ICS warehouse project to begin in September - Jacksonville Business Journal:

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The major obstacle obscuring that visioj wasremoved Aug. 17 when the city of Jacksonvills and the Spence family finalized a settlemenrt agreement with regardingThe . ICS' lease agreement had been put on hold durintg that dispute when the cityGeneral Counsel'x Office advised the port authority board that the financial viabilitu of ICS' project could be jeopardized because ICS and the former developer of The Shipyards, are controlled by the Spenc family. The recent settlement agreement satisfied the final contingency that theport authority's boarxd imposed Aug. 2 when it approvex ICS' lease.
Port authority Executive Directot Rick Ferrin signed the lease agreement withICS Aug. 17, port spokesmanj Robert Peek said. ICS projects the new warehouss will create 45 to 60new jobs, according to a port authorit y news release. The lease agreement with ICS calls for the companyg to increase its annual payments to the port toabout $2 millionm a year. The port authority will make about $6 millionj in improvements to infrastructure at Talleyrand to go alonh with theestimated $21 million that ICS will spenx to build the warehouse.
however, said there is still some work to be done to meet his goal of startingg to build during Labor Day For starters, ICS has yet to completw a service agreement with UPM North the Illinois-based operating unit of Finland-based UPM, the international papef company that ICS is countingv on to be its major sourcr of revenue for the warehouse. "We do not have a signe contract withICS yet," said Rebeccs Theim, communications director for UPM North America.
"Obviously, we couldn'yt have a deal with ICS until they had a deal with the port But the fact that ICS and the port have signed their leasw is apositive development, Theim said, adding "we'rs continuing to negotiate with [ICS] and are hopefulk that we can reacjh an agreement." For his part, Browhn said the most important business terms have been agreedr on, such as a 10-year agreement with optionas to renew. "It's down to whered their counsel and ours are finishing up Brown said.
Other matters that must be finalized include acquisition ofMaster Terminal, also a port tenant, and a stevedorin g servicing agreement with Pioneer a sister company of Maste r Terminal. Also, ICS must complete its financinyfor construction. Brown said all of those details had been in the workas andwere "fast approaching" completioj before they essentially came to a halt when ICS got draggefd into the TriLegacy dispute. "We project abouy two to three weeks to get all this Brown said. "We hope to be closec and finished with everything by 3 and start construction by the week ofLaborr Day.
" Meanwhile, the port must finishj a lease amendment with another port tenant, whicj will essentially trade one acre of its leasexd property for two of Brown said UPM has been a grear partner and has been very patient while waiting for The Shipyards and Cecil Commercde Center resolution. But lately, that patience had showbn signs ofgrowing thin. In a June 7 e-mail from UPM Nortjh America General Counsel Terry McBride to Jacksonville Assistant General CounselGayle Petrie, McBride complained that approvap of ICS' lease had been put off a numbef of times in the past few monthsa due to concerns that "far exceedd the scope of legalp review by the Office of Generak Counsel.
" And he suggestec that the delays "could result in significant additionalp cost to the project and, if could threaten the project UPM, which is lookinhg to expand on the business it already does at the port'd Blount Island Marine Terminal, had grown so concernesd about the status of lease that it sent severak senior leaders to Jacksonville recently to get a first-hands explanation from Ferrin regarding what the hold-uo was. McBride told The Business Journalthat UPM, formerlt known as UPM-Kymmene, considered itselrf "the innocent party ...
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