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December 13, 2018
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Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
Sears closing warehouse in Jacksonville
Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
The bankrupt retailer will transfer work to Ocala.
VOLT
MOON
CART JACKSONVILLE
BY MARK BASCH CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Daily Record REVEALED Daily Record TOP SECRET PROJECTS
JACKSONVILLE
BLAZE
GLASS
WOLFE
Companies hidden by code name, city negotiate millions in incentives. BY DAVID CAWTON STAFF WRITER
W
ith code names like Project Turtle and Project Empire, nearly a dozen companies negotiated economic development deals with the city of Jacksonville in 2018 without divulging their identities to the public. The deals included millions of dollars in taxpayer financial incentives negotiated outside of public view and voted on by City Council without an identified name. Since January, economic development packages for 10 companies that were unidentified in
legislation included more than $13.2 million in city and state-backed financial incentives. Those companies proposed adding 1,090 jobs over the next five years and investing more than $200 million in private capital into new or existing facilities. Eight of those agreements have been executed. Incentives usually are paid out over several years and only after the company reaches agreed-upon hiring goals or investments at their facilities. Under state law, companies can protect what they consider sensitive and identifiable information during negotiations. The prospects require government officials to
INSIDE
Chart breaks down the 10 code name incentives deals the city, state and businesses negotiated in 2018. Page 8.
Sears Holding Corp. said Wednesday it will close its North Jacksonville distribution center in mid-April as the company downsizes through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. Chicago-based Sears in April sold the almost 750,000-squarefoot warehouse, built in 1990, to California-based LBA Realty. However, Sears continued to lease the facility at 1 Imeson Park Blvd., which distributes merchandise to Sears and Kmart stores. However, after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October, Sears decided to close the facility. “Sears Holdings is implementing a strategy to optimize our supply chain resources to meet the needs of our retail business and align with our forecasted volume. As part of this strategy, we have made the difficult but necessary decision to close our distribution center in Jacksonville,” a company spokesman said in an emailed statement. The statement said the number of workers affected is “not available.” Affected employees will have the opportunity to apply for open positions in the company. The distribution work from the Jacksonville center will be moved to another distribution center in Ocala. The company operated 866 Sears and Kmart stores nationwide as of August but has announced planned closures of 162 stores since the bankruptcy filing. Sears still has two stores open in the Jacksonville market in The Avenues mall and Orange Park Mall. No Kmart stores remain.
MBASCH@ JAXDAILYRECORD.COM
SEE INCENTIVES, PAGE 8
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