Amazon chose North Alabama as the prime spot for a new fulfillment center, the second center to come to the area in just one year.
The new Amazon facility will be located down the road from the current fulfillment center off Old Highway 20 in Huntsville-annexed Limestone County. It will be located on a plot of land first talked about last month when the Huntsville City Council announced a plan called "Project Laser" that would bring a national distributor to the city.
We now know that distributor is Amazon.
"It's something that was just kind of kept under wraps until it went through the whole process and an announcement was made," explained city council member Bill Kling.
The secret project was finally revealed Tuesday, as Amazon announced North Alabama will be the new location for their $100-million distribution center.
"The city council, we had basically the easiest job in the world," Kling said. "We just approved and went along and supported it, and again, they've done a great job."
Huntsville City Council worked alongside multiple different agencies in North Alabama to make this deal happen, including the Limestone County Commission.
"We're all growing as a community, and it's just a blessing to have stuff going on, because if you're not growing, you're dying," said Limestone County Commission Chairman Collin Daly.
The new facility will bring 250 new jobs to the area, increasing the population while hopefully giving current residents another reason to stay in the county.
"I grew up here and I want my family to stay close, but you have to have an opportunity for them to stay close," Daly said. "If there's nothing to do, they're not going to stay close. They're going to have to go where the job is."
But will the area be able to keep up with the growth?
"We might see some short-term shortages and short-term difficulties, but I think over a longer period of time, ... they are planning it well, anticipating that type of growth," said Brinda Mahalingam, a clinical associate professor at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
She said North Alabama's growing pains shouldn't last long.
"It all looks good right now in the sense that they are big, well-known names," Mahalingam said. "It's not like the company is going to fold and leave in a few years."
There is no timeline as to when Amazon plans on breaking ground on the new facility, but the Huntsville City Council already passed the resolution for "Project Laser," which includes another road for easier access to the new fulfillment center.
