1 million-square-foot distribution center may be built in south Bibb

A huge $70 million distribution facility may be built in south Bibb County by next year.

A development of regional impact report has been filed with the Middle Georgia Regional Commission for a 1 million-square-foot distribution center to be built on the northwest corner of Sardis Church and Skipper roads. The site, which is owned by the Macon-Bibb County Industrial Authority, is across Interstate 75 from the new Love’s Travel Stop.

The estimated project completion date is October 2018, the report said.

The estimated value of the completed distribution center, currently referred to as “Project Sardis,” would be $70 million, according to the report. Unnamed companies are often referred to by project names while negotiations are underway.

A development of regional impact study is requested by the regional commission when a project is so large it may affect other communities. If the commission determines it is a project of regional impact, other area governments are given an opportunity to comment about the project and how it may affect them. A request for a report does not automatically mean the project will move forward, but it is a step in the process.

Industrial authority officials typically sign a confidentially agreement for pending projects, and acting Industrial Authority director Stephen Adams said late Tuesday he had no comment about the project.

The report does not say how many people would be working at the distribution center, but in response to a question about how much traffic is expected to be generated, it states: “peak season will produce 580 trips per day, non-peak season will produce 360 trips per day.”

Also, the report says transportation improvements would be needed to serve the project.

“Pending the completion of a traffic study, it is anticipated that transportation improvements may be needed, such as, adding a traffic light at the intersection of Sardis Church Road and Skipper Road as well as the possibility of widening Skipper Road,” it said.

The property will need to be rezoned from a planned development commercial district to an M-1 zone which would allow a warehouse or distribution center, and currently it is on the Sept. 25 agenda for the Macon-Bibb County Planning & Zoning Commission meeting, said Executive Director Jim Thomas.

Sometime in late 2015 and early 2016, the Industrial Authority purchased four adjacent parcels totaling about 92 acres along Sardis Church and Skipper roads. It paid a little more than $3 million for the largest parcel of nearly 87 acres, according to the Bibb County tax assessor’s website. This parcel was valued by the tax office at about $250,000 in 2017.

The authority also paid a little more than $1.1 million for the other three parcels, and the combined tax value this year was about $680,000. It is unclear if other development or infrastructure improvements in the area affected the sale price of the properties.

If completed, this distribution center would join other companies in the area. In September, 2013, Tractor Supply Co. opened its 690,000-square-foot distribution center valued at $50 million in the I-75 Business Park. And construction began in 2016 on the FedEx Ground 248,000-square-foot facility also in the I-75 Business Park.

This story was originally published August 22, 2017 at 7:35 PM with the headline "1 million-square-foot distribution center may be built in south Bibb."