Walmart planning massive $200M distribution center in Polk County

Walmart Stores Inc. is planning a massive distribution center in Polk County that would generate $200 million in capital investment and could eventually create more than 600 jobs.

Polk Commissioners are set to consider a 10-year tax abatement request from the retail behemoth (NYSE: WMT) at the board’s monthly meeting Tuesday. Walmart is proposing two buildings, each between 900,000 and 1 million square feet, at the intersection of U.S. Highway 27 and Waverly Barn Road in Davenport.

The exemption from property taxes would allow the company to save $1.2 million this fiscal year and $2.3 million in the next fiscal year, according to documents.

Walmart will create at least 300 and up to 625 jobs with an average annual wage of $42,087, according to county documents. Construction costs and equipment for the new center is expected to generate $206.8 million in capital investment.

Construction will begin in the third quarter of 2015, with Walmart to close to on the property in the second quarter of 2016. The facility is set to begin operating by the third or fourth quarter of 2016.

It will be built adjacent to FedEx Ground Shipping Services new 300,000-square-foot distribution center, which is under construction.

A Walmart spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday morning.

The Tampa Bay Business Journal first reported in November 2014 that Walmart was looking for a site for an ecommerce distribution center in Polk County. In February, TBBJ learned that the company had zeroed in on two sites: the Davenport property and CSX Corp.’s Central Florida Intermodal Logistics Center in Winter Haven.

~Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Reporter- Tampa Bay Business Journal
7/6/15