Wayfair distribution center coming to Jax

Wayfair's plans to build a 1 million-square-foot distribution center at Cecil Commerce Center are moving along swiftly.   The online furniture retailer was given the go-ahead Wednesday to begin foundation work on the facility. The foundation work is valued at $1,630,262, according to the permit. The Conlan Company is the general contractor on the project.  Boston-based Wayfair has selected a roughly 80-acre site at Cecil Commerce Center near the Amazon facility at 13483 103rd Street.   The company has promised the city it will employ 250 workers at an average annual wage of $33,000 at the new facility by the end of the year in 2021. In exchange, City Council in October passed an incentives package, codenamed "Project Empire," to give the company a 50 percent tax rebate over a 10-year period. The value of the grant is estimated to be $3.3 million.

The company has also promised to invest $40 million into the site by Dec. 31, 2020. The facility's total development costs are estimated to be $72 million.    While the incentives package passed for the company to build its warehouse gave the company until 2021 to begin operations, Wayfair has slated its opening date for fall 2019, Wayfair spokeswoman Susan Frechette told the Business Journal in December.  Wayfair employs more than 10,900 people in North America and Europe. The company generated $6.2 billion in net revenue for the twelve months ended September 30, 2018.