A $30 million Publix-anchored shopping center is headed to Kimberly, and Jefferson County commissioners just agreed to kick in $1 million to help make it happen. The development, aimed squarely at a stretch of north Jefferson County that has gone without a full-service grocery store, will rise at 9176 Highway 31 North, directly across from Kimberly City Hall, Family First Urgent Care, and Kimberly Church of God.
County economic development adviser Jeff Traywick told Bham Now that the project targets a designated food desert in northern Jefferson County, where residents currently drive 15 to 30 miles round-trip to Gardendale or other towns just to do a full grocery shopping trip. The total $30 million capital investment is split between developer Blackwater Real Estate Kimberly, LLC, which is funding $26 million, and Publix, which is covering the remainder, according to the same report.
Kimberly City Council member Michael Aycock told WVTM Channel 13 that the shopping center will provide an excellent opportunity for shopping in a town that has long had limited retail options. He added that the project will deliver a major economic boost and spur job growth and commerce for the area. Fellow resident Linda Kilgore said a strip mall would create more jobs and benefit Kimberly, according to the same station.
How the County Structured the $1 Million Incentive
The Jefferson County Commission approved the incentive package as a performance-based 1% sales tax rebate capped at five years, using a mechanism allowed under Alabama's Amendment 772, as reported by BirminghamWatch. That amendment permits Alabama public entities to spend public funds on private economic development projects that yield public benefits. County economic staff calculated that the public revenue generated would significantly outweigh the capped rebate over time.
County officials estimate the retail center will generate $1.89 million in county general fund revenue and $3.8 million in local educational tax revenues over a 10-year period, per Bham Now's reporting. Economic development presentations also showed the project is projected to create 67 permanent jobs with an average wage of $16.64 per hour.
One Commissioner's Abstention Over Restricted Funds
The incentive package passed 3-0 among attending commissioners, but Commission President Jimmie Stephens abstained, voicing concern about rebating general sales taxes normally dedicated to indigent healthcare and the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, BirminghamWatch reported. Stephens reportedly supported the retail project itself but questioned the use of those particular restricted sales tax streams for the rebate.
Part of a Bigger Push in North Jefferson County
The Kimberly project is landing amid a wave of infrastructure and development activity reshaping the northern part of the county. County economic advisers highlighted the shopping center's strategic location near the planned $158 million Alabama Farm Center at Hallmark Farms in Warrior, a 500-acre complex that received an $11 million federal mine reclamation grant in December 2025 and is projected to draw statewide tourism and generate up to 850 jobs, according to BirminghamWatch.
The commercial node also coincides with regional transportation upgrades. ALDOT opened the initial 1.88-mile segment of the Birmingham Northern Beltline, the future I-422, near Pinson this week, with contract awards set for 2027 to extend the highway toward Highway 31 in Gardendale, Hoodline previously reported. WVTM Channel 13 similarly noted that the shopping center will sit near the newly opened northern beltline, giving Kimberly residents closer access to shopping and groceries.
Kimberly's population reached 4,858 in 2025, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, with a 93% homeownership rate and median household incomes exceeding $100,000 in ZIP Code 35091. The town incorporated in 1952 after operating as a historical coal mining community, a legacy that stands in contrast to the retail growth now arriving along its Highway 31 corridor.
