Work continues on construction for The Anderson-DuBose Co., which was labeled Project Bobcat as it won city incentives in March 2024 to develop a cold and dry foods storage facility in Westlake Industrial Park in Northwest Jacksonville.
The city issued a permit Dec. 2 for Evans General Contractors LLC to build the facility at a project cost of $37 million.
It is reviewing a permit for the foundation for the concrete tank pad for an above-ground diesel tank, a concrete vehicle drive pad for the installation of fueling dispensers and underground fuel lines.
Guardian Fueling Technologies LLC in Jacksonville is the contractor for the estimated $741,712 project.
The fuel tank and lines will be installed under associated mechanical and fire permits, the application says.
The total site improvement cost as of April 3 is shown as $52.38 million.
Ohio-based Anderson-DuBose distributes food and paper items to McDonald’s and Chipotle Mexican Grill locations.
In April 2024, JAXUSA Partnership, the economic development division of JAX Chamber, announced the food service distributor will hire 109 employees for the $60 million Jacksonville operation, where it will serve more than 300 restaurants in the Southeast.
Still labeled Project Bobcat on some plans, the city issued 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 city also has issued permits for accessory buildings.
Westlake Industrial Park is north of Interstate 10 and west of I-295.
The city approved site work in June and July 2024 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 applications list JI Westlake 160 LLC, led by leaders of VanTrust, as the property owner. It bought the land from Norfolk Southern on June 28, 2024, for $4.26 million.
VanTrust is active in office and industrial commercial development in Jacksonville.
Incentives approved
Jacksonville City Council voted March 12, 2024, in favor of Resolution 2024-0156 providing a $1.5 million Recapture Enhanced Value Grant to Anderson-DuBose.
According to a summary document filed with the legislation, the company 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 no later than December 2026 for the project.
The a-d.us/apply/ website for jobs at Anderson-DuBose says it has two distribution center locations at its Lordstown, Ohio, headquarters and in Rochester, New York. “In late 2025 we will be opening a new DC in Jacksonville, Florida and in early 2026 we will be opening another in Knoxville, Tennessee.”
The website continues that “Transportation and Warehouse are the two largest departments at each DC and typically operate 24/7. We own and operate our own truck fleet, have state-of-the-art equipment and facilities, and consider our employees our greatest assets.”
It says it has been named “McDonald’s US 2020 Supplier of the Year which is the highest honor we could receive from our customer.”
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 in 2012 and bought a McDonald’s distribution center in Rochester, New York, in 2013.
The company is Ohio’s largest minority-owned business.
“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 the JAXUSA news release.
The JAXUSA 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.