Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

CHELSEA – As a new year begins, city leaders are optimistic about the potential of a new project to bring more businesses and jobs to Chelsea in the coming years.

Situated near the U.S. 280 corridor, Foothills Business Park features 7-8 acres of land available to businesses wanting to locate to Chelsea.

“We’re excited and looking forward to that,” Mayor Tony Picklesimer said of the development. “My focus now is to bring businesses and to bring jobs to our city. We have tremendous housing growth, and now we need to focus on jobs.”

The park’s first confirmed tenant, Therachem MediLab, is expected to start construction of a new facility on the western end of the site in the first quarter of 2021, according to Picklesimer.

The Chelsea City Council in early 2020 approved an incentives package totaling about $230,000 for Therachem, including the donation of almost 1 acre of land located in the business park valued at about $123,000, infrastructure assistance valued at about $7,000 and abatement of sales and use taxes totaling $100,000.

Chelsea’s incentives for the early-stage biopharma company were to be combined with incentives from Shelby County and the state of Alabama.

Therachem is headquartered off Chesser Crane Road in Chelsea and also operates a research and development center in Jaipur, India.

The new facility will allow Therachem to grow its workforce and enhance its production and research and development.

The business park is located near the Foothills subdivision and Chelsea Fire Station 31.

Picklesimer said other businesses have expressed interest in locating to the park in the future.

“I feel like it will really gain some momentum and work for us,” he said. “Once we get it ready and all of the utilities are in, I think there will be businesses interested in coming.”