A newly constructed 370,000-square-foot building will be utilized as an e-commerce grocery fulfillment center, making healthy and affordable foods more accessible, expediting online grocery delivery, and supporting Kroger’s Zero Hunger | Zero Waste initiative with a goal to end hunger in the areas where it operates and eliminate waste across the company by 2025.
PROJECT LOCATION:
Forest Park, Georgia
THE PROJECT:
The new Kroger grocery fulfillment center is being constructed on the former military base of Fort Gillem, now a 1,168-acre planned park dedicated to housing state-of-the-art industrial and mixed-use facilities for e-commerce distribution and logistics. The industrial park, known as the Gillem Logistics Center, represents nearly one-third of Forest Park’s land area and is a large driver of economic development for the local community. Kroger’s new fulfillment center is the second development the company has sponsored in the park, and will result in 410 Kroger associates creating permanent, quality jobs for the surrounding community.
Following the construction of the fulfillment center, nearly four million square feet of additional warehouse and logistics space is anticipated in the Gillem Logistics Center over the next 10 years. To accommodate the economic and job growth, Kroger is working with local city and county officials to facilitate an extended bus line to better serve the Center and those who work there.
PROJECTED COMMUNITY IMPACTS:
- Create 208 full-time construction jobs.
- Create and maintain 410 permanent full-time jobs.
- 80% of temporary positions will receive wages in excess of the local living wage.
- 100% of permanent positions will receive wages in excess of the local living wage and significantly higher than industry average, as well as employer-sponsored benefits.
- Georgia Quick Start, a workforce development program from the Technical College System of Georgia, will be utilized in the recruiting and training of community members for jobs at the fulfillment center.
COMMUNITY PROFILE:
- 62.19% median family income
- 28.8% poverty rate
- FEMA disaster area
- USDA food desert
FINANCING:
- Total Project Cost: $107 million
- NCF Deployed Allocation: $28 million
- Total NMTC Allocation: $27.4 million
PROJECT PARTNERS:
- United Fund Advisors (National Community Fund I, LLC)
- Black Business Investment Fund, Inc.
- Chase Community Equity, LLC
- Chase New Markets Corporation
- Mid-City Community CDE, LLC
