The city issued a site-clearing permit May 30 for Lakeland-based Publix Super Markets Inc. to build a West Jacksonville frozen foods warehouse, which is estimated at a construction cost of almost $136 million.
Gray Construction Inc. of Lexington, Kentucky, is the contractor for the project on 42.4 acres at 10132 General Ave., which is along Interstate 10.
Gray AES of Lexington is the architect. Dyer & Associates LLC, of Richmond, Kentucky, is the civil engineer.
Publix plans to develop the 370,000-square-foot warehouse next to its distribution center on the company’s 127 acres between I-10 and West Beaver Street. General Avenue runs by the complex.
The company began developing the site in 1971. Buildings were added since then and now total more than 950,000 square feet.
That size increases to about 1.35 million square feet with the new warehouse.
Publix said in April 2024 that the new frozen foods warehouse was targeted to open in late 2027 and hire about 150 people.
In November 2023, City Council unanimously approved a Recapture Enhanced Value Grant up to $3.5 million for the warehouse, code-named Project Willow.
The grant represents 50% of the new city ad valorem tax anticipated to be generated by the project over a term of five years.
The expansion outlined in the ordinance included development of a 300,000-square-foot cold-storage facility with a capital investment of about $150 million for construction and equipment.
The ordinance said the company will maintain its current level of jobs and add 150 jobs with a $7.5 million annual payroll combined with “offering substantial benefits” by Dec. 31, 2027.