Freedom Real Estate & Capital (Freedom), Torch Technologies (Torch) and Invariant Corporation (Invariant) have announced they are breaking ground on a new mixed-use facility in South Huntsville, with a targeted completion date in the summer of 2021. The groundbreaking ceremony, cancelled due to COVID-19, was set to take place at the end of April. This new development follows the 2019 completion of Torch’s Technology Integration and Prototyping Center.

Freedom, a real estate investment company, will develop the new facility at 4040 Chris Drive, and has leased the first two spaces to Torch and Invariant, with opportunity for an additional tenant. The multi-tenant building will house up to 92,000 square feet and will feature a mix of office, research and development labs, light manufacturing, assembly and integration space along with a high bay.

Torch, a 100% employee-owned services and solutions defense contractor founded in 2002 in Huntsville, has shown its continued commitment to the redevelopment of and investment in South Huntsville through the rapid growth of its Huntsville headquarters. Torch’s campus consisted of two buildings in 2015, and just five years later Torch is breaking ground on its sixth building. “We are proud to work alongside the city and state in our continued efforts to improve the standard of living in our South Huntsville community” said John Watson, President and CEO of Torch.

Invariant, an engineering services and software development company founded in 2001 in Huntsville, is expanding into the facility to support its continued growth. “We are excited to grow and expand into this new facility that will provide our employees the resources needed to ensure quality services and products are delivered to our customers, and we are proud to be a part of Huntsville’s continuing success” stated David Anderson, President of Invariant.

The project is part of a continued effort to redevelop South Huntsville. The city of Huntsville has been working to reclaim, modernize and upgrade the area along South Memorial Parkway to encourage investment and redevelopment in the area, and is seeing tremendous progress with many announcements of new projects, including Hays Farm. “Torch has been a catalyst for South Huntsville’s revitalization since the very beginning,” said Bekah Schmidt, CEO of South Huntsville Business Main Association. “The new facility at 4040 Chris Drive is a mixed-use facility with a state-of-the-art laboratory and premier manufacturing space. We look forward to seeing this project completed next year and appreciate Torch’s continued investment in South Huntsville!”

Bill Roark, co-founder of Torch Technologies and CEO of Freedom Real Estate & Capital, added “We are proud to be able to contribute to economic development and growth in South Huntsville. This community is our home, and we look forward to watching it grow and thrive for years to come.”

Torch Technologies (Torch) virtually celebrated the ribbon cutting of its newest building, the Technology Integration and Prototyping Center. The ribbon cutting was scheduled to be held on March 13, 2020 at Torch’s new lab and solutions facility but was canceled due to COVID-19.

TIPC, the newest facility of Torch’s growing campus, consists of a 45,000 square foot, two-story research and development building with an attached 5,000 square foot high bay facility. The TIPC facility incorporates offices, labs, engineering design tools, collaborative work areas, meeting spaces, and a high bay and complete machining and fabrication capability.

“It was nearly two years ago that we celebrated the groundbreaking of Torch’s Technology Integration and Prototyping Center (affectionally referred to as the TIPC). At that time, we were 750 employee-owners and $348M in revenue,” said Torch President and CEO John Watson. “Since then, we have grown to approximately 1100 employee-owners and half a billion dollars in annual sales. A key contributor to this growth has been the investment we made into the TIPC.” 

The new facility has greatly expanded Torch’s capacity to deliver cost-effective design and prototyping solutions for their customers. With the addition of the newest facility, Torch’s Huntsville campus now comprises four buildings, and will break ground on a fifth building in April.

Torch, established on October 2, 2002 in Huntsville, Alabama, was founded by Bill Roark and Don Holder. In its first year, Torch had seven employees and one location. Now, with more than 1100 employee-owners in 17 locations in twelve states, one territory, and one foreign country, Torch is lighting the pathway of freedom.

For more information about the Technology Integration and Prototyping Center.

The construction will include the construction of a new 35,000+ SF lab and solutions facility. Construction of this new building will allow Torch to undertake projects of greater complexity, “ranging from developing instruments that will completely change how warhead testing is accomplished to re-engineering products that protect our nation,” said Torch President John Watson.

The groundbreaking event took place at the lot on the corner of Chris Dr. and Vermont Rd. Next, a reception followed at The Freedom Center located at 4090 South Memorial Parkway. John Watson stated, “As a native Alabamian – born and raised in rural South Alabama, educated at Auburn in Central Alabama, and working a large portion of my career in North Alabama – I am sincerely thankful for the partnership that we have with the city and state, as we all work together to improve the standard of living in our community.”