San Diego International Airport celebrated a milestone in its $316 million rental car center’s construction: completion of the 2,000,000-square-foot facility’s innovative concrete facade.

Scheduled to open in January 2016, the rental car center will house most of the rental car companies serving the airport, including national brands and local and independent rental car companies. The facility will be located off Pacific Highway, according to the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority.

“This new rental car center is the latest in a series of major improvements we’ve made to the north side of the airfield,” said Robert Gleason, board chair of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority. “This facility, combined with the Landmark Aviation fixed-base operator building and the new consolidated receiving and distribution center, will streamline airport operations. In addition, this particular project will greatly improve the customer experience for the traveling public who rent cars at San Diego International Airport.”

Currently, most rental car companies serving the airport are based in a number of buildings on North Harbor Drive. Moving the rental car companies into one building will help reduce rental car traffic on Harbor Drive.

“Not only will we pull most of the shuttles off Harbor Drive, we will actually reduce the total number of rental car shuttles from 81 down to 16 — with all of them operating on a newly built interior airport roadway,” said Thella F. Bowens, president and CEO of the airport authority. “And all of the new shuttle buses will use alternative fuels."

Once it’s complete, 10 rental car companies — representing 16 brands — will operate out of the building, which has room for more than 5,000 cars, according to the airport authority.