Advanced Disposal Services Inc. will move its expanded headquarters from Jacksonville to St. Johns County, the company announced Thursday.
Its new corporate headquarters will be at 90 Fort Wade Road in Ponte Vedra, in the Nocatee area. The company now operates in the Baymeadows area of Southside. The company provides solid waste collection, transfer, recycling and disposal services and is the largest privately owned environmental services company in the U.S., according to a news release announcing the move.
"The decision was not an easy one, and it ultimately came down to what was the best business decision for the company in terms of state and local financial incentives, corporate and individual income taxes, relocation expenses, negotiated office space fees and a regionwide business-friendly environment," Advanced Disposal CEO Charlie Appleby said in the release.
"Advanced Disposal was created in Northeast Florida, and as we celebrate our 12th anniversary, we are proud to announce it will remain our corporate home for years to come benefiting the company and all Northeast Florida counties," he said.
The company's expansion will consolidate its headquarters and create 85 jobs. The company completed its $1.9 billion acquisition of Veolia ES Solid Waste Inc. on Nov. 21 and acquired Interstate Waste Services, which tripled its size and led to the need for a new corporate headquarters facility, according to the release.
As reported, the company will receive an incentives deal just below $700,000 from St. Johns County and $200,000 from the Governor's Quick Action Closing Fund.
It reviewed, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Charlotte N.C., Jacksonville, and St. Johns County for the move, with the latter being the last reported entrant into the bidding when the county's commission approved the package during its Oct. 16 meeting.
A week earlier, Jacksonville City Council approved a similar incentives deal Oct. 10 for the company to receive a $695,000 package, with $595,000 coming from the Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund program and include a High Impact Sector bonus. The City would have contributed $119,000 of the QTI, with the state paying the remaining $476,000.
An additional $100,000 from the City would have come from a Recapture Enhanced Value grant, also known as a REV grant, paid by the City for property taxes and investments already paid.
The $200,000 in the governor's closing fund would have boosted the deal to $895,000, but that portion was not up for Council vote.
Appleby said in an August interview with the Daily Record for the 89.9 FM First Coast Connect program that he wanted to keep the headquarters in Jacksonville.
"I am chairman of the board, but we have to report to a board and we have to make an informed business decision. I certainly hope that informed business decision points to Jacksonville," he said in the interview.
The company will have a regional office in Roswell, Ga., representing the South Region; Charlotte, N.C., representing the East Region; and Batavia, Ill., representing the Central/Midwest Region; and have certain corporate functions in Milwaukee, according to the release.