6,700 Acre Facility Hyped For Glades

Manufacturing And Distribution Center Plan Brings Land Companies Together
MOORE HAVEN, FL. – Panattoni Development Company is going forward to market and develop "Americas Gateway Logistics Center" in Moore Haven, Florida. The proposed master planned, 6,700-acre, international "intermodal logistics center" has been announced with a press release from the company today.

Planned for 40 million square feet of manufacturing and distribution facilities on 4,700 acres, with an additional 2,000 acres available for assembly plants, Americas Gateway Logistics Center if built would provide space for international and domestic manufacturers and distributors.

Lykes Bros. Inc. and A. Duda & Sons, Inc., two of Florida’s well-known, family-owned land companies, have joined to formalize an agreement to implement the plans. Mark Morton, senior vice president of Lykes Land Investments, has been appointed president of the new entity, Americas Gateway Logistics Center, LLC.

Lykes Bros. is the major land owner of Glades county land and would benefit from the sale or lease of it's properties and a possible increase in land values should such a large development actually be built.

Although Glades county has no interstate highway, seaport or airport, and is one of the poorest counties in Florida and among the counties with the highest unemployment, Panattoni insists it's perfect for such a development.

“The best integrated logistics centers have access to strong domestic and international markets, connection to multiple air and sea ports, class one rail roads, a non-congested US and state highway system and a workforce ready to be trained and with growth potential,” said Carl Panattoni, chairman of the board of Panattoni Development Company. “These factors are true of Americas Gateway’s location.”

Panattoni Development Company develops, leases and owns industrial and office projects in more than 278 cities throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Their client list includes over 500 companies, including 50 Fortune 500 companies. The firm has completed in excess of 160 million square feet of commercial projects.

“We are very pleased to have a development partner the caliber of Panattoni join our team,” said Mike Carrere, CEO of Lykes Bros. “Even more exciting is the potential for job creation that this project will bring to the southern half of Florida and the Heartland region.”

The integrated, multi-modal, mixed-use industrial park is planned to serve as a logistics hub for the anticipated increase in goods from China and Asia destined to come through Port Miami and the export of Florida and U.S. goods back to China and Asia upon completion of the widening and deepening of the Panama Canal and improvements to the Port’s logistics infrastructure.

One of the largest private landowners in the United States with major land holdings in Florida and Texas, The company has diversified operations in agriculture, citrus, ranching, insurance, land management, economic development and diversification, sustainability consulting and bio-energy. Founded in 1900 when two of the seven sons of Dr. Howell Tyson Lykes began a cattle shipping business with Cuba, the family-owned and -operated company is headquartered in Tampa, Florida

A. Duda & Sons, Inc. is a Florida-based company with additional operations in California, Texas, Arizona, Georgia and Michigan. A diversified land company, DUDA is engaged in a variety of agricultural and real estate operations including fresh and fresh-cut vegetables, citrus, sod, sugar cane, cattle, community development, realty and home construction. Land assets include agricultural lands and a variety of commercial properties. The family-owned and -operated company, headquartered in Oviedo, Florida, is in its fourth generation of family leadership.