New Publix headed to Kimberly in North Jefferson County

Thanks to a $1 million tax incentive agreement approved by the Jefferson County Commission, a new Publix grocery store is slated to anchor a new shopping center development in the North Jefferson County town of Kimberly. 

Translation: Kimberly residents won’t have to drive to Gardendale or beyond for a full grocery run anymore.

The new shopping center is located off Highway 31 at 9176 Hwy 31 North in Kimberly, Alabama 35091.

Jeff Traywick, the county’s economic development advisor, said the Commission doesn’t hand out retail incentives often.

“We don’t do retail incentives very often, but when we do, we look to see if there is some sort of adverse condition to a site that prevents the project from moving forward without assistance, and we also ensure that the project itself is transformational. 

In this case, this project does face some adverse conditions with the site that lead to increased costs, but it also puts a grocery store (Publix) and a good quality one in an area that does not have them right now, so it tackles the food desert issue for us.”

Key facts about the project

According to Traywick, the popular grocery store will generate 67 jobs. 

Other details:

• Overall capital investment for the new shopping center is $30 million with $26 million coming from the developer
• The agreement rebates one-cent of the County’s two-cent sales tax for the project with a cap of $1 million
• Over 10 years, the county estimates this project will generate $1.89 million in general fund revenue for the county and $3.8 million for education

No word yet on the start date of the development. Stay tuned to Bham Now for future updates.