Three companies responded to the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board’s request for proposals for a significant new warehouse and administrative office space.
The requests were due Friday and the responding companies were DHL Supply Chain, Scannell Properties and Aronov and BL Harbert International, an ABC spokesman told Alabama Daily News.
“The next step is that each of the proposals will be thoroughly evaluated, making sure that they meet all of the requirements of the RFP,” Dean Argo said Monday. “Obviously, we asked the respondents to provide highly detailed information which will take some time to review. It may take several weeks to complete that review.”
The board is not yet releasing the proposals.
The RFP sought a contractor to design, build and lease the agency a warehouse that could be more than double the size of its current 140,000-square-foot facility.
Agency officials have said the current warehouse in Montgomery through which almost all liquor sold in the state is distributed is too small and outdated. The amount of liquor sold in Alabama has nearly doubled in the last decade and is expected to continue to increase. Those increased sales would pay for higher rent costs, ABC Administrator Curtis Stewart told a panel of lawmakers last month. He said the agency could pay $5 million more in rent per year — an estimate he considered high — and the state would still see an increase in liquor tax profits.
John Knight, an ABC board member, previously told ADN he was concerned the new site could cost up to $100 million. He worried about the impact the expense would have on state revenues.
State law says ABC must rent, not own, all the properties it uses, including retail space. A state lawmaker last month said he’s considering legislation to change that, at least for warehouse space.
The RFP calls for a 250,000-square-foot warehouse with expansion capabilities of up to 325,000 square feet and a separate, two-story central office.