Total investment for NC grocery fulfillment center $47M higher than initially detailed

More details are emerging about the big plans that Kroger, Harris Teeter’s parent company, has for its new grocery fulfillment center in Concord.

Last week, the state detailed plans for Kroger to bring the $92 million center to Concord, along with 692 jobs, in exchange for $7.2 million in state and local incentives.

But on Monday, further details about the plans showed that the total investment is actually $138 million — 51% higher than initially announced. And the job total would be 722.

The new information came courtesy of the Cabarrus Economic Development Corp. In a news release, it also said for the first time where the center will go — The site will be at 227 Highway 49.

So why is the total investment $47 million higher than N.C. Department of Commerce’s announcement last Wednesday? At the time, Kroger said it planned to spend $92 million on the project by Dec. 31, 2023.

The difference is because technology company Ocado Group is bringing additional investment and jobs that the state’s announcement did not recognize because it did not qualify for a Job Development Investment Grant, Cabarrus EDC Executive Director Page Castrodale told the Observer Monday. The JDIG was only awarded to Kroger.

Ocado will add 30 jobs, Castrodale said.

U.K.-based Ocado is a global software and robotics online grocery shopping platform, according to the EDC news release. Ocado will partner with Kroger to provide the new, direct-to-consumer e-commerce fulfillment center with robots picking online orders in five to 10 minutes, according to the release.

Once the grocery items are picked, employees pack the items and sort them for delivery, then drivers deliver them to customer.

The idea is similar to Silicon Valley-based Farmstead, an online-only grocery that opened its first East Coast hub in west Charlotte last fall and delivers to a 50-mile radius in North Carolina.

Kroger and Ocada first expressed interest in Cabarrus County in November 2020, according to EDC.

Cabarrus County and the city of Concord will hold public hearings for both Kroger and Ocado in the next weeks regarding performance-based property tax grants on increased tax value, which are applicable if the operation meets continual performance goals.

This story was originally published December 13, 2021 at 5:39 PM with the headline "Total investment for NC grocery fulfillment center $47M higher than initially detailed."