Birmingham didn't land the coveted $1.6 billion Toyota-Mazda plant, but that doesn't mean Alabama's largest city is missing out, experts say.

"We are going to benefit because we are right in the middle of a diamond," Jefferson County Commissioner David Carrington said. Toyota-Mazda will be located to the north, Mercedes to the west, Honda to the east and Hyundai to the south, he said.

Birmingham and Jefferson County couldn't land a project like Toyota-Mazda because developable land simply isn't available, experts said. The area, though, is a prime spot for auto suppliers to locate.

Gov. Kay Ivey along with Toyota, Mazda and other state and local officials officially announced Wednesday afternoon that the Toyota-Mazda plant will be built on a 1,252-acre tract of farmland in Limestone County's Greenbrier community which is part of Huntsville.

The plant is expected to bring 4,000 jobs.

Rick Davis, senior vice president for economic development at the Birmingham Business Alliance, said every city in Alabama benefits from Toyota-Mazda in terms of attention, tax dollars and opportunity for more industry.

"In 1996, we didn't build a single car in the state of Alabama," he said. "Now we are the No. 4 or No. 5 (depending on the source) for automotive production states in the country, and we have done that in 22 years.

"Companies like Toyota, Mazda, Mercedes, Honda and Airbus they are coming here because we give them the one thing that is most important to them -- access to a motivated skilled workforce," Davis said. "After the incentives are gone, they need quality workers who can be trained to do the job. That is what they find here."

Disadvantages to Birmingham metro

The Birmingham metro area largely doesn't have the thousands of acres needed to land a large-scale auto manufacturer.

"If you are looking at Birmingham, there isn't a 1,200-acre piece of land that is as flat as a tabletop in the Birmingham area," Davis said.

Carrington said the largest industrial sites in Jefferson County are 150 and 300 acres.

Warren Matthews, a partner at Burr & Furman, who represents manufacturers, said the only site in the metro that could have accommodated Toyota-Mazda is a 1,540-acre megasite in Calera in Shelby County.

The farm land has rail and Interstate access, but it isn't flat.

Matthews said one thing that could hurt business deals with the city of Birmingham is a "fairly high" business license tax. He said the tax is based on gross receipts and not on actual profit.

"If you sell a lot of something, you pay a lot of business license tax," he said. "You could be losing money but be paying a significant amount of business license tax. There is no cap. It is a pretty tough tax."

Big projects

Davis said the Birmingham metro isn't missing out on big projects. It's attracting big projects.

In September, Autocar announced a $120 million facility encompassing more than 1 million square feet on property in both Birmingham and Center Point in the currently vacant Meadowcraft Complex at the intersection of Carson Road and Highway 79.

The facility will bring 746 jobs with an average salary of $58,000 plus benefits.

Autocar makes concrete trucks, waste management trucks, and garbage trucks.

Kamtek, which makes aluminum structural castings for vehicles made by Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and Nissan, has invested more than a $1 billion in Birmingham and Jefferson County over the past eight years and created 500 to 600 jobs, Davis said.

Mercedes is building what it calls a Global Logistics Center and an after-sales North American hub in the Birmingham metro area in Bibb County.

Even though Birmingham didn't land the project, the metro still gains, experts said.

"(Birmingham) gains a lot in terms of suppliers," said Samuel Addy, senior research economist, associate Dean for Economic Development Outreach at University of Alabama. "Birmingham has a lot going for it. It is basically our economic hub in the state. It may be missing the project directly, but it is not missing out."

He said there's research that shows many people will commute from the Birmingham metro to executive positions in other parts of the state. Addy said executives at Mercedes in Tuscaloosa County and Honda in Talladega County are commuting from the Birmingham metro.

Davis said the Birmingham metro can't attract new industry if it doesn't have available sites. He said that's an "intense focus" for the Birmingham Business Alliance.

These sites must be equipped with electricity, sewer, water, natural gas, fiber and other resources.

He declined to speak about specific sites, but said the project could bring more attention to Port Birmingham along the Warrior River.

"The leadership of this community, the entire MSA, understands the value of being prepared," Davis said. "Those communities that are prepared for the growth to come are those that are going to succeed."