Anchors Away

Hangar area andtaxiways at Cecil Field Commerce Center

Cecil Field, on Jacksonville’s west side, hasn’t operated as a military facility since the Navy shuttered it a decade ago. The city took over the site and began marketing it as an industrial park. But during the most recent round of military base closures in 2005, some leaders — including former Gov. Jeb Bush — favored trying to get the Navy to reopen the field as a “master jet base.”

Mayor John Peyton, who opposed returning the site to the Navy, says the uncertainty hampered efforts by the chamber of commerce to attract businesses there. Meanwhile, existing businesses at the center were concerned about the possibility of having to relocate.

In November, voters overwhelmingly rejected a charter amendment that would have forced the city to return Cecil Field to the military. Two days after the vote, Peyton announced a marketing and rebranding campaign he hopes will create 27,000 jobs in the next decade.

Many city leaders, including Roy Schleicher, senior director of marketing and trade development for the Jacksonville Port Authority, believe the 17,000-acre site has the potential to become a distribution center hub.

The vote also clears the way for continued residential development on the west side, which has added about 8,000 homes since the former base closed. And the Jacksonville Aviation Authority is talking with businesses interested in the 6,000 acres it owns there.

Tags: Northeast