SPANISH FORT, Ala. (WKRG) – A Blue Shipping Container is one of Fort Park’s newest ventures located inside downtown Spanish Fort. The shopping complex and the container park are attracting new tenants this year.

“Something that usually takes two and a half months to open, we did it in three and a half weeks and it was a whirlwind,” said Randy Burgan of Boom’s Thai Kitchen.

Boom’s Thai Kitchen is ready to take advantage of the larger crowds expected at the resort over the coming months. The restaurant opened earlier this month and the owners say business has been overwhelming. The Fort Park is home to several new restaurants this year, filling several voids in the popular destination.

Spanish Fort Town Center’s flagship store is Bass Pro Shops, but for a time many other storefronts sat vacant, including the former 100,000 square foot JCPenney building recently purchased by builder DR Horton.

“It’s going to help us all be able to have lunch, maybe even take-out dinners. When we looked at the screening here, that was one of the things we looked at,” said Burgan, who is excited about the moving in of the other tenants.

It was announced last month that DR Horton would make the building its new regional offices, but we’re told some retail space will still be available for rent. According to a site plan, much of the 230-acre complex is expected to become another phase at some point. Part of the land was once the proposed site for an Amazon regional fulfillment center when those plans were announced in 2020, but last year Amazon announced it would build elsewhere, leaving the space undeveloped for the moment.

The town of Spanish Fort is also working to attract new businesses to the complex, but no major announcements have been made yet.