- April 24, 2024
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The largest baking company in the world could have a division in Ormond Beach if Bimbo QSR USA LLC decides to lease space in the building at 1899 N. U.S. 1. The Ormond Beach City Commission approved a performance-based assistance package of $135,000 at their March 3 meeting, and Volusia County has approved assistance of $55,000 so the company will be able to qualify for a tax incentive of $275,000 from the state in the Qualified Target Industry program.
Bimbo QSR is part of Grupo Bimbo, a baking company headquartered in Mexico City with 196 plants in 32 countries and $15 billion in annual sales. The largest baker in the world, according to www.cnbc.com, Grupo Bimbo owns Thomas English Muffins, Entenmann’s and Sara Lee.
Headquartered in Chicago, Bimbo QSR makes buns and other bread items for quick service restaurants and is seeking a location to serve the southeastern United States, according to Ralph Malmros of SVN Alliance Commercial Real Estate Advisors, of Ormond Beach. He said now that approval of the incentive packages has been received, he is to waiting to hear from company headquarters in Mexico City.
The company is considering other sites in the Southeast, in addition to Ormond Beach.
SVN Alliance is a franchise of SVN, a commercial real estate brokerage headquartered in Boston, and provides sales, leasing and property management services.
The name of the company, Bimbo QSR, was kept secret until the incentive packages were approved with the county calling it “Project Ocean.”
GOLDEN HORSES
The building was recently purchased for $11 million by a New York firm, IWH Capital LLC, a company which buys income properties, from NCP Fund Holdings LLC. Malmros, of SVN Alliance, represented both the buyer and the seller in the transaction. He said there is no connection between the recent sale and Bimbo QSR.
Almost half of the 193,000-square-foot building is now leased to Future Foods, a plant-based food production company, and Forte Frozen, a third-party logistics provider. Future Foods is currently remodeling its space and is expected to occupy the facility in about a month.
The building is approved by the USDA for food manufacturing, so that type of operation makes the most sense, Malmros said.
The building was previously owned by Blue Coast Bakers LLC but the company closed its operation a couple of years ago. However, reminders remain. The retention pond in front of the building is surrounded by gold-colored statues of horses in various poses. They were installed by the Blue Coast owner, Kambiz Zarrabi, who purchased them from the Holy Land Experience theme park in Orlando, according to a May 9, 2017, article in the Daytona Beach News-Journal. The theme park has struggled financially and sold off merchandise, according to www.timesofisrael.com.
MANUFACTURING WANTED
The city’s funding package and the state’s tax incentives are needed to attract Bimbo QSR, which is also considering sites in Georgia and Mississippi, according to a memo from city Economic Development Director Brian Rademacher. The funds will help with buying equipment
and remodeling.
In 2016, the City Commission unanimously adopted the Ormond Beach Strategic Economic Development Plan, which recommends establishing incentive programs to increase manufacturing in the city.
Bimbo QSR is projecting to create 55 full-time equivalent jobs in three years with an average annual wage of $43,401 plus approximately $14,000 in benefits, and a capital investment of approximately $250,000 in building renovations and $7,275,000 in manufacturing equipment.
The city will pay a maximum of $135,000 over a three-year period as the company verifies capital expenditures and job creation.
The 55 “new to Florida” jobs are also required for the state tax incentive.
Visit www.bimboqsr.com, www.grupobimbo.com and www.svnalliance.com.
