JacksonvilleBusinessNews.com | Industrial & Aerospace | Updated September 12, 2026
Quick Answer
Cecil Commerce Center in West Jacksonville is a 17,000-acre former naval air station where master developer Hillwood controls about 4,499 acres of city-owned land under a 25-year agreement, has built roughly 3.83 million square feet, and is preparing a 584-acre block (Parcels L–O) for its next 1-million-square-foot-plus user. The adjacent Jacksonville Aviation Authority-owned Cecil Airport and Spaceport offers 80- to 100-acre airfield-access sites for aerospace manufacturers, with Otto Aerospace’s $430 million Phantom 3500 plant and Hermeus’s hypersonic engine facility under way. Foreign Trade Zone No. 64, granted to JAXPORT, lets manufacturers there defer, reduce or eliminate U.S. customs duties, with JAXPORT charging $2,500 to apply, $2,500 to activate and $10,000 a year per activated site.
What Is Cecil Commerce Center?
Cecil Commerce Center is the redeveloped Naval Air Station Cecil Field, closed in 1999, covering about 17,000 acres (roughly 3% of Duval County) between I-10 and Normandy Boulevard west of I-295. The land is split among three public owners: the City of Jacksonville’s industrial acreage developed by Hillwood as AllianceFlorida, the Jacksonville Aviation Authority’s Cecil Airport and Spaceport, and Florida State College at Jacksonville’s Cecil Center.
| Component | Owner / Developer | Size | Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center | City of Jacksonville; Hillwood master developer (2010 agreement, 25 years) | ~4,499 acres; 31 million SF master plan | Distribution, manufacturing, industrial |
| Cecil Airport and Spaceport (VQQ) | Jacksonville Aviation Authority | Four runways; 12,503-ft main runway (3rd longest in Florida) | Aerospace MRO, manufacturing, spaceport, military |
| FSCJ Cecil Center | Florida State College at Jacksonville | Campus | Aviation maintenance and workforce training |
| Cecil Recreation Complex and conservation land | City of Jacksonville | Balance of acreage | Parks, wetlands |
Hillwood’s development model: it secures the tenant, buys the parcel from the city, builds, and sells to an investor, with the city receiving 10% of profit on industrial deals (50% on mixed-use). Cushman & Wakefield’s Tyler Newman and Jacob Horsley handle leasing alongside Hillwood.
What industrial sites are available at Cecil Commerce Center in 2026?
Hillwood’s Building E, a 603,529-square-foot speculative distribution building on 45 acres at 5550 POW-MIA Memorial Parkway, was completed in 2026 and is the park’s primary available building; the next large-user opportunity is Parcels L–O, a 584-acre block in the northwest quadrant where Hillwood has contracted to buy 192 acres from the city and filed plans to mass-grade 243 acres for a 1,006,880-square-foot building.
| Site | Size | Status (mid-2026) | Suited For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Building E, 5550 POW-MIA Memorial Pkwy | 603,529 SF on 45 acres | Completed spec building; leasing | Distribution, light manufacturing |
| Parcels L–O, West Phase (617 Water Works St.) | 243 acres of 584-acre block | Site plans under city review; 1,006,880 SF footprint shown | Large distribution or manufacturing campus |
| Parcels L–O, remainder | ~340 acres | Available; prior interest from a 300-acre manufacturer needing up to 600,000 gal/day water (dormant) | Water-intensive manufacturing, automotive, EV supply chain |
| Other AllianceFlorida parcels | 50–200 acre tracts | Available through Hillwood; recent inquiries for 50, 150 and 150–200 acres | Build-to-suit |
| Cecil Airport aerospace sites | 80–100 acres with taxiway access | Otto Aerospace site; additional sites subject to ~$20M taxiway extension | Aircraft manufacturing, MRO, flight test |
Developed inventory to date includes the two 1-million-square-foot fulfillment centers for Amazon (86.5 acres) and Wayfair (80 acres), both sold to institutional investors (Gramercy Property Trust, $95.5 million, 2018; Stockbridge Capital, $75.5 million, 2020). Hillwood’s quarterly reports to the city in 2026 describe active prospects including an automotive-related buyer seeking about 150 acres and a long-running 1 million to 1.5 million-square-foot automated distribution requirement.
What industrial sites are available for aerospace manufacturing in Jacksonville?
Cecil Airport is the region’s dedicated aerospace manufacturing location, with JAA offering airfield-access parcels of 80 to 100 acres plus legacy Navy hangars; Otto Aerospace has taken Hangar 825 as an interim production site and holds a lease for a future 850,000-square-foot factory, and Hermeus has broken ground on a hypersonic engine test facility.
| Aerospace Tenant / Project | Facility | Investment / Jobs | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Otto Aerospace (Phantom 3500 business jet) | Hangar 825 at 6105 Flightline Rd (demolition permit issued March 2026); planned 850,000 SF factory on 80–100 acres; global HQ relocation | $430M+; 1,200 jobs in two phases (389 in phase one at $90,388 avg. salary); $34.9M JAA incentive, up to $20M city REV grant, $430M+ state CITC/HIPI | Flight test vehicles 2026; first flight early 2027; entry into service ~2030 |
| Hermeus | Hypersonic engine test facility | Part of >1,000 aerospace jobs projected beyond 2030 | Under construction since 2025 |
| Boeing | 385,000 SF MRO hangar (260,000+ SF of bays) | $245.8M | Opened February 2024 |
| Flightstar Aircraft Services | Commercial MRO | Existing | Operating |
| Fleet Readiness Center Southeast (U.S. Navy) | Depot-level maintenance | Existing; one of Southeast’s largest manufacturers | Operating |
| ManTech | 39,000 SF hangar and office (JAA-built) | Existing | Operating |
| Wood Group Pratt & Whitney, LSI, U.S. Coast Guard, CBP, Florida Army National Guard | Various hangars | Existing | Operating |
| Cecil Spaceport | FAA-licensed horizontal launch site (2010); reentry license application funded by Space Florida | $600M+ invested at Cecil since 1999 | Reentry license expected within ~2 years |
A 2022 FDOT study found Cecil had the highest average annual salary of any airport in Florida, reflecting its MRO and defense workforce. FSCJ’s on-site aviation program and JAXUSA’s aerospace recruitment provide the labor pipeline.
What are the Foreign Trade Zone No. 64 tax benefits for manufacturing at Cecil Commerce Center?
FTZ No. 64, granted to the Jacksonville Port Authority, allows a manufacturer operating in a designated zone site to import components duty-free, pay duty only when finished goods enter U.S. commerce (at the finished-product rate if lower, called inverted tariff relief), pay no duty at all on goods re-exported or scrapped, and file one weekly customs entry instead of one per shipment.
| FTZ Benefit | How It Works | Value to a Cecil Manufacturer |
|---|---|---|
| Duty deferral | No duty until goods leave the zone for U.S. consumption | Cash-flow benefit on inventory held for weeks or months |
| Inverted tariff | Elect to pay the finished-product duty rate instead of the (often higher) component rate | Significant for aerospace and electronics where parts carry higher duty than assembled products |
| Duty elimination on exports | Goods exported from the zone never incur U.S. duty | Otto’s international jet deliveries; MRO parts re-exported |
| Duty elimination on waste and scrap | No duty on components destroyed or scrapped in production | Reduces cost of yield loss |
| Weekly entry | One CBP entry per week | Merchandise processing fee capped per entry (~$634 max), saving tens of thousands annually for high-volume importers |
| Section 232/301 and Section 122 surcharge treatment | Privileged foreign status locks duty rate at admission; some trade-remedy duties still apply | Requires case-by-case analysis; not all surcharges are avoided |
| No state inventory tax on zone goods | Florida has no inventory tax, but zone status supports TPP planning | Confirm with Property Appraiser |
JAXPORT FTZ No. 64 fees (Tariff No. 2025, Rule 31-157)
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Application (new site, modification or expansion) | $2,500 |
| Activation by U.S. Customs and Border Protection | $2,500 |
| Activated annual fee | $10,000 |
| Non-activated annual fee (approved but deactivated) | $1,000 |
Worked example: A Cecil aerospace manufacturer imports $40 million a year in components carrying an average 5% duty and exports 40% of finished aircraft. Without FTZ status it pays about $2 million in duty. Under FTZ 64 with inverted-tariff election to a 0% finished-aircraft rate and duty-free exports, its duty bill approaches zero, less roughly $15,000 in JAXPORT fees plus operator compliance costs. Under the 10% Section 122 surcharge in effect since February 2026, the analysis depends on whether components are admitted in privileged or non-privileged status.
Setup takes roughly 6 to 12 months: JAXPORT sponsors the site designation to the U.S. Foreign-Trade Zones Board (faster under the Alternative Site Framework for usage-driven sites), CBP activates the site after a security and inventory-control review, and the operator implements zone-compliant inventory software.
How does Cecil compare to other Northeast Florida industrial locations?
Cecil offers the region’s largest contiguous industrial land supply and the only airfield-access manufacturing sites, but it sits 15 miles west of downtown and 20-plus miles from JAXPORT’s Blount Island and Dames Point terminals; Northside and Westside parks along I-295 and I-95 are closer to the port and the airport.
| Location | Land Supply | Port Distance | Rail | Airfield | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cecil Commerce Center (West Jax) | Largest: 584-acre L–O block plus other tracts | ~25 miles to Blount Island | CSX access via Baldwin line | Cecil Airport, 12,503-ft runway, spaceport | Manufacturing, aerospace, mega-distribution |
| Westside Industrial Park / Imeson | Moderate | ~15 miles | CSX, Norfolk Southern | None | Regional distribution |
| Northside (I-295/I-95, JIA area) | Moderate | 5–10 miles to Dames Point | FEC, CSX; Dames Point ICTF | JAX International | Port-driven distribution, air cargo |
| Nassau County (Crawford Diamond, Wildlight) | Large | 25–30 miles | CSX | None | Rail-served manufacturing |
| Clay County (First Coast Expressway corridor) | Growing | 30+ miles | Limited | None | Suburban distribution |
Jacksonville’s overall industrial vacancy rose to 11.6% in Q2 2026 and the construction pipeline is down more than 80%, so tenants seeking existing buildings have leverage, while land users at Cecil deal directly with Hillwood or JAA on build-to-suit terms.
What incentives are available for manufacturers locating at Cecil?
Cecil sites can stack city, JAA, state and federal incentives; Otto Aerospace’s package illustrates the ceiling: $34.9 million from JAA, up to $20 million in a city Revenue Enhancement Value (REV) grant, and more than $430 million in state Corporate Income Tax Credits and High Impact Performance Incentive grants.
| Incentive | Source | Typical Structure |
|---|---|---|
| Recapture Enhanced Value (REV) grant | City of Jacksonville OED | Rebate of a share of new city property taxes for a set term |
| Qualified Target Industry / CITC | FloridaCommerce | Per-job refunds and corporate income tax credits for high-wage manufacturing and aerospace |
| High Impact Performance Incentive | FloridaCommerce | Grants for very large capital projects in target sectors |
| JAA infrastructure and lease incentives | Jacksonville Aviation Authority | Hangar improvements, taxiway extensions, below-market ground leases |
| Space Florida financing | Space Florida | Conduit financing, spaceport infrastructure |
| Foreign Trade Zone No. 64 | JAXPORT | Duty deferral, inverted tariff, export elimination |
| Florida manufacturing sales tax exemption | Florida Dept. of Revenue | No sales tax on machinery and equipment used in manufacturing |
| Workforce training grants | CareerSource Northeast Florida; Florida Quick Response Training | Reimbursement of customized training costs |
Brian’s Take
Cecil is the rare industrial park where the constraint is not land or entitlement but utilities and patience. The 300-acre manufacturing prospect that stalled at JEA over 600,000 gallons a day of water is the tell: the 584-acre L–O block can host something enormous, but only after the city and JEA commit to the water, sewer and power a serious manufacturer needs. Hillwood’s decision to buy 192 acres and start mass grading before a tenant is signed suggests it sees that infrastructure coming.
The aerospace side is where Jacksonville’s story is genuinely changing. Boeing’s MRO, Otto’s factory and Hermeus’s engine plant turn Cecil from a distribution park with a runway into a manufacturing airport, and the FTZ overlay is what makes the export math work for a company like Otto that will sell jets worldwide. The risk is the one every startup-anchored campus carries: Otto has $500 million in incentives and a 2030 entry-into-service target, and business-jet programs slip. If it delivers, Cecil is Florida’s second Space Coast. If it does not, Jacksonville still has 1 million square feet of pad-ready dirt and the longest runway west of the St. Johns, which is a better fallback than most cities get.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who owns Cecil Commerce Center?
The City of Jacksonville owns the industrial land developed by Hillwood as AllianceFlorida; the Jacksonville Aviation Authority owns Cecil Airport and Spaceport; FSCJ owns its Cecil Center campus.
How much space has been built at Cecil Commerce Center?
About 3.83 million square feet through Hillwood’s Building E, including the 1-million-square-foot Amazon and Wayfair fulfillment centers, against a 31-million-square-foot master plan.
Is Cecil Commerce Center inside a Foreign Trade Zone?
Cecil sites can be designated under FTZ No. 64, granted to JAXPORT, which sponsors site applications to the U.S. Foreign-Trade Zones Board; each activated site pays JAXPORT $10,000 annually.
How long is the runway at Cecil Airport?
12,503 feet, the third-longest in Florida, capable of handling any production aircraft, with three additional runways of 8,003, 8,002 and 4,439 feet.
What is Otto Aerospace building at Cecil?
An 850,000-square-foot final assembly plant and headquarters for the Phantom 3500 business jet on 80 to 100 acres, starting in the Navy-built Hangar 825, with flight testing targeted for early 2027 and 1,200 jobs planned.
Sources and Further Reading
- City of Jacksonville Office of Economic Development, Cecil Commerce Center — https://www.jacksonville.gov/departments/office-of-economic-development/business-development/cecil-commerce-center
- Jacksonville Daily Record, “Hillwood contracts with city for 192 acres at AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center” (June 29, 2026) — https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2026/jun/29/hillwood-contracts-with-city-for-192-acres-at-allianceflorida-at-cecil-commerce-center/
- Jacksonville Daily Record, “Automobile prospect shows interest in AllianceFlorida” (June 1, 2026) — https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2026/jun/01/automobile-prospect-shows-interest-in-allianceflorida-at-cecil-commerce-center/
- Jacksonville Daily Record, “Hillwood wants to mass-grade site for possible 1 million-square-foot building” (April 13, 2026) — https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2026/apr/13/hillwood-wants-to-mass-grade-site-for-possible-1-million-square-foot-building-in-allianceflorida/
- News4JAX, “JAA outlines Cecil Airport aerospace hub vision amid Otto Aviation relocation plans” (April 8, 2026) — https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2026/04/08/jaa-outlines-cecil-airport-aerospace-hub-vision-amid-otto-aviation-relocation-plans-to-jacksonville/
- News4JAX, “Jacksonville issues permit for Otto Aerospace hangar at Cecil Airport” (March 25, 2026) — https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2026/03/25/jacksonville-issues-permit-for-otto-aerospace-hangar-at-cecil-airport-to-build-business-jet/
- Otto Aerospace, “Otto Aerospace Announces New Manufacturing Facility and Headquarters in Jacksonville” — https://ottoaerospace.com/news/otto-aviation-announces-new-manufacturing-facility-and-headquarters-in-jacksonville-florida/
- Manufacturing Dive, “Otto Aviation to establish $430M manufacturing plant in Florida” (June 18, 2025) — https://www.manufacturingdive.com/news/otto-aviation-establish-430m-plant-jacksonville-florida-phantom-3500/750956/
- First Coast News, “Jacksonville’s Cecil Spaceport expansion could have the First Coast looking like the Space Coast” (Feb. 17, 2026) — https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/local/cecil-spaceport-development-expansion-hermeus-otto/77-401981e2-ee5b-4620-aed7-5124ecbfb843
- JAXUSA Partnership, Aerospace & Defense Technologies — https://www.jaxusa.org/industries/aerospace-defense
- Cecil Spaceport, Airfield Infrastructure — https://cecilspaceport.com/post/airfield-infrastructure
- Jacksonville Port Authority, Terminal Tariff No. 2025 Summary (FTZ No. 64 fees, Rule 31-157) — https://www.jaxport.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/TariffSummarySheet-Effective100125.pdf
- Cushman & Wakefield, Jacksonville Industrial MarketBeat Q2 2026 — https://assets.cushmanwakefield.com/-/media/cw/marketbeat-pdfs/2026/q2/us-reports/industrial/jacksonville_americas_marketbeat_industrial_2q26.pdf
- JacksonvilleBusinessNews.com, JAXPORT Shipping Rates, Fees and Turnaround Times: 2026 (companion article)
Reporting by Brian French. Site availability reflects Hillwood’s quarterly reports to the City of Jacksonville through Q1 2026 and JAA statements through April 2026; confirm current parcels with Hillwood, Cushman & Wakefield or JAA.
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