Suwannee County approves sale of 68.25 acres to stevia processor with job and investment conditions

Suwannee County commissioners on April 7 approved a development agreement to transfer 68.25 acres in the Catalyst Industrial Park to Plant Path Inc., a company that will process stevia. The board voted 5-0 to authorize the sale and to empower the chair to sign ancillary documents necessary to finalize the transaction.

County economic-development staff said Plant Path will begin with drying and processing infrastructure in two initial phases and eventually scale to additional phases that county officials estimate could total roughly $40 million in capital investment for phase one and create 40 direct full‑time county jobs. County staff presented an economic-impact estimate of about 106 total jobs (including indirect and induced jobs) and roughly $107 million in annual economic output tied to the project.

To protect county interests the deed contains two independent reverter clauses. Plant Path must (1) spend at least $2.5 million on real-property improvements on the site within 36 months of the deed and (2) create 40 full-time positions whose primary location is the Suwannee County plant. If Plant Path fails to satisfy either condition, the county can require the company to return the land; alternatively the company may pay about $1.4 million to keep the property. County counsel described a mortgage/note and a trust‑account prepay mechanism that lets the company obtain construction financing while preserving the county’s reversion rights.

County staff and the commission described rapid negotiations in recent weeks to secure the company and resolve lender concerns. The county attorney said the deed‑based reverter clauses preserve the county’s priority in title and limit a lender’s ability to erode the county’s rights; the trust prepayment option was presented as a way to allow lenders to rely on the county’s security while keeping the reverter protections intact.

Commissioners and staff emphasized the project’s fit with local agriculture and transportation assets and the potential to give local growers a new market. The board also approved a related incentive structure that county staff said is tied to 40 jobs at an average compensation used in the incentive calculation.

Next steps: county staff will finalize closing documents and support Plant Path’s permitting and infrastructure coordination at the Catalyst site. The chair was authorized to execute ancillary documents to effectuate the transaction.

Reported votes and motion: motion to approve the development agreement by Commissioner Lane, second by Commissioner Maulden; motion carried 5-0.