FORT WORTH, Texas — Read this story and more North Texas business news from our partners at the Dallas Business Journal
An e-commerce distribution company plans on setting up a new regional headquarters and distribution center in Fort Worth, and the city may back up the expansion with incentives.
McMaster-Carr Supply Co., an e-commerce distribution company that supplies specialized equipment, hardware, tools and other products, plans to invest about $180 million in the new facility, located at 4894-4896 Litsey Road. The expansion would create 250 jobs with an average annual salary of $85,000, according to city documents.
In return, Fort Worth would provide incentives to the tune of $18 million. The incentives would come in the form of 10 annual grants, equal to up to 85% of the maintenance and operations portion of new incremental city ad valorem taxes on business personal property.
The incentives would also include up to 50% of the new incremental city 1% sales tax revenues.
McMaster-Carr focuses on delivery of equipment and maintenance services especially for critical functions and operations. Its wares tend to include high-value equipment, ordinarily subject to inventory taxes as business personal property.
The firm has an existing footprint in cities like Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles and New Jersey. The Fort Worth facility marks the company’s sixth regional headquarters.
Per the economic development program agreement, if McMaster-Carr doesn’t complete the project in a timely manner, the firm will forfeit grants from the city.
The new regional headquarters will create almost $57 million in new incremental property and sales tax revenue, part of which will go to the $18 million in grants. The new regional headquarters will create almost $39 million in net new incremental property tax revenue over the ten-year period following project’s completion.
The investment by McMaster-Carr comes at a time of a spike in commercial development activity in Fort Worth.
Also, on the job expansion front, a parts manufacturer in the electric vehicle market recently landed a new facility in Fort Worth as it looks to grow. Junchuang North America Inc. has secured a 55,000-square-foot manufacturing and industrial facility at 46 Ranch Logistics Park in south Fort Worth, where it plans to invest approximately $21 million. That expansion is expected to create over 120 jobs by 2025.
