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Applied Materials, a chip equipment maker tied to the AI boom, is building a 306,400 square foot logistics center in Gloucester

Construction is under way on a three phase, 306,400 square foot center with 29 loading docks and 210 parking spaces. It supports the Gloucester plant that makes ion implant machines, a step in making nearly every modern chip, including the chips that run AI.

Gloucester

By Ana Lucia · Saturday, November 7 · Updated Saturday, November 7How we work

Trust Check: Checked against public records

Construction is under way at 11 Dory Road, where the two wind turbines came down and the land has been cleared. Applied Materials told the city the building is a logistics center for its Gloucester operations. Its filings with the city show what is going up and how it fits on the site.

What is being built. The filings, which Applied submitted to the Gloucester Planning Board in March 2026, describe an "Applied Materials Logistics Center" at 11 Dory Road, the site where two wind turbines used to stand. The plan is to build it in three phases, for a total of about 306,400 square feet. The filings are the plan, and we do not know how far along each phase is. The plans list one part of about 243,000 square feet and another of about 63,400 square feet.

  • Loading docks: 15 in one area and 14 in another, 29 in all.
  • Parking: about 210 spaces.
  • Inside: warehouse space, plus offices, a cafe and a fitness center on a mezzanine, and rooms the plans label as test labs.
  • Outside: truck courts, a stormwater system and replacement wetlands to make up for wetland that is disturbed.

The plan keeps the existing Brazonics building in the middle of the site, and the new warehouse wraps around it. The map below shows where the site is and lets you zoom into the plan Applied filed.

How it is designed to look. The design exhibits show corrugated metal panels in light gray, medium gray and blue gray, an aluminum and glass entrance wall, and a precast concrete base. The exhibits also note a chance for a large exterior mural, which would be reviewed with Planning Department staff.

The plans. These images come from the design exhibits Applied filed with the city. They show the design the company filed. The building is still under construction, so the finished result may differ.

Four flat drawings of the proposed building from the west, south, east and north, long and low with a taller glass entrance on the west and east sides and a row of loading doors along the north side
The proposed building seen from the west, south, east and north. The north side, at the bottom, is where the loading doors are. Source: City of Gloucester Planning Board file, design exhibits submitted by Applied Materials.
Computer drawing of the proposed main entrance at dusk, a glass front with a copper colored frame, gray metal walls and cars parked along the front
The main entrance as drawn in the filing, at dusk. Source: City of Gloucester Planning Board file, design exhibits submitted by Applied Materials.
Computer drawing of the northeast side of the proposed building, gray metal walls with trucks backed up to loading doors on the left
The northeast side, where trucks would load and unload. Source: City of Gloucester Planning Board file, design exhibits submitted by Applied Materials.
Computer drawing of the northwest loading docks at sunset, two trucks parked in front of the doors and a gray metal building behind them
The northwest loading docks, as drawn in the filing. Source: City of Gloucester Planning Board file, design exhibits submitted by Applied Materials.

The paper trail. Applied filed its site plan review application on March 19, 2026, for a Planning Board hearing set for April 16. The Planning Board later voted 6 to 0 to approve the project, and the decision was filed July 23, according to our earlier reporting.

Applied also filed a stormwater management report and a wetlands filing with the Conservation Commission at the same time as the site plan. They matter because the site sits beside Route 128 and has several wetlands, shown in gray on the plan, and rain runoff has to be managed as the building goes up. These are the filings where the city and the Conservation Commission check how runoff and wetlands are handled, and the plan routes runoff to a stormwater basin and replaces wetland that is disturbed.

What Applied does in Gloucester. Applied Materials is one of the world's largest makers of chip equipment. Its Gloucester campus builds ion implant machines. They add tiny amounts of other atoms, such as boron or phosphorus, to silicon wafers so a chip's transistors carry current the right way. Nearly every modern chip needs this step, and Applied says a chip with built-in memory may need up to 60 of them. About 1,200 people work on site now, according to Applied. The new center supports that work. The Planning Board's findings call it a logistics facility supporting Applied's Gloucester operations, and the plans list warehouse space, offices and rooms labeled as test labs.

Part of the AI chip supply chain. The processors and memory chips that run AI are made with ion implant, so machines built in Gloucester are part of the supply chain behind AI data centers. Applied reported record sales of $9.115 billion in its third quarter, up 25% from a year earlier, and company leaders said some of its products had strong demand in AI markets. The chief financial officer said Applied is making more manufacturing capacity investments to support demand through the end of the decade. He gave no dollar figure and did not name Gloucester. Applied does not break out how much of its implant business comes from AI.

Update, Nov. 7: Added background on what Applied makes in Gloucester and a map of the site.

Sources

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