St. Johns County Earns 2025 Urban Deal of the Year from the Florida Economic Development Council

• 30 May 2025
• Category: SJC News Economic Development
• Tags: 2025

The county was honored for the $145M Publix central fill pharmaceutical facility, which will fill 500,000 prescriptions a week upon its opening in 2026.

The Florida Economic Development Council awarded St. Johns County the 2025 Urban Deal of the Year at this month’s FEDC IGNITE Conference. The award was in recognition of the partnership between St. Johns County, Publix Super Markets, Inc., the JAXUSA Regional Partnership, and Scannell Properties, Inc. for the location and future development of an innovative pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in the County. 

The project received $5.8 million in incentive support from St. Johns County and will result in nearly 400 new jobs with an average wage rate of 125% of the County average. In February 2024, St. Johns County announced the reinvestment package.

“St. Johns County is proud to receive this recognition from the Florida Economic Development Council,” said Sam Camp, Senior Project Manager for the St. Johns County Economic Development Department. “Economic development is a team sport, and this project highlights the power and importance of working collaboratively to find creative solutions that benefit our community. Our team is dedicated to attracting great business partners, like Publix Super Markets, to improve the economic prosperity of St. Johns County.” 

The Publix project is scheduled to be operational in 2026 and be strategically located in a 168,480-square-foot building within the industrial park of Legend Point Logistics Crossing. The company plans to invest $145 million in the facility.

“This is a huge win for Northeast Florida – high-end advanced manufacturing jobs in health and life sciences, just the type of investment we are targeting,” said Heidi Jameson, Senior Director of Business Development for JAXUSA Partnership. “We thank Publix for their investment in St. Johns County and look forward to the company’s success here.”