As Publix Super Markets Inc. considers an expanded version of plans to build a regional frozen foods warehouse in West Jacksonville, a proposal is on its way to City Council to boost incentives for the project.
On Sept. 9, the Mayor’s Budget Review Committee approved a request by the Office of Economic Development to submit legislation to provide up to $5.6 million in incentives for Lakeland-based Publix to build the nearly 370,000-square-foot facility on land it owns along General Avenue between Interstate 10 and West Beaver Street. The site is next to its distribution center along I-10.
In November 2023, Council unanimously approved a Recapture Enhanced Value Grant up to $3.5 million for the original version of the project, which was code-named Project Willow.
According to an August 2024 memo from the OED, Publix has since developed plans to increase its investment in the project to $264 million, up $150 million from the original plan. The new plans include 370,000 square feet of new construction, an increase of 70,000 square feet over the original, and adds 60,000 square feet onto an existing facility in Jacksonville.
The memo states that the new facility will create 175 jobs, up from 150.
Ed Randolph, executive director of the OED, told the committee that the project would generate an annual payroll of about $8.5 million. The project has a return on investment of $4.15 for every $1 of public incentive funding, the memo states.
The increased incentive, code-named Project Willow 2, also would provide a REV Grant. That grant is based on 50% of the increase in real and personal property taxes generated at the project site over five years.
The incentive is designed to entice Publix into building the expansion in Jacksonville as opposed to one of its other regional warehousing sites.
“They’re looking at doing this additional cold storage facility here, but they’re also shopping around to other communities,” Randolph said, mentioning Georgia and Alabama as other potential locations.
If the expanded incentive is not approved, Randolph said, the city would move forward with the approved $3.5 million offer. In response to a question from the committee, he said Publix was committed to the original Willow incentive.
In April 2024, the city issued a concurrency reservation certificate for the proposed warehouse on 42.4 acres in West Jacksonville.
Dyer & Associates LLC of Richmond, Kentucky, was listed as the civil engineer.
The certificate, signed Feb. 16, states the proposed project has sufficient water, sanitary sewer, solid waste and drainage capacity.