New industrial megasites in Middle Georgia are ready for business

When companies are looking for a site to build a manufacturing plant or distribution center, they usually want to secure the property, construct the building, install equipment and begin operating as quickly as possible.

If a company needs a very large site — often referred to as a megasite — with several hundred to more than 1,000 acres, it usually has fewer choices.

Many communities are not able to put together and buy such large tracts of land, put in the infrastructure and sit on it until a large user comes along.

Now, not only are there two megasites in Middle Georgia, but they’ve both been certified by the state, which means they are market ready.

One of the industrial parks is the Heart of Georgia Mega Site, with about 2,000 acres at Interstate 16 and Ga. 199 in Dublin-Laurens County. The other site is at the Sibley-Smith Industrial Park, with about 1,657 acres on the U.S. 441 bypass in Baldwin County. Both sites have railroad access.

Both parks have been certified by the state through its Georgia Ready for Accelerated Development program, also called GRAD.

“Having prepackaged megasites, like the ones in Baldwin and Laurens (counties), puts Georgia in the mix for mega job creation projects,” said Mike Grundmann, director of advanced manufacturing and administrator of the state’s grant program at the Department of Economic Development. “You’ve got to have those in the mix, and when you have that site GRAD certified, it qualifies us for fast-track megaprojects. Experience shows that the site search for most megaprojects is on a fast track.”

When a site is certified, it means that the basic due diligence has been done, including such things as environmental and wetland studies, surveys and aerial photography.

“It has a structured set of requirements for that due diligence, and it means a third party has reviewed the documentation to be sure that everything is complete,” Grundmann said.

The park in Laurens County also has been certified by McCallum Sweeney Consulting, a nationally recognized expert in site section, which has its own set of requirements to qualify for its certification.

A ceremony was held last week to acknowledge the significance of having a dual-certified site.

“We’re celebrating these key certifications because everyone here recognizes that the site has the potential of bringing thousands of jobs to Dublin-Laurens County and the surrounding communities,” Fred Williams, chairman of the Dublin-Laurens County Development Authority, said in a statement.

The Development Authority of the city of Milledgeville and Baldwin County closed on the Sibley-Smith Industrial Park property last week. It is scheduled to be GRAD certified by May 20, said Matt Poyner, executive director of the authority.

“We didn’t have any rail in existing parks, so to be competitive, we needed some rail,” Poyner said.

The Sibley-Smith site will be the sixth one in Georgia of 1,000 acres or more to be GRAD certified.

According to a database provided by Georgia EMC, one of the state’s key sources for available sites, there are 20 locations in Georgia with 1,000 acres or more, ranging in size from 1,500 acres in Monroe County to 9,300 acres in Cherokee County.

“Most of the types of projects that are looking for that big of a site are going to be vehicle manufacturers,” Grundmann said. “It could be a passenger vehicle or aircraft manufacturer, but there are others.”

In 2011, Mitsubishi Power Systems Americas Inc. opened a manufacturing plant on 119 acres of a 1,500-acre megasite in Pooler near Savannah.

Not all 1,000-acre or more sites are GRAD certified. On the other hand, some smaller sites are certified, including two in Middle Georgia. Those are the Sofkee Industrial Park in Bibb County and Mid-Georgia Corporate Center West in Houston County, according to the EMC list.

Pat Topping, senior vice president of the Macon Economic Development Commission, said it would be challenging for Bibb County to assemble sites with 1,000 acres or more with access to transportation and with utility infrastructure.

“We have had site requests over 2-300 acres, but I can't recall any larger than that,” he said in an email.

But since the county doesn’t have any available sites with more than about 300 acres, anyone looking for larger sites would not find Bibb County in their search parameters.

But it’s possible that nearby counties could benefit from companies that choose one of the megasites, he said.

“I certainly feel that suppliers to major manufacturers who locate in one of these megasites would look at Bibb and other surrounding counties for locations,” Topping said. “Also, our (Macon-Bibb County Industrial Authority) understands the critical importance of owning fully developed sites and has been working to shore up our site inventory.”

This story was originally published May 16, 2016 at 4:14 PM with the headline "New industrial megasites in Middle Georgia are ready for business."