FRANKLIN — Trader Joe’s is coming to southcentral Kentucky, just not to where rumors have had the California-based grocery store chain setting up a retail shop.

Four months after being approved for state tax incentives, Massachusetts-based Trader Joe’s East Inc. has purchased 160 of the 187 acres in Franklin’s new Stone-Givens Industrial Park and work has begun on a three-building, 1 million-square-foot distribution center that Simpson County leaders say will be the largest economic development project in the county’s history.

Simpson County Judge-Executive Mason Barnes and Franklin-Simpson Industrial Authority Executive Director Dennis Griffin made the announcement on Tuesday, revealing that Trader Joe’s is investing $260 million to build and outfit the campus that will provide warehousing, distribution and cold storage for the fast-growing grocery chain.

Trader Joe’s officials weren’t available for comment, but their development plan for the property that has been approved by the Franklin-Simpson Planning and Zoning Commission calls for buildings of 650,000, 250,000 and 100,000 square feet to be built on the acreage that is on Ky. 100 about one mile from the Interstate 65 interchange.

Plans call for the largest building to be operational before the end of the year and for the three-building complex to ultimately employ nearly 900 people.

“Their investment in our community will be the largest to date in terms of size, dollars invested and employment,” Barnes said. “Trader Joe’s brings some much-needed diversity to our industrial base.”

The announcement continues some economic development momentum for Franklin. It comes on the heels of January’s news that LioChem e-Materials is investing more than $100 million to bring to Simpson County a 141-employee plant making products for electric vehicle batteries.

Griffin said Trader Joe’s looked at potential sites in Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky before landing in Simpson County, which is now among the state’s fastest-growing counties based on 2020 U.S. Census figures.

State tax incentives and infrastructure investments helped lure Trader Joe’s.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet is investing $2.4 million on improvements to Ky. 100 and installation of a traffic light.

The Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority last September approved Trader Joe’s for $500,000 in tax incentives, based on the company meeting employment goals over a 10-year period.

Griffin speculates that the Trader Joe’s facility will have benefits beyond the employment at the distribution center itself. The trendy grocery chain, known for selling many items under its own private labels, has been on a steep growth curve as it has expanded eastward from its California roots and now has more than 560 stores across 42 states.

Kentucky now has only three Trader Joe’s retail stores – in Louisville, Lexington and Crestview Hills near Cincinnati – but having a distribution center in the state should logically lead to more.

“Kentucky is going to benefit from having this distribution center here,” Griffin said.

One benefit could be a long-anticipated retail location in southcentral Kentucky. Although the Nashville area now has three Trader Joe’s stores, many Bowling Green residents have been calling for one to come here.

In fact, a Facebook page called “Bring Trader Joe’s to Bowling Green, KY” was established in 2017.

Among the posts to that social media page were rumors about Trader Joe’s moving into the vacant space at 1751 Scottsville Road when Hobby Lobby moved in 2019 from that address into the former Kmart space at 2945 Scottsville Road.

Those rumors proved to be unfounded, but the distribution center’s presence is sure to spark more speculation.