Local and state leaders broke ground Tuesday for a new $208 million Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) complex in Tallahassee, celebrating it as a revolutionary step forward for Florida farmers.
The five-story and 250,000-square-foot facility – covering the equivalent of more than four football fields – will be built on the corner of Capital Circle and Conner Boulevard.
Grabbing shovels, Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson joined Florida Senate President Ben Albritton and state Sen. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee, for a ceremonial ground-breaking at the site, which hosts the current Conner Complex, home of the Florida Forest Service and the department’s Division of Food Safety, among others.
Simpson said the T-shaped steel and glass complex will house all 17 FDACS divisions in Tallahassee on one campus and include laboratories to build on ongoing agricultural research.
“We have spent a lot of time the last two years working on efficiencies and technology … when this opens in 2027, it’s really going to revolutionize the department and our interactions with the general public,” Simpson said.
The new complex will enable the department to relocate nearly 800 office workers scattered in two 75-year-old buildings with deteriorating heating and ventilation five miles away in downtown Tallahassee and office parks along Apalachee Parkway to one location.
An artist’s depiction of the new Florida Department of Agricultural and Consumer Services Tallahassee headquarters. Construction is expected to be completed in 2027.
Plans call for an information technology data center, evidence room for agriculture law enforcement, as well as laboratories to build on research into aquaculture, forestry, specialty crop production and disease-resistant plant breeding to boost production.
“A lot of times farmers send in (plant) samples and say, “Hey, can you help me understand what’s happening? I’m losing a high number of plants,’ ” said Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, a fourth-generation citrus farmer.
“So to be able to send those samples in and be able to partner with the department to help build solutions, it just gives me chills,” Albritton said.
An artist’s depiction of the new Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Tallahassee headquarters. Construction is expected to be completed in 2027.
A test kitchen and audio and video studios for the “Fresh from Florida” promotional campaign also will relocate to the new campus. “Fresh from Florida” is the department’s signature promotion of Florida produce and seafood.
By consolidating its Tallahassee-based workforce to one campus, a legislative budget review estimated the department will save more than $50 million in lease payments over 30 years.
Money for new complex OK’d by lawmakers, more to come
The project began with legislators approving $1 million in 2022 to begin planning. That was followed by another $31 million in 2023 to complete the design, and $80 million in this year’s budget to begin construction.
With half of the overall cost already covered, Simpson expects the Legislature to appropriate the rest in 2025, with the project to be completed by the end of 2027.
Previous coverage: 2024 Session: Inside plans for a new $208 million Florida Agriculture office complex
Mayor John Dailey attends a groundbreaking ceremony held by the The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDAC) for the new Conner Facility coming soon.
Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey celebrated the decision to keep the department’s offices and jobs in Tallahassee, and he welcomed the additional 300 construction jobs as an economic boost for the region.
“Commissioner Simpson could have taken those jobs anywhere in the state of Florida and it would have been celebrated, but he chose to expand and take his operation to the next level here. It’s a great day in Tallahassee,” Dailey said.
James Call is a member of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jcall@tallahassee.com and is on X as @CallTallahassee.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida Agriculture Dept. breaks ground on new Tallahassee complex