The State Ports Authority is getting ready to spend nearly $1 million on preliminary technical work needed for a distribution center along Interstate 26 that will be geared toward retailers, especially e-commerce firms.
The board of the owner and operator of the Port of Charleston last week approved hiring Infrastructure Consulting and Engineering to design an on-site access road, a bridge over Timothy Creek and 20-acre area for storing cargo containers and truck chassis at the Ridgeville Industrial Campus.
The consultants also will prepare bid documents for contractors interested in building the facility. The work is scheduled for completion by the end of this year, with construction at the distribution center to start in 2021.
“It’s site preparation work — taking a virgin site and getting it ready so that when we do need to pull the trigger on it there is immediate action that can be taken,” said Barbara Melvin, the SPA’s chief operations officer. “We anticipate a lot of activity on that site and some very positive news as we move into the next fiscal year.”
Jim Newsome, the authority’s CEO, said the maritime agency is negotiating with several potential tenants and “we feel very positive that something will be realized in fiscal 2021,” which starts Wednesday.
Newsome said the site will help the port expand its cargo base with more retail customers, particularly those that sell goods online. For the past decade, the authority has focused on capturing trade for the fast-growing Southeast manufacturing base, which has powered the port to record growth.
The SPA purchased the site for $16.2 million in June 2018 from WestRock Co.
Plans submitted to the Army Corps of Engineers call for a dozen distribution centers — 10 to be served by trucks and the other two served by trains using a Norfolk Southern rail spur into the site. All told, the commerce park would have about 5.5 million square feet of warehouse and distribution space if built out.
The industrial site would have shipping and receiving docks for 560 trucks and parking for 2,200 trucks and 1,100 employees and visitors. The rail line eventually will connect to a cargo transfer station linked to the new Leatherman Terminal that’s set to open next year in North Charleston.
Reach David Wren at 843-937-5550 or on Twitter at @David_Wren_
