A Miami-based developer is moving forward with plans to replace a former Tyson chicken processing plant in West Jacksonville with 300,000 square feet of new industrial space after City Council approved a $1 million incentive for the project on Sept. 10.
Council voted 16-0, with members Reggie Gaffney Jr. and Rahman Johnson not present for the vote and member Terrance Freeman absent from the meeting, to provide the incentive to Forte Capital Management LLC to demolish a dilapidated structure at 5421 W. Beaver St. and construct two buildings at the site.
As laid out in Resolution 2024-0686, the city would provide a five-year, 50% Recapture Enhanced Value Grant of $1 million for the project. A REV grant is a refund on ad valorem tax revenue generated by a new development.
Information attached to the resolution estimates the project cost at $35 million and says it will create at least 10 full-time jobs. The legislation was generated by the Office of Economic Development as the code-named Project Forte.
Forte President Chaim Cahane said the project is a partnership with 7G Realty of New York. He said the partners were attracted to the site partly because of its proximity to Interstate 10, which is accessible to the southwest at the Lane Avenue interchange and southeast at the Cassat Avenue interchange.
The location east of Ellis Road also borders the Lineage Logistics Jacksonville West cold storage facility at 5459 Doolittle Road, which Cahane cited as another factor that drew in the partners.
Ed Randolph, executive director of the Office of Economic Development, told the Mayor’s Budget Review Committee in June that 200 to 300 abandoned cars and tractor-trailers had been dumped on the property.
City Council member Tyrona Clark-Murray, whose District 9 includes the site, said the chicken processing plant closed years ago. Duval County records show that Tyson sold the property to Shep’s Discount & Salvage Inc. in 2003.
“I’m grateful for the vision that the developers have for this area,” she said, adding that the project was projected to yield a return on investment of $4 for every $1 in incentives.
Cahane said the space would be suited to a full range of industrial uses, including logistics, distribution and manufacturing. He said the partners do not have tenants lined up for the project.
With the city incentive in hand, Cahane said the developers would soon begin filing for permits.