The development could generate as much as $20 million in annual tax revenue.
Palm Coast's westward expansion has a name.
At half a billion dollars of investment, Project Magellan would be among the most significant non-residential economic development projects in Flagler County history. Representatives of the development authorized the public disclosure of some sparse details on Saturday, Feb. 22, though the project is still confidential based on state statute.
Here’s what has been made available so far:
Project Magellan is located on 500 acres somewhere west of U.S. 1 but east of Old Dixie Highway. It’s basically south of Matanzas Woods Parkway and North of Palm Coast Parkway — inside what has been referred to as the 7,500-acre "doughnut hole” in recent Palm Coast City Council meetings.
The land is owned by Raydient Palm Coast LLC, according to the Flagler County Property Appraiser. It's in unincorporated land, surrounded by Palm Coast. As of today, it's designated as agricultural land, so land use and zoning changes would be required before any development would be allowed.
Tax revenues on the property could jump to about $20 million annually, between property taxes, sales taxes and bed taxes.
According to projections released by Project Magellan, the property taxes collected when it's operational would be about $9 million per year, which would include about $4 million for the Flagler County government, $2.5 million for Flagler Schools, and $2.1 million for Palm Coast — if it's annexed into the city.
In addition, the annual sales tax collected could be over $10 million for the community.
Bed tax revenue, generated by hotel stays, would be over $1 million annually.
The annual revenue for the economic activity in Project Magellan would be over $200 million per year, according to the brief statement.
It would create about 2,000 jobs, 500 of which would be full time.
WHY THE CONFIDENTIALITY?
According to Palm Coast Chief of Staff Jason DeLorenzo: "Projects request confidentiality to protect themselves from their competitors. If the project dies, or comes to fruition, all the information that’s been exchanged between the project and the local government becomes public information. It’s very similiar to when City Council has executive session related to a lawsuit. The item stays confidential until there’s a resolution, and when there's a resolution, they become public.
"The project has to request confidentiality under the statute, in writing, which they did, and they have one year."
Project Magellan requested confidentiality early in 2025, DeLorenzo said.
