Santa Paula, Calif.-based Calavo Growers Inc. has signed a lease for 208,000 square feet of space in the former Food Lion center with the goal of bringing 262 jobs to Clay County in the next five years, stated a source close to negotiations with the property owner, True North Investments in Downers Grove, Ill. While details are few on the number of jobs that will be generated the first year of the lease, wages are to loom in the $12 an hour range.
Calavo Growers, a food processor and distributor will take up the section of the building that offers refrigeration equipment, which will be used in various food processing capacities. According to the Calavo website, the company manufactures and sells fresh and frozen avocado products, Calavo Salsa Lisa and Calavo Tortilla Chips in the U.S. and internationally.
True North Acting Chairman, Carl Manofsky, told Clay Today he couldn’t comment on the lease until after the tenant goes public, but Clay Today has learned that negotiations had been for a 16-year lease with three 5-year options included a commitment to create 262 jobs in the first five years.
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