At its August 24, 2026 meeting, the Franklin City Commission voted 4 to 1 to award the Kroger Distribution Center access road to RD Sitework, LLC for $7,764,174. The city received two bids. The other came from Scotty's Contracting & Stone at $8,737,702.17. The bid is awarded, and the city will maintain the road once it's built.
The distribution center the road is meant to serve has no public groundbreaking date, opening year or hiring schedule as of late October 2026. That timing gap matters if you're comparing Franklin with other towns along I-65. The largest state incentive in the Kroger deal is earned only as Kroger meets job and investment targets, and the city grant comes with a repayment clause tied to job counts. The road, the truck traffic and the upkeep are coming either way.
Five Pieces of Public Money, Two Different Rules
Kroger announced the project in December 2025: a $391 million automated, full-line distribution center on Steele Road near I-65 Exit 2, with about 430 new full-time jobs. The Governor's release quoted Gov. Andy Beshear thanking Kroger for "this announcement of a new potential distribution center in Simpson County."
Since then, the city and state have put together a stack of public support. Here's how each piece is paid for:
| Piece | Amount | How it's paid | Depends on jobs? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kentucky Business Investment incentive | Up to $12 million over 15 years | Tax incentives earned by hitting annual targets | Yes |
| Kentucky Enterprise Initiative Act | Up to $1 million | Recovery of sales and use tax on construction costs, fixtures and certain equipment | Tied to spending |
| Economic Development Fund grant, approved Oct. 12, 2026 | $3.44 million | Reimburses Kroger for electrical, karst mitigation and Steele Road costs incurred on or after Nov. 18, 2025 | Yes, with repayment if job counts fall short |
| Kentucky Transportation Cabinet road grant | $8,663,800 | Reimbursable funding passed through the city for the new road | No |
| Industrial revenue bonds, approved April 13 | Not stated | A financing and tax tool for the company | No city liability |
The Franklin Favorite called the state's 15-year agreement "performance-based." Kroger can keep part of the new tax revenue it generates only by meeting its annual investment and hiring targets. On the bond approval, the Favorite quoted city attorney Scott Crabtree saying the bonds "do not obligate the city in any way."
The road funding carries no job condition at all, and the city's maintenance duty starts as soon as the road is finished.
Why the Repayment Clause Won't Set the Hiring Pace
The $3.44 million grant requires Kroger to create and keep at least 430 permanent full-time jobs, not counting contract or temporary workers. City attorney Amanda East explained the penalty at the October 12 meeting. If Kroger misses the target, it repays "$2,000 annually of the grant for each full-time job not created and maintained." The agreement also includes wage requirements, though the reporting doesn't give the figure.
Compare that penalty with what the jobs pay. The state's incentive database, as compiled by the Good Jobs First Subsidy Tracker, lists an estimated average hourly wage of $27.15. That's an estimate, not a wage floor. When the project was announced, WNKY reported a lower local estimate from Simpson County Judge-Executive Mason Barnes: about $24 an hour on average, with some jobs around $17 to $18 and skilled roles at $30 to $40.
At $27.15 an hour, a full-time year comes to roughly $56,000 in wages for one position. The penalty for leaving that position unfilled is $2,000 a year. That's a small fraction of the payroll it would replace, so the clause can't make hiring a worker cheaper than not hiring one. Kroger will staff the building when its supply operation needs the staff. The clause mostly matters if a job never gets created at all.
None of this suggests the jobs won't come. A company putting $391 million into a site has strong reasons to run it. But the hiring timeline belongs to Kroger, and Kroger hasn't published one.
The Part That Gets Built Regardless
The site sits along Steele Road, running parallel to I-65 behind the businesses at Exit 2, including the Cracker Barrel and an antique store. According to county officials quoted by WNKY, TenKey Landco, LLC bought about 529 acres there that were already zoned industrial. It later sold about 200 of those acres to Kroger for the project, known as Project Wave.
The road is the first piece Franklin residents will see. The Franklin Favorite describes it as a new four-lane road with concrete curb and gutter, cutting through the Steele Road area to connect U.S. 31-W, Nashville Road, to the local industrial park. The state grant covers construction, and the $7,764,174 winning bid came in below the $8,663,800 grant.
Maintenance stays with the city. In the same Franklin Favorite report, Commissioner Wendell Stewart said: "We will be responsible for the upkeep of this road just the same as all the other roads in our other industrial parks." The commission also approved, 3 to 2, an agreement with the developers, Tenkey Landco, LLC and Tenkey Roadco, LLC, that protects the city if the developer goes over budget on the road.
Commissioner Kelly Bush voted against the road measures. He told the Franklin Favorite he isn't opposed to Kroger or the jobs, and he gave this reason for his vote:
"From my understanding, this project could generate approximately 400 semi-truck trips per day through Exit 2. Before we make long-term commitments, I believe the public deserves clear answers about traffic, infrastructure, maintenance costs, and the overall return on investment."
Bush's estimate is one commissioner's figure, not a traffic study. Still, it's the only public number so far on what the site could put onto Exit 2 and Nashville Road once it's running.
The ground needs work too. The $3.44 million grant reimburses electrical infrastructure upgrades, karst mitigation and Steele Road improvements. The road bid listing also included sinkhole repair. That's normal for the karst country south of Bowling Green, and it helps explain why a large industrial site takes time to get ready.
What the Order of Events Means for a Franklin Search
Here's the sequence so far:
- December 11, 2025. Kroger announces the project and the 430-job target.
- April 13, 2026. The city commission approves the industrial revenue bond resolution.
- June 8, 2026. The commission authorizes the city to apply for state funds and act as the pass-through.
- Summer 2026. The commission approves the $8.6 million road funding agreement with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. The state's Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority board gives the grant package final approval in August.
- August 24, 2026. The commission awards the road bid to RD Sitework, LLC.
- October 12, 2026. The commission approves the $3.44 million grant agreement.
All six steps cover funding, approvals or the road, and hiring has yet to appear on the list. If you're buying in Franklin this fall or winter, that helps you separate what's settled from what's still to come.
Settled: a new four-lane industrial road between Nashville Road and the Exit 2 industrial park, with the construction bid awarded and maintenance assigned to the city.
Still to come: when the building opens, how many people work there in the early years, and what they earn. The wage estimates differ depending on who's estimating, and none of them is a floor.
What that means for you depends on where you'd live and how you'd get around. A home whose daily route runs through Exit 2 or along the south end of Nashville Road sits closer to the part of this project that's certain. A buyer counting on the new jobs to support demand for a house is betting on the part that's still open. One way to follow it is through the Franklin City Commission's posted agendas and minutes. That's where the road award first appeared, and it's where a construction schedule or groundbreaking would likely show up.
The Kroger site is also separate from the data center TenKey has proposed on nearby acreage along the same road. That project has had its own planning and zoning debate. When neighbors talk about "the Steele Road project," check which one they mean.
If you're weighing a home in Franklin and want to talk through how the Exit 2 corridor fits your commute, your timeline and your budget, Jetton Real Estate is glad to help. Our Kentucky team follows the city commission's Kroger decisions, and we'll walk you through what's been approved and what hasn't. Contact Us whenever you're ready.
