Mar. 11—HENDERSON — Vance County Commissioners signaled support this week toward allowing the Henderson-Vance Industrial Park to design, build and market shell buildings in the business park.
The first, a building at the size of 50,000 square feet but expandable to 100,000 square feet, would be constructed at the corner of Bearpond Road and Commerce Drive. The nonprofit industrial park's board is ready to proceed with the design phase of the project at a design cost of $49,950, which includes design, bidding and construction oversight.
"[Nonprofits] wouldn't necessarily be subject to all of the things that we would as a local government," County Manager Jordan McMillen told commissioners. "So, I think it allows us to move much more expediently on the project."
"The county would be the one that would fund it," McMillen said later. "... The city could put money into it. Investors could put money into it. That's the value of working through the nonprofit. They can accept funds, whereas governments can't."
Vance County would convey 7 acres of land at a yet undetermined cost per acre to the park. McMillen said that the land was acquired for $19,000 per acre so it would then be sold at a price greater than that, possibly $22,000 per acre. The exact price remains to be determined.
Shell buildings include walls and possibly a concrete floor, but are otherwise ready for upfit. The idea is, if a building is already in place, the available space will draw businesses to operate there.
"The state has been telling us for years that we need to have a building ready," Commissioner Gordon Wilder said at Monday's meeting. "And not only that, I think history has shown that, when we had a building ready, you can look back at the businesses that have come here in the last few years, a building was the reason they came."
"Whether we like to play that game or not, if we're gonna be in the game, we got to play by their rules," he added. "So I think it's a great step forward."
"Many, many counties are suffering now from having available buildings," McMillen said. "All the buildings are filled up. We're the same way, we don't have any available industrial buildings. "What we did Monday night, out of the Properties Committee, was have a conversation and our board now supports this concept, which would be a working partnership with the Henderson-Vance Industrial Park."
The Henderson-Vance Industrial Park Board was created in 1984. Its main purpose, McMillen said, is to "encourage industrial growth in the city and county."