FedEx Ground showed off its new Portland-area distribution center on Swan Island, meant to serve as a spoke to the shipping giant’s Troutdale hub.

The highly-automated, $54 million shipping station was delivered by general contractor Andersen Construction in October, but the ribbon wasn’t cut until this week due to the current seasonal shipping slowdown and the fact that FedEx is hiring, said company spokeswoman Nikki Mendocino.

A job fair will begin at 5 p.m., April 13, at the new 282,000-square foot facility at 6447 N. Cutter Circle. FedEx hopes to add about 20 people to the approximately 150 who already work there, though the rapidly-growing company is “always hiring,” according to FedEx station manager Josh Kubisch.

FedEx has doubled its business in 10 years, Kubsich said. The facility processes an average of 12,000 packages an hour. (In ideal conditions – handling only easy-to-sort, shoebox-sized boxes – the facility could process up to 16,000 an hour, Kubisch said.)

The facility features a large warehouse, accessory offices and extensive parking and truck loading areas. Each of six truck lines can hold 26 trucks at a time.

The site in the Swan Island industrial neighborhood is familiar to FedEx. Portland operations were housed on the same property in a 151,000-square foot building from 1992 until 2009, when FedEx relocated to a bigger building in the Troutdale Reynolds Industrial Park between the Columbia River and the Troutdale Airport.

The 22.3-acre Swan Island property was listed for sale, but FedEx ultimately decided to stay on the Port of Portland-owned site and build, Kubisch said.

“We’re happy to have you back in the city of Portland,” said Patrick Quinton, executive director of the Portland Development Commission, who spoke at the ribbon cutting.

Hubs like the one in Troudale manage regional deliveries, while stations oversee day-to-day ones. Most, though not all, FedEx packages delivered to Portland residents will pass through the Swan Island center, Mendocino said.

In February, the 91ÊÓƵ reported that FedEx was exercising an option to purchase 14 adjacent acres in Troutdale from the Port of Portland, after a longstanding plan to build a power plant on the site fell through.

The developer of the Swan Island distribution center was Setzer Properties, the civil engineer was Symons Engineering Consultants and the architect was Twenty-Ten Engineering.

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