A Florida-based private equity firm has purchased more than 2.2 million square feet of manufacturing space in the Shoals area with an eye toward establishing an aerospace hub.

AE Industrial Partners, through its affiliate Rocket Shoals, has acquired an industrial facility in Cherokee from the Retirement Systems of Alabama.

Terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed. Attempts to contact RSA for comment were not immediately successful.

Located at 1200 Haley Drive, the facility is situated on 638 acres and contains 2.27 million square feet of industrial zoned manufacturing capacity whose previous tenants included National Steel Car, Navistar, and FreightCar America.

FreightCar America announced in 2020 that it was closing its Colbert County manufacturing plant.

The property, currently unoccupied, will be home to AEI portfolio companies, as well as aerospace suppliers, manufacturers, and innovators.

AEI plans to partner with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, a federally recognized tribe of Native Americans with reservation lands in lower Alabama, in the venture.

“Alabama’s aerospace sector is robust and ideally positioned for growth because of its many capabilities,” Alabama Commerce Secretary Ellen McNair said. “I look forward to seeing how AEI’s plans for an aerospace hub in the Shoals area can contribute to the industry’s growth curve.”

David Rowe, co-CEO and managing partner at AE Industrial, said the firm’s strategy is to “drive value creation at the nexus of the aerospace, space and defense markets – all sectors that are currently thriving in Alabama.”

Local officials pointed to the area’s proximity to Huntsville and its defense and aerospace companies, as well as government researching, engineering and testing facilities.

“We are proud to call Alabama home as we expand several of our marquee companies in the Shoals area,” Chris Emerson, senior partner at AE Industrial, said. “Our collective experiences with past projects, including Mercedes-Benz and the Airbus final assembly line in Mobile, give us confidence in our strong regional relationships and ability to engage with local partners to establish north Alabama as an ‘aerospace corridor’.”