Slumping retail sales nationally hit home locally. Officials in Southeast Georgia's Effingham County are pulling out of a $200 million retail project.
Big box stores like Target and Wal-Mart have been building in the Savannah area recently, drawn by proximity to the port and Interstate highways. Their warehouse and distribution sites bring jobs and tax revenue.
Effingham County wanted in that game and planned a huge new spec site for warehouse and distribution. But now with retail on the skids, Effingham County Industrial Authority C.E.O. John Henry says, that type of industrial park doesn't make sense right now.
"I just didn't see the reason to go out and build a 400,000-square-foot facility that may sit vacant or may have to be partitioned off when there could be a higher and better use for the property," Henry says.
Henry says, a $40 million loan the county took out prior to the deal was not tied to a warehouse and distribution facility. The county is now looking for assembly, manufacturing or rail-service partners to fill the site.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
$200m industrial plan goes down with market
