The Kroger Company, one of the largest grocery retailers in the world, selected Primus Builders to provide design-build services on a new, 1,000,000 SF cold storage distribution facility to be located on the old Fort Gillem Army base in Forest Park, Georgia. The facility will service existing operations in Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee. The former army base was officially transferred from the Department of Defense to the city of Forest Park and will be re-named Gillem Logistics Center.
Governor Nathan Deal announced the plans on June 12th and credited Georgia’s interconnected highway and railway system, low cost of doing business and highly skilled workforce as factors in Kroger’s decision. “Georgia is the ideal location for Kroger to establish its newest distribution facility,” he said.
“The 1,000,000 SF facility will improve efficiencies, help the economy in the communities we serve and deliver products to our stores much more quickly,” said Glynn Jenkins, director of communications and public relations for Kroger’s Atlanta Division.
“Primus is eager to help Kroger achieve its goals for speed-to-market,” said Rich O’Connell, President of Primus Builders. “We have partnered with Kroger on several projects in the past, but this one will be the most technologically advanced for Kroger and for us. We’re incorporating BIM (Building Information Modeling), safety badging, a new safety app and other new processes on this project. We are excited to be a part of it.”
The City of Forest Park will see 120 new jobs from this project, with a total of 1,500 new jobs brought by the park in the next two years. “Gillem Logistics Center will be the region’s premier, world-class, institution grade and regional and e-commerce distribution park,” said David Lockhart, mayor of the City of Forest Park.