New shipping center expected to be completed in 2015, create 25–35 new jobs

The Pflugerville Community Development Corp. and Indiana-based Scannell Properties signed a land agreement Feb. 28 that will bring a new $33.3 million, 250,000-square-foot FedEx Ground distributing and shipping facility to East Pflugerville.

The development has been known as Project Pandora for several months but was not unveiled to the public until land and lease deals could be settled between the PCDC and FedEx. Scannell purchased 33 acres at the 130 Commerce Center in East Pflugerville on behalf of FedEx and plans to build the facility and lease it back to FedEx once construction is completed. The project is slated to begin construction within 60 days and finish in the first or second quarter of 2015.

FedEx already has a 50,000-square-foot building in Pflugerville near the city's border with Round Rock on Royston Lane. Relocating to the new building will allow the company to expand by 25–35 employees, with plans to increase to 115 employees within four years and to 194 direct and indirect employees in the next 15 years.

"One of the City Council's stated goals is to bring employment centers into the city," Pflugerville Mayor Jeff Coleman said. "FedEx is giving us that population that the city has been seeking."

Relocating to the 130 Commerce Center will also help FedEx get shipments and deliveries in and out of its warehouse in a timely manner. Akers said the company specifically wanted to relocate along SH 130 to avoid traffic gridlock on I-35 and MoPac in Austin. Pflugerville is also one of the only cities with infrastructure along the tollway.

"[FedEx] told us they had to be out of Austin with their trucks going to San Antonio and Dallas at 4 p.m.," Akers said. "The only way they could get out of the Austin metro area at that time of the day is to be on SH 130, so this was the perfect location."

For Pflugerville, FedEx's future development will mean an additional $23 million– $24 million in taxable sales and purchases and $3.6 million in property taxes in the next 15 years, according to an impact study by Austin-based economic research firm Impact DataSource. The facility's employees will also contribute to a larger daytime population to help boost city businesses.

"This is significant because now [FedEx employees] will be forced to shop and eat lunch in Pflugerville, as opposed to being on I-35, where they can go into Austin or Round Rock relatively easily," Akers said.

While the PCDC generally offers incentives to businesses looking to build in the city—especially for development on Pflugerville's east side—it did not extend any to FedEx. The PCDC, in fact, made a profit of $2 million by selling the land for the new location.

Charles Harvey, vice president for commercial real estate firm Don Quick and Associates, represented the PCDC and brokered the sale with Scannell Properties.