Increasing economic and industrial growth in Mobile and Baldwin County is spurring the creation of a new logistics center in north Baldwin County, outside of Bay Minette.

Ward Properties, a Mobile-based real estate firm, is hoping to construct a 1.5-2 million square foot logistics park in north Baldwin County, off Live Oak Landing campsite. On Tuesday, the Baldwin County Commission officially signed off on the project, issuing a letter of support.

“I think it’s a good deal,” County Commissioner Skip Gruber said during the meeting. “It’s going to make some space for warehousing, which is needed.”

The forthcoming North Baldwin Logistics Park will be at the southwest corner of Interstate 65 and State Highway 225. T. Bestor Ward III, president of Ward Properties, has owned the land since 2001. Ward is also chairman of the board of directors of the Alabama State Port Authority. He was appointed to the board in 2016 and named chair in 2019 by Gov. Kay Ivey.

Ward initially owned most of the property in that area but sold a majority of it to the county 12 years ago to create Live Oak Landing, he said at the meeting. When that happened, about 144 acres were subdivided and left to Ward, where the park will be, though the site won’t be contiguous to the landing.