It was a busy night for the Huntsville City Council.

The Thursday night meeting saw the city continue its westward expansion and also approve development agreements that would create more than 450 jobs with nearly $200 million in capital investment.

The council approved annexing nearly 650 acres into Huntsville on the south side of Interstate 565 and east and west of Swancott Road. The annexation, which was requested by GL McCrary Farms, moves Huntsville ahead of Chicago as the nation’s 37th largest city in land area.

According to the city, 100 acres will be for a P-8 city school and potential expansion; the rest will be for residential and development.

The development agreements are with Blue Origin and SPX Enterprises, reinforcing the city’s position as a hub for advanced manufacturing and aerospace innovation.

According to its agreement, Blue Origin will invest $71.4 million to expand operations in Cummings Research Park and Jetplex Industrial Park, establishing Alabama as home to its thruster production and creating 105 jobs.

In turn, the City will provide up to $200,000 in hiring incentives and up to $200,000 to support related infrastructure improvements as the project meets specified targets.

In the other agreement, the city and Industrial Development Authority approved up to $250,000 in incentives, contingent upon SPX meeting agreed-upon hiring and wage benchmarks through Dec. 31, 2029.

SPX Enterprises is developing a $118 million production facility west of County Line Road in the Greenbrier area to manufacture large-scale cooling and air-handling equipment for data centers. The 460,000-square-foot facility is expected to create 350 jobs.

Both development agreements include non-educational tax abatements for a period of 10 years.

“Huntsville’s stability in governance, coupled with a highly skilled workforce, continues to make the Rocket City attractive to new and expanding industry,” said Mayor Tommy Battle. “As a result, these large-scale capital investments in facilities and people are fueling Huntsville’s economy and are providing regional employment opportunities for generations to come.”

The annexation follows a year in which Huntsville annexed 3,011 acres, the most since 2008, when the city saw a growth spurt of nearly 10,000 acres.

Huntsville now covers more than 230 square miles, moving just ahead of Chicago (227.7 square miles) in area and behind Tucson, the country’s 36th largest city in area at 242.9 square miles.

Thursday’s action follows recent developments about a North Huntsville retail district which is slated to begin construction this year.

The city approved a contract with Schoel Engineering two weeks ago for engineering and construction services, including public infrastructure improvements, related to the North Village Town Center project at North Memorial Parkway and the Northern Bypass.

The scope of the work includes general mass grading, utilities, and additional roadway improvements for the area.

The $240 million development, which will be anchored by Target and Home Depot stores, was announced in December. Upon completion, it will include more than 600,000 square feet of retail shops and restaurants.

In a related move, the city also agreed to sell 15.23 acres directly across from North Village Town Center to Hank Holdings LLC.

The property will be developed to deliver additional retail and restaurant tenants to the North Huntsville retail district.