New 638-acre industrial park to be constructed in Macon County

New Industrial Park
Rendering of R.E.A.L. (MCEDA)

On the corner of Highway 186 and County Road 53, a new industrial park is on its way to becoming reality. It’ll be known as Regional East Alabama Logistics Park, or R.E.A.L Park. Keep reading to learn more about this development.

It’s R.E.A.L.

Industrial Park
An earlier project rendering. (MCEDA)

What’s an industrial park? Essentially, it is a zoned area for businesses in steelmaking or machine building.

According to WSFA 12, the R.E.A.L. Park development will have a total of thirteen buildings. The construction is made possible through the aid and partnership between Macon County Economic Department Authority, landowners and Farpoint Development, headquartered in Chicago.

“You can see it, you can dream it, you can feel it. The early clients that we’ve shown the site to have been very ecstatic about it and very excited about maybe being some of the first tenants here.”

Joe Turnham, executive director, Macon County Economic Development Authority

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How it came to be

The plan is to stay building ahead by getting the first tenant into the first building built. Construction for said building will start in April and be completed before the end of the year.

Once the first tenant is settled, the construction will continue as new tenants find their homes here.

Economic Growth

Farpoint commissioned the Center of Business and Economic Research from the University of Alabama to do an economic impact analysis.

WSFA 12 claims that the analysis will bring these bonuses to Macon County over a ten year period:

  • $368M in capital investment once all buildings are fully built
  • Over 1k direct jobs + 863 indirect jobs
  • Local taxes generated will be in the millions

“We can host about four to five million square feet of space where we would be able to have industrial assets and manufacturing facilities.”

Justin Patwin, managing director, Farpoint Development.

What do you want to see come to Macon County?

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Summer Guffey
Summer Guffey

Lover of Weiss Lake in the summertime and camping at Cheaha in the autumn.

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