Grocery store giant Kroger is considering opening a new distribution center on property attached to the Fulton County Airport, an individual with the knowledge of the situation said Wednesday.
Kroger has two distribution facilities in metro Atlanta, but is planning to consolidate, the person said. The nearly 300-acre tract is a finalist, said the person, who declined to be named because a deal is still pending.
On Tuesday, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the airport site along Fulton Industrial Boulevard was a finalist for a 2.8 million-square-foot warehouse and logistics center for an unnamed Fortune 100 company that could create at least 700 jobs.
But it is not clear if the project would create jobs or simply retain jobs that already exist in metro Atlanta.
A Kroger spokesman declined to comment.
Kroger operates more than 2,400 supermarkets under several brands, as well as convenience stores and jewelry stores.
“I think it’s a tremendous opportunity for Fulton County,” Fulton County Commission Chairman John Eaves said Wednesday.
California-based Majestic Realty plans to develop and pay for the facility and lease it.
The development could generate $55 million in revenue for Fulton over 50 years and spark new private investment in the area around the airport and Fulton Industrial Boulevard, according to county documents.
Fulton County Economic Development Administrator Kenneth Dobson told county commissioners Wednesday that the first phase of site development would cost $120 million, and the county would get half of rent proceeds, minus project costs.
It’s an attractive deal for the county, which faces a deficit next year of almost $114 million. The county is drafting a contract with Majestic, which commissioners will take under consideration Sept. 18.
Majestic said if the deal with the unnamed firm – codenamed Project Jasper – falls through, it could lease to others, generating much more, according to materials attached to a commission meeting agenda. No other details were available.
According to county documents, Fulton would provide the project $4 million in grant money from the Federal Aviation Administration and the Georgia Department of Transportation.
Dobson said the project involves no other government incentives, calling the location the main selling point.
