Gov. DeSantis, Cabinet OK new emergency facility

TALLAHASSEE – Florida is moving forward with plans to buy a massive warehouse in Central Florida and convert it into a staging area for hurricanes and other emergencies.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Cabinet approved the purchase of more than half of the 74-acre Midpoint Florida Logistics Center in Auburndale with money set aside in the new state budget.

The next step is an appraisal of the 40-acre estate and warehouse. The budget includes a maximum of $75 million for the purchase, but Environmental Protection Secretary Shawn Hamilton said it is too early to predict whether costs will reach that ceiling.

“It still needs to be assessed, it’s hard to say,” Hamilton said after a cabinet meeting.

Hamilton presented the plan to DeSantis, Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, Attorney General Ashley Moody and Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis. DeSantis and Cabinet members joined the meeting by telephone.

There was no immediate timeline available from the state Emergency Management Department on when the warehouse could be retrofitted and occupied.

Kevin Guthrie, director of the Division of Emergency Management, said in April that the plan is to eventually include three smaller facilities in the new facility used to store disaster supplies, including one in Lakeland stocked with personal protective equipment.

Owned by Dallas-based real estate investment firm Dalfen Industrial, the center is a two-building, 80,000-square-foot industrial park directly east of an Amazon distribution facility along Interstate 4.

Dalfen, under the name CH Realty IXDAL I Lakeland Auburndale, LP, paid $25.7 million for the land in November 2021 and then built a pair of warehouses of more than 400,000 square feet each.

“This development has direct frontage on I-4, giving tenants access to more than 7.9 million people in the broader Orlando/Tampa region,” Dalfen said after the property’s purchase was announced.

Florida plans to renovate a facility with 422,199 square feet of warehouse space and 39,200 square feet of office space, according to information prepared for the Cabinet meeting. The location also includes space for 400 trailers and 274 cars. The site is expected to provide docks for loading and unloading supplies and temporary housing.

The Legislature included $116 million for the project in the budget (HB 5001) that takes effect July 1. Up to $75 million is available to purchase the property, with the remaining funds intended to upgrade the site.

“Upon completion of the space renovation, the warehouse will be fully air-conditioned and include shelving, dock equipment, material handling equipment, cold storage, a dedicated trailer storage area and open floor space,” Cabinet Information said. ¦