Following in the footsteps of the Chapel Hill Town Council, the Orange County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a $4 million incentive package to bring Wegmans Supermarket to Chapel Hill.

“When we first started talking about incentives years ago, a number of us said informally that we would never provide incentives for retail,” said commissioner Bernadette Pelissier. “Most of retail doesn’t provide well-paying jobs, doesn’t necessarily provide benefits and this is different. Wegmens is different.”

Wegmans is a high-end supermarket that will move into the space on 15-501 soon to be vacated by Performance Automall.

In the first five years after opening in Chapel Hill, the store expects to grow from $62 million in annual revenue to $83 million.

Director of Orange County economic development Steve Brantley said Wegmans would be the single largest financial generator to the county and to the town.

“This project is proposing the creation of 185 full-time jobs with healthcare and other benefits,” he said. “In addition there are 230 to 413 part-time jobs.”

The incentive will go on for five years after Wegmans opens.

Chapel Hill and Orange County will split the cost of the incentive, with each taking half of the $4 million annually.

The incentives are tied to the performance of Wegmans, meaning if the company fails to reach its expected goals, the financial incentives for Orange County would decrease proportionally.

“I do not thing we can repeat enough that this is performance based,” said commissioner Mia Burroughs. “This is revenue positive and it was built specifically to make sure that was the case, which is why I’m very comfortable supporting this.”

Wegmans will also make necessary road repairs and handle environmental concerns to get the site ready for its opening.

The company also has a history of getting involved with nonprofits in the area surrounding its stores. Brantley said this would be a major advantage for the community.

“When Orange County wins a project like this, we gain the relationship with that organization,” he said. “We can introduce nonprofits like PORCH, Empowerment and so forth.”

Performance Automall is not expected to vacate the premises until the summer of 2017. Wegmens is not expected to open until the fall of 2019.

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