County awarded $4.7 million grant for commerce park

[Courtesy of Florida Crossroads Commerce Park]

Marion County has been awarded a $4.7 million state infrastructure grant to promote workforce growth at the Florida Crossroads Commerce Park.

The county plans to use the funds from the Florida Job Growth Grant to work on the final stages of infrastructure within the commerce park off Interstate 75, including an interior roadway that will connect the east and west portions of the park, according to Marion County Legislative Manager Matthew Cretul.

“This infrastructure will also allow for the installation of public utility lines for water and sewer services for projects in the southern portion of the commerce park,” Cretul said via email.

The county said the owners of the site intend to recruit workers for the food distribution, consumer product distribution, food manufacturing, aviation and aerospace manufacturing industries with the buildout of the commerce park, according to the grant application.

“We anticipate the creation of more than 2,600 new jobs in the southwestern portion of Marion County due to the potential buildout of more than 3 million square feet within the commerce park,” Cretul said.

Creating these jobs is meant to serve as a benefit to the Marion Oaks area. Within a five-mile radius of the commerce park, there are currently 50,000 residents, but the site only currently has 4,000 jobs.

“The long-term employment opportunities created in this commerce park would reduce commutes of the southern portion of Marion County,” Cretul said. “Not incidentally, creating jobs near a planned community such as Marion Oaks also reduces the traffic on I-75 and major corridors around the county.”

County representatives said there is already enough presence of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and Marion County Fire Rescue to keep up with the growth of the Marion Oaks area.

“Nearby Marion Oaks, where the workforce would be mostly centralized, is a platted community with the space and resources available to handle new residents,” Cretul said. “There are Marion County Fire Rescue and Sheriff’s Office presences already located within the Marion Oaks community, as well as schools, community centers and parks.”

Much of the school overcrowding that is occurring within the Marion County school district is happening in the southwest area of the county. However, the school district anticipates needing to build possibly 10 new schools across the county and the district and county officials are still determining how to restart impact fees to fund the new buildings.

The funding also comes at a time where the county and state are working to improve the infrastructure of north Marion County by creating an interchange on I-75 near the Ocala/Marion County Commerce Park at Northwest 49^th Street.