The announcement
On August 27, 2026, Governor Brian Kemp announced that Walmart plans to build a next-generation, highly automated fulfillment center in Carnesville, Franklin County, about 85 miles northeast of Atlanta. The project, at the Franklin 85 Logistics Center, is roughly $1.3 billion and about 1.5 million square feet, with approximately 1,000 new jobs, and is designed to expand Walmart's same-day and next-day shipping capacity.
Construction is expected to begin in late 2026; no opening date has been announced. Walmart already employs more than 65,000 associates in Georgia across its stores, Sam's Clubs and supply chain facilities.
Where it sits on the map
Carnesville is in Franklin County, the next county north of the corridor's core, and the site sits on Interstate 85 at the Franklin 85 Logistics Center, the same freight line the relocation guide reads employer by employer from Mulberry north through Jefferson and Pendergrass.
The Carnesville brief and the Franklin County page carry the running account of how the county's industrial base is building out.
The measured read
A 1,000-job fulfillment center an hour and a half up the interstate is not a Mulberry commute story, but it is a corridor story: it is the same automation-heavy logistics pattern running through Jackson County and South Hall, and it extends the region's distribution base further up I-85.
The number worth holding is the same one this site has used all year: jobs follow rooftops, and the corridor's job base keeps compounding. For buyers, the practical question is still the commute ring, not the headline.
Sources
As announced by the Office of Governor Brian P. Kemp, August 27, 2026, with coverage by the Georgia Department of Economic Development and WSB-TV. Investment, square-footage and job figures are as stated in the announcement, not estimates.
Written by
Rob Dietrich
Georgia REALTOR® with eXp Realty, AI Certified Real Estate Strategist, serving Gwinnett, Hall, Barrow and Jackson counties.
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