Mayor Lenny Curry cautioned Wednesday against assuming that “Project Zeus” was Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
“A lot of people like to trade rumors, so I would just say, ‘Be careful with your source,’” Curry said.
Asked if he was saying that Zeus wasn’t Wal-Mart, he replied: “I’m not saying anything.”
Public documents from April and June outline Zeus as an unidentified fulfillment distribution facility of 1.3 million square feet on at least 85 acres.
It would need 800 employees and short-listed four sites in the Southeast, including two in Jacksonville.
The sites are Imeson International Industrial Park, according to one public document, and possibly NorthPoint Industrial Park, both in North Jacksonville near the port.
The target for groundbreaking is by year-end, a Cecil Commerce Center executive said in June after reporting to the city that Cecil was cut from consideration for the e-commerce project.
Wal-Mart is a probable Zeus candidate because of its size and because the Bentonville, Arkansas-based chain — the largest in the world — has said it wants to expand its Florida presence.
Wal-Mart has not responded to emailed requests for comment.
Curry said he is “in conversation with the governor and the governor’s office to make our case.”
That case would be to ensure state incentives, just as the governor’s office has been involved with Amazon assistance throughout Florida.
Two Amazon fulfillment centers are scheduled to open in Jacksonville in September.
“Their incentives are incredibly important to many of the big deals that we’ve been successful on,” Curry said, explaining that Zeus is similar in size and scope to Amazon.
Curry said the city was “a ways into the council process.”
He said the legislative process would include a timeline, but that legislation was not filed as of Wednesday afternoon.
City spokeswoman Marsha Oliver said Wednesday afternoon that the original Project Zeus timeline has changed and a new one has not been determined. The Office of Economic Development said no official site selection has been made.
Curry said that one of the reasons Jacksonville is considered for projects among many sectors is because of the city’s labor force and its skill sets.
Amazon hired 1,500 people for its Pecan Park Road fulfillment center that will start processing orders Sept. 1.
As a result of job fairs and online applications, Amazon said it also hired for its 1,000-job Cecil Commerce Center fulfillment center, although it continues to seek applicants.
Project Zeus could review the Amazon job-hiring to determine if it could draw enough candidates.
Curry called Zeus another big opportunity for Jacksonville, and said his team does a “pretty good job of ensuring for the company’s sake and the process’s sake” that names don’t leak.
He said he wished he could identify the company, “but I can’t.”
If Zeus wants to open in time for the holidays in 2018, it would need to receive council approval for incentives soon in order to announce the deal and start construction.
Amazon received council approval in April 2016 and announced a deal in July 2016 for its first center along Pecan Park Road, which will start processing orders Sept. 1.
It landed council approval in October for incentives and announced its Cecil Commerce Center warehouse in January. That center also will open in September.
Both of those deals went through with code names, although it had been apparent through their size and functions that it was Amazon.
@MathisKb
(904) 356-2466