The largest ever capital investment in upstate South Carolina's Cherokee County will begin late this spring when Chicago-based Glenstar Properties will start building the $415 million Cherokee Commerce Center 85 (CCC 85) in the town of Gaffney.
From start to finish, the warehouse's construction is slated to wrap up in about one year, noted the American Journal of Transportation (AJOT), a national publication.
The 550,520-sq.-ft. spec-to-suit warehouse, known as Building 2, will be built so that it can be expanded to 1.3 million sq. ft., if needed.
It is only one of five buildings planned by Glenstar and its partner, Creek Lane Capital, for the 290-acre warehouse park that will encompass 3.6 million-sq.-ft. at the intersection of S.C. Highway 105/Hyatt Street and the Interstate 85 corridor. It is an area of rapid growth between Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C., to the southwest, and Charlotte, N.C., to the northeast.
Glenstar, known for two decades as a national office and multifamily developer, is expanding its recent focus in industrial development with the Gaffney project. The news of CCC 85 follows the firm's 2022 debut in the southeast U.S. industrial sector with the groundbreaking of Tri-County 75, a new 72-acre, four-building industrial park in Fort Myers, Fla., totaling 818,000 sq. ft.
Last year, Glenstar also made the strategic hire of 30-year industrial veteran Brian Netzky as its principal. He joins company co-founder Michel Klein in leading the firm's new industrial initiatives, which are primarily focused on the Sunbelt region, and specifically the Southeast's booming I-85 corridor.
CCC 85 to Offer Massive Product Storage Space
All the warehouses at CCC 85 are being built on a speculative basis with pre-leasing now under way.
Building 2 will have a cross-dock orientation, 40-ft. clear heights, up to 232 dock doors, four drive-in doors, and parking for 452 trailers and 540 cars.
The next to break ground will be Building 4, which will include a rear-load orientation, 36-ft. clear heights, 56 dock doors, two drive-in doors, and parking for 132 trailers and 324 cars.
"Due to CCC 85's massive scope and ideal location, tenants can choose from a range of mid- to bulk-size, and best-in-class industrial space adjacent to the I-85 corridor, one of the most critical supply chain links in the Southeast," said Netzky. "The ample space also allows for flexibility to accommodate up to 1.7 million sq. ft. under one roof."
CCC 85 will be located 33 mi. from the BMW Group Plant in Spartanburg, 38 mi. from Inland Port Greer and 50 mi. southwest of Charlotte. From CCC 85, tenants can reach 100 million consumers within a one-day drive, noted AJOT. Tenants and owner/occupiers also will have access to Tier-3 incentives to further maximize their return on investment.
The Conlan Company, a Texas-based firm with an office in Marietta, Ga., will serve as the project's general contractor; South Carolina's SeamonWhiteside will provide civil engineering services.
In addition, Ware Malcomb, a nationally known architecture firm in Irvine, Calif., was selected to design CCC 85.
The industrial space will be leased by Charlotte-based Colliers, recognized as one of the nation's top commercial real estate companies.
"Despite headwinds and talk of cooling in some markets, we see only room to run for industrial, particularly in the Southeast, which has record-low occupancy combined with tremendous population growth that's creating even more demand," said Glenstar's Klein. "We anticipate significant pre-leasing on our ground-up, big box, institutional-quality industrial facilities, which enables us to modify the spec space to suit tenant needs in real-time."
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