Jacksonville City Council voted 16-1 on Aug. 26 to provide up to $800,000 in city incentives for a company code-named Project Pan to establish a meat processing operation in Northwest Jacksonville.
Council member Rory Diamond voted against the legislation, and members Jimmy Peluso and Terrance Freeman were absent.
Resolution 2025-0607 and supporting city documents identify Project Pan as an international meat processor interested in investing $28 million into a vacant facility. Based on an independent comparison, the facility as described in city documents matches the vacant former Tyson Foods Inc. plant at 5441 W. Fifth St..
Under a development agreement between the city and the company, the incentives comprise a six-year, 50% Recapture Enhanced Value Grant.
A REV grant is a refund on ad valorem tax revenue generated by a new development or property enhancement. It can apply to property and tangible personal property.
In return for the public funding, the company would build-out the 50,000-square-foot facility, where it would create up to 100 new jobs within the first three years of operations.
Those jobs would pay an annual wage of $59,211 plus a benefits package equal to about $16,000 per employee, a staff report on the legislation states. According to an amendment added to the legislation, the REV grant would be terminated if the company does not create 10 jobs by 2029.
Project Pan matches closed Tyson plant
According to a report from the Office of Economic Development, the company plans to build-out the vacant facility. Construction would begin by Dec. 31, with completion in late 2027, according to the resolution.
The OED says Project Pan is considering:
• A site in Northwest Jacksonville.
• A site in a designated Brownfield Redevelopment Area and a Level 1 Distressed Area.
• An existing, vacant, single-story concrete block manufacturing plant.
• A building that has about 50,000 square feet of production space.
• A vacant refrigerated warehouse built in 1974.
The closed Tyson property at 5441 W. Fifth St. is:
• In Northwest Jacksonville.
• In a Brownfield Redevelopment Area.
• An existing, vacant, single-story precast concrete tilt-wall manufacturing plant that the Duval County Property Appraiser says is reinforced concrete.
• A 45,873-square-foot building.
• The vacant processing and cold storage plant was built in 1974 and renovated in 2013.
1 million pounds of product
According to the OED report, the facility would produce 1 million pounds of finished product weekly.
Ed Randolph, the city’s executive director of economic development, said Project Pan would bring in meat products from overseas and would be a heavy port user. He said Jacksonville is competing for the plant with Savannah, Georgia, which also provides port access.
Economic development agreements often use code names, which are allowed by state law.
The Colliers real estate company is listing the Tyson Tri-Temp Facility for sale, and LoopNet.com lists it as being under contract.
Tyson Foods Inc. notified the state and Mayor Donna Deegan in November 2023 that it was closing its Jacksonville plant effective Jan. 8, 2024, cutting 219 jobs.