Commercial Investment Real Estate March/April 2018 | Page 25

Plumbing Greater Depths
In JAXPORT in Jacksonville, Fla., crews are digging
deeper into the St. John’s River to increase its depth to 47
feet from 40 feet. Already, the port has the widest shipping
channel in the Southeast U.S., which allows two ships to
pass simultaneously.
Additionally, JAXPORT achieved record growth in con-
tainers, vehicles, and overall tonnage during fiscal year 2017.
The port moved more than 1 million TEUs, a 7-percent
increase compared to 2016, with nearly 40 percent of the
containers coming from Asia.
“We anticipate the cargo volume will continue to
increase,” says David Stubbs, CCIM, director of proper-
ties and environmental compliance at JAXPORT. “The
deepening of our harbor will allow the number of containers
to significantly increase. A great deal of cargo headed to
the U.S. today and in the future would be most efficiently
served through our port.”
Balancing Mixed-Use Properties
South of JAXPORT and east of Tampa on the Atlantic
Ocean, Port Canaveral focuses on being a mixed-use port,
encompassing cruise ships, cargos, and warehouses, as well
as retail, parks, offices, an exhibit tower, marinas, and a
medical center. While certain areas are restricted, much
of the land is open to the public. Also, SpaceX and other
aerospace companies vie for berth area and land to use
as they unload rocket stages that will be refurbished and
reused in future launches.
In the three years that Scott Shepard, CCIM, has headed
up real estate at Port Canaveral, his focus has been on nego-
tiating and rewriting leases for port tenants to bring them
up to industry standards. “In addition to a newly completed
246,000 sf Class A warehouse, we have several build-to-suit
projects underway that require regular coordination with
port departments, environmental groups, and county offi-
cials,” says Shepard, director of real estate at the Canaveral
Port Authority in Cape Canaveral, Fla. “Lease revenue can
and should be an important focus of the port. The port’s
Board of Commissioners recently approved our strategic
master plan for the overall vision of development for the
port. The updated plan will be used to navigate the land use
for the port’s growth during the next 30 years.”
During the next decade, the Eastern seaports most likely
will increase their percentage of global shipments in the race
with the Western seaports. Infrastructure within the ports
will play a significant role.
Sara S. Patterson is executive editor of Commercial
Investment Real Estate.
PORT CALL
by Sara S. Patterson
Working in commercial real estate at multiple ports around the U.S. is
a hidden opportunity for which CCIMs are uniquely qualified. “While
professionals with strong commercial real estate and investment
backgrounds traditionally have not been on staff, these ports need
commercial real estate professionals who understand how to negoti-
ate good leases and determine market rates,” says Scott Shepard,
CCIM, director of real estate at Canaveral Port Authority in Cape
Canaveral, Fla. “CCIM training concerning IRR and cash-flow analysis
has been helpful with establishing market rates for tenants.
At JAXPORT in Jacksonville, Fla., David Stubbs, CCIM, brought
a new perspective and way of looking at commercial real estate.
“I questioned a lot of things done in the past and improved our leas-
ing process,” says Stubbs, director of properties and environmental
compliance. “CCIM courses gave me a strong financial background
to evaluate leases, especially large leases of different lease lengths,
varying from 25 years to month-to-month.
“Every day in this job is different. I do appraisals, property pur-
chases, and ROI calculations that I learned through CCIM.”
At Port Tampa Bay, Craig Roberts, CCIM, started his career in
commercial real estate appraisal and then shifted to specializing in
industrial properties. “The industrial property experience led to my
position at the port,” says Roberts, real estate project manager since
2000 at Port Tampa Bay in Tampa, Fla. “My CCIM training gave me
the ability to explain ROI, cap rates, and market information to port
executives, stakeholders, and our board members.”
For those CCIMs intrigued by working in ports, where dolphins,
manatees, and even rockets are commonly spotted, Shepard ad-
vises them to learn about the maritime industry and ports to supple-
ment their strong skills in negotiation, financial analysis, and market
analysis. “I wish that I learned about this job 20 years ago,” says
Shepard, who has been working at Port Canaveral for three years.
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more permanent residents will settle in the area, as well
as more food and goods being needed to supply the tour-
ism industry.