CARENCRO, La. (AP) — Developers say part of the old Evangeline Downs Racetrack in Carencro will be the new home of a 236,000-square-foot FedEx Ground distribution center.

James Saad (SAD) of Mobile, Alabama-based Saad Development, told The Advocate the distribution center is scheduled to be completed by next spring, and FedEx is expected be operating there by the summer.

Saad says the company, which closed on the $11 million purchase of the 40-acre site last week, will build the facility and then lease it to FedEx. He says the deal has been in the works for about a year.

The track closed in 2004 when Evangeline Downs moved to a new facility in Opelousas to take advantage of legalized slot-machine gambling in St. Landry Parish.

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