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Spartanburg Area Economic Developments


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As I'm sure many of you saw, Advance America has been sold for $780 million to Latin American lender Grupo Elektra. They say the headquarters and all employees will remain in Spartanburg for the "foreseeable future." However, as we saw with Extended Stay once they were bought, I wouldn't rely of them staying here long-term.

Herald-Journal article

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Drove by the Amazon site yesterday (John Dodd Road and Interstate 26) and noticed the heavy equipment has already arrived. It appears that construction, or at least the earth-moving part of the project, will be commencing very shortly.

Yep, drove by this last Sunday and site preparation is well underway. Looks like they have their own concrete production equipment on site. This facility is going to be big.

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New Mexico-based Ernest Health broke ground on a new rehab hospital today at North Grove Medical Park. It's a $14 million project and will be 50,000 sq ft, have 40 beds, and employ 150 people (up from 100 announced previously). The jobs will have annual salaries of $50,000 on average, plus benefits. The facility should be complete in summer 2013.

Herald-Journal article

Edited by westsider28
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I was trying to find Spartanburg's office vacancy rate (which is difficult, as we are a sub-market of Greenville), and I found this PDF report from Q3-2012.  Apparently, Spartanburg only has 1.5 million sq ft of total office space compared to 9 million sq ft in Greenville.  That's shocking to me considering we're only half their size, population-wise.

 

But the most interesting thing I saw in this report is that Spartanburg has a 0.0% vacancy rate for Class-A office space.  Absolutely no vacancy!  IMO, this means we need some new construction of Class-A space--ideally downtown (of course, we'd need businesses/tenants for said space).  Thoughts?  Anyone who knows more about this stuff than me want to weigh in?

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I was trying to find Spartanburg's office vacancy rate (which is difficult, as we are a sub-market of Greenville), and I found this PDF report from Q3-2012.  Apparently, Spartanburg only has 1.5 million sq ft of total office space compared to 9 million sq ft in Greenville.  That's shocking to me considering we're only half their size, population-wise.

 

But the most interesting thing I saw in this report is that Spartanburg has a 0.0% vacancy rate for Class-A office space.  Absolutely no vacancy!  IMO, this means we need some new construction of Class-A space--ideally downtown (of course, we'd need businesses/tenants for said space).  Thoughts?  Anyone who knows more about this stuff than me want to weigh in?

 

I'm not surprised by the 0% vacancy rate.  

 

What we need is a 10-15 story tower with a solid tenant who can absorb 30% of the floor space.  Montgomery Building?

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Having 1.5 million sq ft of office space is not a lot, and considering Greenville's market, the substantial difference is not surprising to me. It's not just about population, it's about all sorts of things like demographics, education, capital resources, etc. It's also based on the fact that the Greenville-Spartanburg market is tertiary to places like Charlotte and Atlanta. We have many "Class A" buildings, but it's important to note that Spartanburg has a significantly larger industrial presence - especially in the warehousing, distribution, and manufacturing base - so most of our big shiny buildings tend to be industrial offices which would not contribute towards the total. Think BMW.

 

It's also worth noting that Greenville, too, has a relatively small office component when compared to its peer cities in the state: Columbia and Charleston. Greenville has a much higher industrial component to its economy than the other two.

 

So, in our case, having a low Class A vacancy rate is great- but what's really going on there? 1.5million sq ft is the size of one or two buildings in larger markets. So, what comprises the roughly 500k sq ft Class A "portfolio?" Is One Morgan Square fully leased? Are the two GDJ buildings on the 300 block of East Main fully leased? Our submarket includes the entire county, so what else is out there that may be Class A that may not be as obvious?

 

And is a new Class A building a worthwhile investment? I hope the answer is yes, but I'm not sure what the implications of a low vacancy rate are in a market like Spartanburg where the total amount available isn't that high.

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Spartanburg MSA has been ranked among the 200 Best-Performing Large Cities for job and earnings growth by the Milken Institute.  Spartanburg was ranked 108, up 73 spots from last year.  Spartanburg was also ranked No. 2 in the country for growth in high-tech gross domestic product.  Nice!

 

GSA Business article

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The HJ is reporting that a company is looking to invest $100m in a new facility on Hwy 29. That seems pretty vague to me given than 29 runs through the entire county, but my guess is that it will be a new manufacturing or distribution facility somewhere need Wellford.Every time Councilman Britt makes a statement that he is excited about a new development that is what it ends up being (ie: Adidas, Amazon)

 

http://www.goupstate.com/article/20130414/ARTICLES/304141038?tc=ar

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Carolina Alliance Bank is merging with Forest Commercial Bank in Asheville.  The combined company will operate as Carolina Alliance Bank and remain HQed in its Spartanburg building.  There will be branches in Spartanburg, Asheville, Hendersonville and soon in Seneca.  Good to see a local bank growing.

 

GSA Business article

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There's been a couple of nice economic announcements in the past few days:

 

Edgewater Automation, a custom machines manufacturer, will move into a building near I-26 and Bus-85.  They are investing $3 million and will create 53 jobs.

 

Also, Heiche US Surface Technology, a firm which specializes in surface treatment for metal automotive components, is coming to the Fairforest area.  They are investing $4 million and will create 38 jobs.

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Facts from the S.C. Department of Commerce:

- The $1 billion capital investment represents one of the highest initial investments in S.C. history.

- State officials expect 500 new manufacturing jobs to be created in Spartanburg County.

- Based in Tokyo, Japan, Toray is the largest producer of carbon fiber in the world.

- The facility will be a major supplier of advanced materials to the aerospace industry.

- The new facility will be located on about 400 acres along Highway 290 in Moore, with access to I-26 and I-85.

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