These two deals show that companies are bullish on the ever-growing Austin market. Construction of that factory will require an estimated $1 billion the county and local school district have agreed to $60 million in tax incentives over the next decade to bring the project to fruition. The facility will be used to manufacture its Cybertruck consumer pickup model as well as a long-haul commercial semi-truck model. factory in Travis County, Texas, five minutes away from the Austin airport. “To have this happen and then Tesla right on its heels, we’re looking toward a really strong year.”Įlectric car manufacturer Tesla announced last year that it will build its fourth U.S. “It really put us on the map in a significant way,” said Madison. That’s a hope that Madison shares-that this project will send a signal to other industrial operators that Pflugerville is not only open for business, but the right location to plant a flag and reach more consumers. Pflugerville’s connectivity via the SH 130 corridor is a prime location for business expansion.” This financial support will cover off-site road infrastructure enhancements, including intersection improvements at FM 685 and Pecan Street.Īccording to Pflugerville Mayor Victor Gonzales, the deal “shows that Pflugerville is the new frontier in Central Texas. One sweetener that helped close the deal was a $3.8 million economic development performance agreement greenlit by PCDC and the Pflugerville City Council. “But we all worked collaboratively to get the deal done.” “Amazon is a big enough company that they can very easily change their mind, as we’ve seen them do elsewhere,” said Madison. According to Madison, there were some concerns that this megadeal could fall through at the last minute due to COVID-19. Negotiations may have changed in tenor, but they never stalled. That said, the pandemic nevertheless had a huge impact on the project. This kicked an already hot sector into a new gear. Shelter-in-place orders led to a skyrocketing usage of online shopping, often by first-time users. The pandemic has had an outsized impact on the industrial sector, especially for e-commerce companies such as Amazon. However, the Pflugerville facility will rise four and a half stories, giving Amazon an incredible 3.8 million square feet of operational space.
The footprint of the building is 820,000 square-feet-quite sizable by the standard of new, Class A industrial warehouses.
as structural engineer and Dialectic Engineering as MEP engineer. Jones|Carter is serving as civil engineer, SMBH, Inc. Seefried Industrial Properties is developing the project for Amazon, who will contribute $250 million in investment over the course of their minimum 10-year term. Employees will work alongside Amazon robotics to pick, pack and ship small items to customers such as books, electronics and toys. The fulfillment center should be operational before the 2021 holiday season, bringing with it 1,000 new full-time jobs. “It turns out, the third time really was the charm,” Madison said. Madison said the “Project Charm” codename was apt as the company looked at three sites before they settled on a site owned by the Timmerman family near Pecan Street and SH 130. Securing a location for the Seattle-based e-tailer was a mammoth endeavor, one that began with early talks more than a year before the final announcement last summer. As she sees it, this project is a huge win for the area, bringing significant capital investment, new technology and needed employment to the local workforce. Bringing Amazon to Pflugerville was no small task-one spearheaded in part by Amy Madison, CEcD, EDFP, executive director of Pflugerville Community Development Corporation (PCDC).