Johnson & Johnson Vision Care has moved a step closer to receiving $12 million in city incentives to construct a packaging distribution facility in Northwest Jacksonville and install new high-tech equipment at its Southside campus.
The City Council Finance Committee voted 6-0 on April 21 to approve legislation that would grant the incentives as Johnson & Johnson commits to invest $50 million for construction of the facility plus $500 million in the manufacturing equipment.
The incentives would be in the form of two Recapture Enhanced Value Grants. One is a five-year, 60% grant of up to $1.5 million for the construction of the facility. The other is a five-year, 40% grant of up to $10.5 million for the equipment.
The Northwest Jacksonville facility will be developed at Airport Commerce Center, north of Jacksonville International Airport, according to legislation.
The Suddath Cos. of Jacksonville is developing Airport Commerce Center. The industrial park is designed for five industrial buildings totaling about 3 million square feet of space west of Pecan Park Road and south of Arnold Road, also called Gold Star Family Parkway.
The property is west of Interstate 95 and west of the Jacksonville Port Authority North Jacksonville marine terminals.
Ed Randolph, city director of economic development, said Johnson & Johnson is working with a developer to build up to a 1 million-square-foot packaging and distribution facility in Northwest Jacksonville.
Suddath identifies a prospective 1.08 million-square-foot building as Phase 3. That phase is in city civil engineering plan review, a necessary step before development.
Those plans also show the proposed Building G at nearly 1.08 million square feet on a 118.53-acre site of which about 47.42 acres can be developed.
Randolph said the new equipment would be for Johnson & Johnson’s Deerwood Park manufacturing facility for disposable contact lenses. That plant is at 7500 Centurion Parkway.
According to legislation, the facility will add 10 jobs to Johnson & Johnson’s 3,500-employee workforce by the end of 2028. The REV grants will be terminated if the company does not maintain 1,964 jobs through the term of the grants.
The summary states that Johnson & Johnson Vision Care manufactures 90% of the U.S. supply of Acuvue contact lenses from its Jacksonville facility.
The summary says the city’s return on investment will be $4.86 for every $1 in incentives. It also says that for Johnson & Johnson, the incentives “are a material factor in its decision to expand its operations here in Jacksonville” after conducting a search for alternative locations.
The bill is set for a full Council vote April 28.