 10, 20 and even 300-acre tracts in other developments. We’re in a growth mode. Baker County is so close to Jacksonville, and that’s the biggest plus as opposed to Lake City. Other than I-10, our major artery is S.R. 121, and they’re working on that,” Davis said.

Most of the commercial development will take place between I-10 and U.S. 90, he says, and a lot of residential activity is happening north and northwest of Macclenny.

“In relationship to the population size, what’s happened in Baker County is greater than the very significant growth that’s happening in Duval County,” said Jerry Mallot, executive vice president of the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce. He directs the Cornerstone Regional Development Partnership, a six-county economic development initiative that includes Baker, Duval, Clay, Nassau, St. Johns and Putnam counties.

“We were part of helping locate the Wal-Mart distribution center in Baker, which will employ about 600 to 700 people. Then there’s a follow-along trucking company that located there last year and added nearly 100 jobs, and I’m sure there will be other spin-off businesses related to the Wal-Mart decision,” he said.

Wal-Mart chose Baker County because of the “excellent site” and because the Baker County Development Commission donated the land, according to Barber, who says county officials work diligently with Cornerstone on finding prospects.

“We wanted to bring the business in. The company’s starting wage is $11.25 per hour, and we were very impressed with their operation. We have a state hospital here, and it’s the largest public employer, employing about 1,200. Wal-Mart is now the largest private employer,” Barber said.

Mallot says that Cornerstone is now working with 69 potential businesses for the six-county region, and although there’s nothing on the drawing board specifically for Baker, several have Baker as an option.