Birmingham, Amazon, Bessemer — Groundbreaking at Amazon’s Bessemer Fulfillment Center. Photo via Pat Byington for Bham Now

A potential development, code-named Project Church, has been proposed for a 47-acre property in Bessemer—and Amazon is the potential tenant. Here’s what we know about Project Church, and what it could mean for Birmingham.

Project Church: A New Amazon Facility?

project church site plan Bessemer's Amazon facility could be expanding—meet "Project Church" — A site plan for “Project Church,” the proposed facility that could be a new Amazon location. Photo via Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood

According to the Birmingham Business Journal, a 278,000-square-foot facility has been proposed for a 47-acre property near the Amazon Fulfillment Center in Bessemer. Although Amazon is a potential tenant of the facility, the project is not yet set in stone—no property deal has closed.

However, there are some clues. First, the City of Bessemer’s Planning and Zoning Commission received several rezoning, resurvey and development plans for the site. Additionally, the square-footage of the proposed facility—278,800 square feet—is similar to existing Amazon Sortation Centers. At these Sortation Centers, workers sort orders and consolidate them onto trucks for faster delivery.

Currently, U.S. Steel owns the property. In addition, according to the Birmingham Business Journal, the office of Goodwyn|Mills|Cawood, a Birmingham-based architectural firm, is involved in the project.

What does this mean for Birmingham?

Amazon Fulfillment Center Bessemer — *Amazon Fulfillment Center in Bessemer. Photo by Jacob Blankenship for Bham Now*

Throughout the past few years, Metro Birmingham has been emerging as a logistics hub in the Southeast. If Project Church ends up becoming an Amazon project, it would be the latest logistics-related companies choosing to expand in Birmingham. Here are a few of the latest projects in the area: