DeFUNIAK SPRINGS — After more than a decade of searching, Walton County appears to have found its first tenant for the Mossy Head Industrial Park.
County commissioners voted 5-0 Tuesday to sell 15 acres at the intersection of Interstate 10 and State Road 285 to Love’s Travel Stops and Country Stores for $500,000.
Plans call for Love’s, a giant in the travel stop industry with revenues of $17 billion a year, to open a fuel station for commercial trucks and passenger vehicles, a country store and a tire shop for trucks, according to a news release issued after the development agreement was announced.
Two national restaurant chains, possibly McDonald’s and Subway, also could open on the site, Larry Jones, the county’s special projects coordinator, told commissioners at their meeting.
The truck stop is expected to generate 80 jobs, 50 full time and 30 part time, Jones said.
“In addition to the jobs that will be created, Love’s anticipates the sale of several million gallons of diesel fuel and over 2 million gallons of gasoline,” the news release said. Several million dollars annually in retail and restaurant sales also are anticipated, according to the county.
Love’s representative Bill Gleason told commissioners the business is “very excited” about its prospects in Walton County. The company is expected to close on the purchase in November or December and open by July 2014.
“We’re real excited about another location for Love’s here in Florida,” Gleason said.
County Commissioner Cindy Meadows credited Art Miller and Bill Fletcher with the Institute for Senior Professionals at Northwest Florida State College with helping match Love’s and Walton County.
The senior professionals, who submitted a report in June that was at times critical of the county’s past efforts to attract business, suggested a truck stop would be perfect for the industrial park. They also gave county officials the names of three businesses to call.
“We were just putting two and two together,” Miller said. “Why wouldn’t Love’s be interested in something like this?”
The Mossy Head site offers easy access to I-10 and U.S. Highway 90 just north of the industrial park. The property can also be accessed by rail.
Miller said the truck stop will be strategically positioned between Jacksonville and destinations like Mobile, Ala., where the giant airplane manufacturer Airbus will build its first factory in the United States.
He said Love’s Travel Stops and Country Stores is an ideal anchor for more development on the 312-acre parcel the county has owned since 2002.
“I would be shocked not to have other potential clients who want to latch on to Love’s,” Miller said. “Once you get that anchor in there, the rest will become very interested.”
As part of the development agreement, the county will clear the site, construct the master storm water system and build an interior road on the property to Love’s specifications, according to the news release.
Love’s will cover the cost of upgrading roads and building and operating its business.
County Commissioner Bill Imfeld called Tuesday’s announcement “a great start” toward building out the industrial park.
“Interestingly enough, since word got out about the travel stop several other businesses have contacted us,” he said.
Other businesses that have shown interest in locating at Mossy Head include a food processing company, a fence company and a business that turns garbage into energy by-products, Imfeld said.
“Our position is ‘make us an offer, we’ll see what we can do,’ ” he said.
Miller said he has encouraged county leaders to use some of the funds from the Love’s sale to build on its initial success.
“I’m delighted to see this come to fruition,” he said. “Some of that money should be funneled back into economic development.”