The Anderson-DuBose Co., which was labeled Project Bobcat as it won city incentives in March, is approved for construction in Northwest Jacksonville.
The city issued a permit Dec. 2 for Evans General Contractors LLC to build the cold and dry foods storage facility in Westlake Industrial Park at a project cost of $37 million.
Still labeled Project Bobcat on some plans, the city reviewed permits for construction of 153,136-square-foot and 9,502-square-foot buildings on 33 acres at 4125 Cisco Drive W. at a combined $39 million.
The permit is pending for the smaller $2 million trailer maintenance and service station facility as well as for two accessory structures that total $113,390.
The $37 million project is the office building and main cold-storage structure.
Westlake Industrial Park is north of Interstate 10 and west of I-295.
In April, JAXUSA Partnership, the economic development division of JAX Chamber, made it official that Anderson-DuBose plans to open a $60 million facility in Northwest Jacksonville.
The city approved site work in June and July for horizontal development and utilities and grading.
Jacksonville-based England-Thims & Miller Inc. is the civil engineer. Ware Malcomb in Atlanta is the architect.
City civil plan review previously began for the project, which is larger than the 120,000-square-foot center stated in incentives legislation for the project then known as Project Bobcat.
The project plans were prepared for VTRE Development LLC of Scottsdale, Arizona. The company is affiliated with Van Tuyl Companies, a privately owned family office that also owns VanTrust Real Estate.
The permit application lists JI Westlake 160 LLC, led by leaders of VanTrust, as the property owner.
VanTrust is active in office and industrial commercial development in Jacksonville.
Incentives
Jacksonville City Council voted March 12 in favor of Resolution 2024-0156 providing a $1.5 million Recapture Enhanced Value Grant to Ohio-based Anderson-DuBose.
According to a summary document filed with the legislation, Anderson-DuBose plans a 120,000-square-foot facility on about 40 acres in the industrial park. The subsequent plans indicated a larger project.
The company says it will create at least 85 jobs but expects 109 by year-end 2028. The annual payroll is anticipated at more than $5.5 million.
That’s an average of about $50,500 per job.
The city REV grant is based on 50% of the increase in real and personal property taxes generated at the site over five years. The city calculates its return on investment at $4.45 for every $1 invested.
The summary states a completion date of December 2026 for the project.
Anderson-DuBose
Anderson-DuBose, led by founder and CEO Warren Anderson, began in 1991 when it bought a McDonald’s distribution center in Cleveland, according to its website.
The company consolidated its Cleveland and Pittsburgh facilities into a new facility in Lordstown, Ohio, in 2012 and bought a McDonald’s distribution center in Rochester, New York, in 2013.
The company is Ohio’s largest minority-owned business.
JAXUSA announced the food service distributor will hire 109 employees for the Jacksonville operation, where it will serve more than 300 restaurants in the Southeast.
Anderson-DuBose distributes food and paper items to McDonald’s and Chipotle Mexican Grill locations.
“By expanding our footprint into Jacksonville, we can better meet the burgeoning demand for cold and dry food service storage in the Southeast and revolutionize distribution support operations for our valued customers,” Anderson-DuBose Chief Operating Officer Mike Boddy said in a news release.
The release said the company is buying 33 acres of Norfolk Southern-owned property to develop a 160,000-square-foot, rail-served ambient and cold-storage distribution facility.
Westlake Industrial Park is owned by Norfolk Southern, which sells the industrial park land to developers, and is served exclusively by a Norfolk Southern mainline.
The company will generate more than 160 carloads of freight for Norfolk Southern annually, the release said.
“Anderson-DuBose appreciates Norfolk Southern’s commitment to this joint growth opportunity for both of our companies,” Boddy said.