North Greenwood Industrial Park gearing up for tenants
A signature economic development project in northern Greenwood County is almost ready to accommodate tenants, as work to bring $1 million of infrastructure to the site is winding down.
In August, County Council voted to allocate $1.1 million for development of the North Greenwood Industrial Park on the U.S. Highway 25 North corridor, with the money going toward construction and engineering of an access road, sewer lines and signage.
The sign and utility lines have been installed, and county leaders said grading on the road is nearly complete.
It’s part of a larger vision for the property, which is also receiving $8.4 million from the capital projects sales tax approved by voters in November. Officials plan to develop a 31.7-acre parcel offering ready-made pads to businesses. Plans also call for the construction of a 100,000-square-foot spec building that can be presented to potential investors.
Putting nearly $10 million into a single piece of land is a significant investment, County Manager Toby Chappell said, but one that officials believe is necessary to ensure the region can stay competitive.
“We need product to sell. We can find companies, give tax incentives and all those things, but if they don’t have a place to build their facility and operate, the two are obviously interrelated,” he said. “Two, it is on a four-lane highway already, so logistically it’s very advantageous to us to put it there.”
The park is near major industries such as Colgate-Palmolive, Diana Pet Foods and UTC Aerospace Systems.
The non-sales tax funds are coming from three places: $600,000 from a state Department of Commerce Grant, $125,000 from Duke Energy’s site readiness program and $395,000 from the county.
Greenwood-based Satterfield Construction Co. was awarded the $866,540 construction contract, and Greenwood Commissioners of Public Works is receiving $55,000.
“If we’re looking to cluster industry together, this is the next logical cluster. And while the number is a lot of money, $725,000 of that is not coming from the county. I think when you look at all of those things together, now was the right time for us to make this move,” Chappell said.
According to a posting on the state Department of Commerce’s website, the property’s per-acre price is $7,500. It’s 29 miles from Interstate 385, 125 miles from Charlotte-Douglas International Airport and 52 miles from the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport. The nearest port is in Charleston – 183 miles away.
With on-site sewer handled by Ware Shoals, electricity is provided by Duke Energy, natural gas by Greenwood’s Commissioners of Public Works and telecommunications by CenturyLink.
Chappell said the industrial park is ready to host tenants “immediately.”
“I think that the Partnership Alliance is actively recruiting businesses to go into the park,” Chappell said. “I think a lot of things would be ideal in there. If you’re looking at heavy industrial, Ware Shoals has wastewater capacity available, I think being on a four-lane highway 28 miles from an interstate would be good for distribution, so it’s open to pretty much any kind of client.”
Greenwood Partnership Alliance CEO Heather Simmons Jones said having the park in the county’s portfolio has already begun to generate leads.
“We have had specific interests in the North Greenwood Industrial Park as it becomes more “pad ready” that prospects say would not have otherwise been there. Primarily, companies that we talk to are looking to be operational quickly and the stage of readiness that our park now sits in shaves months off the timeline for these prospective companies,” she said.
Originally Published by Index-Journal on:Dec 18, 2017
By ADAM BENSON abenson@indexjournal.com