BIRMINGHAM (AP) — Amazon reportedly will build a distribution center near Birmingham that will eventually employ about 3,000 people.

News outlets quote Jefferson County Commission President Jimmie Stephens as saying agreements were signed Thursday to locate the $325 million facility west of Birmingham in Bessemer.

Officials are set to announce the project during an event on Friday.

The more than 850,000-square-foot center will initially employ about 1,500 people, and Stephens says that number is expected to double eventually. Employees will receive full benefits and an average hourly wage of $14.65.

Birmingham is one of the last U.S. cities its size without an Amazon facility to fulfill orders. The region previously submitted a proposal for Amazon’s new headquarters but wasn’t selected.

Amazon already has a sorting center on the Gulf Coast at Mobile.