Jaxport may use eminent domain to acquire land for container transfer facility
“The Jacksonville Port Authority board will vote Monday whether to use eminent domain to acquire land that has held up construction of a $30 million intermodal container transfer facility, or ICTF, at the port.
An ICTF transfers cargo from one form of transit to another. The Jaxport ICTF would move cargo containers off ships and onto trains, increasing the speed of cargo handling and making the port more competitive in the container cargo business.
Jaxport and the Florida Department of Transportation own much of the 37 acres where the port had planned to build its ICFT. But, a private company, CertainTeed Gypsum Inc., owns land that overlapped the design by about 2.4 acres. CertainTeed had put its property on sale, but Jaxport negotiations to purchase the portion it needed bogged down when a third party placed the property under contract, but was unable to acquire it, Jaxport Senior Director of Planning and Properties David Kaufman said Thursday.”
Hawkins, Carol. Jacksonville Business Journal 22 March 2013.