If you drive through Birmingham on Interstate 20/59, there’s no missing the new construction taking place near the Tallapoosa exit.

The frame of a multi-story building is rising on what was once the grounds of the former Stockham Valve property.

When it’s completed, it’ll be the new headquarters for Coca-Cola Bottling Co. United.

The official groundbreaking happened in June 2024 and a three-year, $330 million construction project got underway. Now, it’s easier to visualize where the headquarters building will be and how it will serve as a new gateway to the city.

It’s one of the largest investments by a private company in Birmingham history. The new bottling facility will produce Coca-Cola products for Jefferson County and 11 other surrounding counties.

“This new campus will create jobs and secure existing ones, further boosting our economy,” Gov. Kay Ivey said at the groundbreaking.

When the company moves into the new campus in 2027, the facility will retain 750 jobs and add up to 50 more.

The new facility will include a 150,000-square-foot multi-floor office complex and a 300,000- square-foot warehouse featuring the Vertique case picking system that is among the most advanced in the beverage industry. Coca-Cola United has invested in Vertique technology at six of its locations, including Mobile in 2021.

Coke’s new facility, which along with its famous trademark will be highly visible to traffic along Interstate 20/59, will house the Birmingham Coca-Cola sales center as well as Coca-Cola United’s Corporate, Central Region and North Alabama Division headquarters – the latter of which supports the company’s operations in Carbon Hill, Cullman, Florence, Oxford and Tuscaloosa.

Bulldozers began clearing 105 acres in March 2024.

The project was officially announced after approval of city and county incentives.

The company’s Classic Food and Vending arm, customer solutions center and services department will also be based in the new facility. The iconic Coca-Cola brand made its way to the Magic City in 1902 when businessman and community philanthropist Crawford Johnson Sr. opened Birmingham Coca-Cola with a staff consisting of one associate and a mule named Bird. Johnson and his family went on to open and acquire several bottling franchises throughout the Southeast, and in 1974, the company was incorporated as Coca-Cola UNITED.

The company has operated out of its current facility at 4600 East Lake Blvd. since 1979. Coca-Cola purchased the Stockham Valves and Fittings property in 2013 on 40th Street North, about two miles from its current East Lake Boulevard location.