WALHALLA —Oconee County Economic Development Commission (EDC) officials welcomed county government’s endorsement of their request for a $1.5 million speculative building.
EDC officials heard the endorsement directly from the mouth of Oconee County Council Chairman George Blanchard during the group’s regular monthly meeting Friday.
Blanchard said the council has decided to make the so-called spec building one of its top funding priorities.
“We fully support that a spec building is required,” Blanchard said, reiterating the council’s position announced at a workshop Thursday that outlined officials’ plans to fund capital projects they deemed most important.
Supporting a new spec building is no longer a politically risky thing for the council to do given the success of its first spec building at the county’s Commerce Center on Highway 11 near Westminster. The county recovered the $770,000 cost of the spec building last year and reaped the benefits this year from a $5 million expansion to the plant by Lift Technologies Inc., which would create at least 50 new jobs.
Blanchard said the county would take $770,000 already in the bank from the sale of the previous spec building to help build a new one. He said one way being explored to get the additional $780,000 needed would be using a percentage of the $542,000 the county derives from fee-in-lieu of taxes to pay a short-term note that would finance the new spec building.
By doing that, Blanchard said 1 mill set aside for economic development could be left alone to meet the future needs of developing the Golden Corner Commerce Park in Fair Play.
Blanchard said that moving with speed on developing the new industrial park is another pressing priority for the council and expressed a sense of frustration with the slow pace of getting infrastructure in place. He said a decision has to be made on whether to go with an expandable 50,000-gallon a day wastewater treatment plant or immediately go to a higher capacity plant.
The council would have an easier time making a decision if it knew what kind if capacity would be needed at a proposed recreation park the state Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism wants developed on 350-acres behind the Interstate 85 Welcome Center on Exit 1.
Blanchard confessed he’s had no luck prying information from state officials on the size of the proposed project, even though the deadline for accepting bids from developers closed weeks ago. Blanchard said he would ask local Sen. Thomas Alexander, R-Walhalla, for help.
“I don’t need to know the details about the project, I just want to know the capacity,” Blanchard said.
The county’s endorsement of a new spec building and push to advance the proposed industrial park in Fair Play was music to the ears of EDC officials.
EDC Director Jim Alexander said that just as car dealers need to show a car to nail a sale, so too the county must show a building to attract business.
Alexander said the county still has 15 acres available at the Highway 11 Commerce Center and would like to put a 50,000-square-foot facility on part of it.
County Administrator Dale Surrett said at Thursday’s workshop that the county’s new investment in a spec building could be used as a blueprint for what could eventually be accomplished at the Golden Corner Commerce Park.
“We need to look long term,” Surrett said.
Councilman Frank Ables agreed at Thursday meeting that the county has to have something to show prospective businesses.
“We have had detractors when it comes to spec buildings,” Ables said. “They were wrong the first time.”
Daily Journal/Messenger Editor Brett McLaughlin contributed to this article.
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July 19, 2008
7:53 a.m.Report inappropriate content
Some questions for our county leaders:
(1) You've been telling us for several years that we need the Golden Corner Hayfield on 59, because new businesses want to build near an interstate highway. You've been insisting that we MUST have the new I-85 site to lure businesses. If so, why are you now wanting to build a spec building so far from that interstate? By your own argument, aren't you building a new spec building in the wrong place?
(2) Yes, that car dealer needs cars on the lot to show customers. But remember that the car dealer bought the lot, and buys the cars at HIS own risk, not OURS. He's gambling on car sales with his own money, while Council and EDC real estate speculators are gambling with ours.
(3) Are our "leaders" telling us if we gamble once and at least break even (or so they tell us), that we should continue to roll the dice with more real estate gambling?
July 19, 2008
1:08 p.m.Report inappropriate content
It seems to me that the risk OC took with the first spec building was resolved with just blind luck. From what I've seen written, Lif-Tek is closing other facilities and moving all OPS to OC due to lower expenses (i.e. labor). Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that they would have more easily expanded into any area available and built a building or bought one of the other two buildings that are, or have been available in sight of their existing facility. It is fairly obvious that they were just being good neighbors when they purchased the spec building. Had nothing to do with having something to show for them to expand in Oconee County. They were already here and were committed to expanding. Having the proverbial 'car on the lot' had nothing to do with that action and claiming that sale was a resounding success is inappropriate.
July 19, 2008
7:56 p.m.Report inappropriate content
No moree spec buildings. I don't believe there has ever been an accurate accounting on the first spec building.