Second phase of logistics development in Opa-locka to add hundreds of jobs

Construction on the second phase of a massive logistics development in Opa-Locka is expected to break ground later this year, bringing tenants in a variety of industries and more jobs paying above minimum wage as the city’s warehouse capacity continues to expand.

Ironwood Commerce Center II will sit on 740,000 square feet of property where the former Opa-Locka Hialeah Flea Market once stood. The project, scheduled to break ground later this year, will consist of six modern logistics developments, a Link Logistics spokesperson wrote in an email to the Miami Herald.

“It will be constructed on a speculative basis and is expected to attract tenants in a variety of industries to Opa-locka,” the spokesperson wrote.

Ironwood Commerce Center was built in 2022 and includes four buildings in a 505,440-square-foot space.

Phase two of the project sits on 43 acres at 12691 NW LeJeune Road and 12705 NW LeJeune Road. In 2017, New York-based Gramercy Property Trust purchased the property, which was where the Opa-locka Hialeah Flea Market stood for 40 years before it closed last June. In 2022, Opa-locka Indoor Flea Market, was erected at 13449 NW 42nd Avenue.

The site is now owned by Link Logistics, a spokesperson said, after New York-based alternative asset manager Blackstone bought Gramercy in 2018, ahead of forming Link Logistics in early 2019.

Ironwood II is expected to exceed $90 million in cost and take 18 months to complete. Link Logistics said the latest project could generate an estimated 1,000 construction jobs and 765 post-construction full-time jobs.

Opa-locka Mayor John Taylor said the new development will bring jobs paying above minimum wage. “It will allow our residents to have expendable income, where we’re not penny pinching anymore and just working to pay bills,” Taylor said, adding specific salaries were not readily available.

Opa-locka has a population of 15,888, according to the latest U.S. Census Data. Of its population, 67% have a high school diploma or higher, and the median house household income is $27,734.

The new development comes as the city has seen an increase in warehouse jobs. In 2019, an Amazon fulfillment center opened in Opa-locka, and in 2020, Opa-locka based aerospace company Sherwood Aviation bought the 22,620-square-foot warehouse space at 4600 NW 128th St. for $2.85 million.

Transportation and warehousing is the fourth largest industry in Opa-locka, according to the Miami-Dade County Beacon Council. Last year, there were 1,696 jobs related to those industries in the city, an increase of more than 500 from 2021.

Taylor said Opa-locka’s proximity to major highways and Miami International Airport makes it attractive to logistics companies. “They understand that I can get anywhere in Miami-Dade County from the city of Opa-locka within minutes,” he said.

In anticipation of the construction, the city and Link Logistics are hosting a job fair Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Sherbondy Village Community Center in Opa-locka. Such construction jobs expected to be filled include project management, estimator, administrative assistant, project engineer and drywall installer among other openings, and Taylor said the companies will provide training.

Source: https://www.miamiherald.com/