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Incentives for Children’s of Alabama Campus Toyota-Mazda to See Expansion in Birmingham Plant Top $700M MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) Alabama’s total incentive package to Toyota and Mazda will top $700 million after local incentives are added to what the state offered to land the companies’ new United States factory. The Huntsville City Council on Jan. 11 approved a $320 million local incentive package. That is in addition to $380 million announced by the state in tax abatements, investment rebates and the construction of a worker training facility. Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle said before the council vote that the joint-venture factory, which will employ about 4,000 people, will bring economic benefits to the region for generations. “If there ever was a slam dunk deal, this is a great one,” Battle said. The city’s offer to the Japanese auto manufacturers included providing the land, building a road to the factory and property tax abatements worth $107 million over 20 years Alabama’s commerce department had announced only the state’s share of incentives Jan 10 when company executives announced the decision to come to Alabama. The new plant in Huntsville — already a hub for the region’s budding aerospace industry — will produce 300,000 vehicles per year, a combination of the Toyota Corolla compact car and a new small crossover SUV from Mazda. Production is targeted to begin by 2021. Multiple states had competed for the project by the Japanese auto giants. “This is indeed a great day in Alabama,” an upbeat Gov. Kay Ivey said Jan. 10, flanked by company executives at a news conference in the state capital, Montgomery. Commerce Secretary Greg Canfield said Jan. 10 he believes the state is getting a “pretty good deal” considering the plant alone will create $5.2 billion in payroll over 20 years. “Not only that, it’s really hard to measure the positive impact that having companies create career opportunities like this and how that transforms families,” Canfield said. see FACTORY page 6
The Children’s Board of Trustees approved construction of the 12-story parking deck and 115,000-sq.-ft. office building last August.
By Lori Tobias
Construction is set to begin on a new office building and parking facility at the Children’s of Alabama campus in Birmingham on Fourth Avenue South. The Children’s Board of Trustees approved construction of the 12-story parking deck and 115,000-sq.-ft. office building last August. Brasfield & Gorrie is serving as the construction manager and Williams Blackstock Architects as the architect for the project, which is estimated to cost $54 million for construction. Previously, the lot was used for surface parking for Children’s employees and also was the site of a hospital warehouse. The warehouse was recently demolished and the parking lot vacated. “The demolition was conducted in standard fashion using a track-hoe, and went as planned,” said Brasfield & Gorrie Senior Project Manager Paul Garrick. “The demolition of the rest of the site, including the parking lot, will start at the beginning of the year once we mobilize for construction.” The parking deck will provide 1,500 parking spaces and CEG CORRESPONDENT
will be located between 16th and 17th streets on the Children’s campus. The six-story office building will be on the Fourth Avenue side of the project and will house nonclinical support services, many of which have been located off Children’s main campus since construction began on the Benjamin Russell Hospital for Children building in 2008. The project is slated for completion in the Spring of 2019. “This project will help to relieve parking congestion on our campus,” said Mike McDevitt, Children’s executive vice president for facilities. “By adding this much-needed parking for staff, we can also dedicate space closer to the hospital itself for our patients’ families and visitors. There are many days, especially during cold and flu season, when our current parking is, quite frankly, inadequate. “Likewise, we expect the project to allow us to bring the more than 200 staff members currently housed off site back to campus, and, we hope, continue to contribute to the outstanding growth of Birmingham’s Parkside District.” see CHILDRENS page 6