Ohio-based The Anderson-DuBose Co. was disclosed as the distributor that plans to build and operate a $60 million cold and dry foods storage facility in Westlake Industrial Park in Northwest Jacksonville.
Called Project Bobcat in an early incentives proposal, Anderson-DuBose was identified in the city’s economic development agreement with the company filed with City Council legislation.
The city is working toward an economic development agreement with ADJ FL DIST. LLC, which is The Anderson-DuBose Co., for a leased site in Westlake Industrial Park in Northwest Jacksonville. Westlake is north of Interstate 10 and west of I-295.
The project would serve as a cold and dry foods storage facility. Anderson-DuBose Co. plans to build and open a 120,000-square-foot cold and dry foods storage facility on about 40 acres.
A city project summary says the project would need to be completed by Dec. 31, 2025, while the economic development agreement says improvements would need to be finished by the end of 2026.
City Council is reviewing Resolution 2024-0156, introduced Feb. 27, to approve and authorize the execution of an economic development agreement between the city and the company.
The a-d.us site says the Anderson-DuBose Co. is a leader in the distribution industry and is based in Lordstown, Ohio.
It has locations there and in Rochester, New York.
The company is led by founder and CEO Warren Anderson. The website says it is one of the nation’s largest minority-owned businesses.
The site history timeline says the company began in 1991 when it bought a McDonald’s distribution center in Cleveland and added a second in 2007 in Pittsburgh, consolidating them in 2013 into a new facility in Lordstown.
It bought a third McDonald’s distribution center in 2013 in Rochester.
The site says that in 2017, the company completed bun expansion for McDonald’s in Lordstown.
From 1994-2005, it built, operated and owned international distribution centers for McDonald’s in South Africa.
In 1998, it bought Chipotle distribution rights for markets in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia and then acquired rights for Western New York in 2014.
The St. Johns River Water Management District is reviewing an application for a 33.22-acre site for Project Bobcat at Cisco Drive West, east of Presidents Court. The site is west of Pritchard Road.
The property owner is Norfolk Southern Corp., through Westlake Land Management Inc. Terracon of Jacksonville is the agent. Terracon is a geotechnical services consultant.
Terracon and Westlake seek a formal determination of the wetlands extent.
When it was introduced as Project Bobcat, the company sought up to $1.5 million in a city property tax rebate for construction of the facility that would create 109 jobs.
A city summary of the code-named project describes Bobcat as a minority-owned company that wants to expand its distribution support operations to accommodate continued growth throughout Florida and the Southeastern U.S.
It was called a national food supplier and logistics company that does not have a presence in the Jacksonville area.
While the summary said the project area was in Northwest Jacksonville, the location was not disclosed.
Bobcat is considering expansion options in Florida and Georgia, the summary said, so incentives are a material factor in its development decision.
While the summary says 109 jobs would be created by Dec. 31, 2027, the proposed economic development agreement says 85 jobs would need to be created by Dec. 31, 2028.
The annual payroll for the 109 jobs is expected to be more than $5.5 million, exclusive of benefits. That works out to an average of about $50,500 per jobs.
The city proposes to provide a Recapture Enhanced Value Grant based on 50% of the increase in real and personal property taxes generated at the project site over 5 years, for a projected $1.5 million, the summary says.
A city summary says the project’s return on investment would be $4.45 for every $1 invested.
As manager, Anderson filed ADJ FL DIST. LLC with the Florida Division of Corporations on Dec. 14, 2023.