The port of Jacksonville’s status as one of the East Coast’s biggest auto-handling ports got a long-term boost yesterday thanks to a new public-private deal with Southeast Toyota Distributors.
The JAXPORT board unanimously approved a $210 million agreement with the distribution company to move its facility from the port’s Talleyrand terminal and into a modernized 88-acre site at Blount Island.
The deal includes a nearly $180 million lease for 25 years, with options to extend to 40 years, plus a $16.5 million grant from the Florida Department of Transportation and a matching $16.5 million investment from Southeast Toyota Distributors for terminal enhancements. The upgrades will allow bigger vehicle ships to use the port, create new rail connections and expand truck-loading areas, according to the American Journal of Transportation.
The company is the largest independent distributor of Toyotas in the world — it moved 157,000 vehicles through the port last year — and it helped establish the port as one of the busiest anywhere for autos since starting operations here in 1968. Last year the port moved more than 616,000 cars, enough to stretch from Miami to nearly Maine if placed bumper to bumper. (The Florida Times-Union)