7 exciting developments underway in Alabama [Industrial Edition]
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Is there anything sexier than an industrial development? Well, yes. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be exciting!
Keep reading to learn more about seven upcoming developments in Alabama!
Huntsville
1. Facebook Data Center
Did you know that Facebook operates a fleet of 13 data centers throughout the United States? Each data center contains endless rows of computer servers, which work together to handle traffic from Facebook’s 1.9 billion daily active users.
Earlier this year, Facebook announced their plans to invest a total of $1 billion into their Huntsville Data Center, located in the North Huntsville Industrial Park. Once complete, the Huntsville Data Center campus will include nearly 2.5 million square feet of space, and is expected to be fully operational by 2024.
2. Amazon Fulfillment Center
Facebook isn’t the only international behemoth with their eyes on Huntsville. In May 2021, Amazon announced their plans to open a 1 million square-foot fulfillment center in Huntsville. The Fulfillment Center, which handles packages on their way to their destinations, will eventually employ upwards of 500 people in Huntsville.
Amazon hopes to have the Huntsville Fulfillment Center ready for operation by Fall 2021.
3. Mazda Toyota Manufacturing
The massive, $2.3 billion Mazda Toyota Manufacturing plant has been highly anticipated since crews first broke ground on the project over two years ago. Located on the outskirts of Huntsville, Mazda Toyota Manufacturing is a joint venture between—you guessed it—Mazda and Toyota. Once complete, the plant will be able to build 300,000 vehicles a year, including the brand-new 2022 Toyota Corolla Cross, which will be the first vehicle to be completely produced at the facility.
The manufacturing plant is expected to be fully operational by December 2021, and employ upwards of 4,000 people.
Mobile
4. South Alabama Logistics Park
Earlier this year, the City of Mobile announced the upcoming South Alabama Logistics Park—a massive industrial park spanning 1,300 acres. Located south of I-10 along Theodore-Dawes Road, the first phase of the park will include 6M square-feet of Class A Industrial Warehouse and Distribution space—perfect for businesses that utilize the Port of Mobile.
Once complete, the first phase of the project is expected to cost $350M and generate upwards of 1,000 jobs in Mobile.
Birmingham
5 & 6. Amazon’s “Project Magic” and “Project Church”
Amazon’s Alabamian ambitions (try saying that five times fast) don’t end at Huntsville. After opening a fulfillment center—dubbed BHM1—in Bessemer last year, Amazon announced their plans to open several additional facilities in Birmingham:
- Project Magic — a 200,000 square-foot logistics center and distribution hub located on the former site of Century Plaza, once Alabama’s largest shopping mall.
- Project Church — a 278,800 square-foot Sortation Center, where workers sort and consolidate orders onto trucks for faster delivery.
- An unnamed delivery station at the Birmingham Food Terminal.
7. CenterState Logistics Park
The Birmingham office of Cushman & Wakefield/EGS—a commercial real estate agency—is eyeing a site in North Birmingham for a new, $80M industrial park. Known as the CenterState Logistics Park, this multi-phase industrial development is reported to include up to 1,000,000 square-feet of warehouse & distribution space—perfect for any industrial business.
Cushman & Wakefield/EGS plans to kickstart construction in early 2022. In fact, the first phase of the development—a 225,000 square-foot industrial building—is scheduled to be complete by late 2022!
Which industrial developments did we miss in Alabama? Tag us @thebamabuzz to let us know!
