Why Peach County, Warner Robins are banking on millions from 600-acre industrial park

Nestled between Vietnam Veterans Memorial Parkway and Ga. 41 with easy access to Interstate 75, a nearly 600-acre industrial park has been primed for economic development by Peach County and Warner Robins.

The Robins International Industrial Park at 101 Leamington Blvd. is located within Peach County and within Warner Robins, the largest city within Houston County that has annexed into neighboring Peach County.

In 2017, Warner Robins and Peach County joined forces to create a joint industrial authority. The authority purchased 432.5 acre tract of land via a $2.4 million bond. The authority also has an option to purchase on 158.5 acres owned by Flint Electric Membership Corp., which makes up what’s considered the southern parcel of the industrial park.

“We got a deal that works where everybody can have skin in the game and invest in the project in order to grow the tax base and provide for jobs and growth for all of Middle Georgia really,” said B.J. Walker, executive director for the Development Authority of Peach County.

Walker is the point man on the project, also serving as the executive director of the Joint Development Authority of Peach County and the city of Warner Robins.

“It’s a 70/30 split with Peach County contributing 70% of investment dollars to the project and Warner Robins the other 30%,” said Walker, explaining that the split corresponds with each government’s share of anticipated tax revenues. “They provide water and sewer and Peach County put in the road infrastructure.”

The county is currently constructing a $2.5 million Crestview Church Road extension through the industrial park from Ga. 41 to Vietnam Veterans Memorial Parkway. Vietnam Veterans Memorial Parkway runs parallel to I-75 between Exits 144 and 146. The Crestview Church Road extension is expected to be completed by the end of August.

Warner Robins is investing an estimated $4.9 million into construction of a water plant and water tower be located on industrial site property that’s expected to serve not only the future needs of the industrial park but also a larger area including Russell Parkway from Watson Boulevard, Vietnam Veterans Memorial Parkway and parts of Ga. 41, according to Montie Walters, director of the city’s utility department.

Another $1.2 million is earmarked for infrastructure for new lines and related costs like engineering.

“It’s a good deal, and we’re very excited about the industrial park and we hope it is a huge success,” Warner Robins Mayor Randy Toms said. “We think there’s a lot of reasons to come and develop a business in the industrial park, and we want to do everything we possibly can do to make it successful.

“We appreciate the partnership with Peach County and the Joint Development Authority, and we hope that everything we do leads to success for our communities.”

Greenhouse grower coming to GA

In April, the industrial park landed Pete’s, a California-based hydroponic greenhouse grower that’s initially investing $18 million in opening its first Southeastern agricultural grow facility.

“A greenhouse is not what a greenhouse used to be,” Walker said. “You’re talking about investments of probably close to $2 million per acre, which is pretty strong.

“Their first phase is $18 million, but when ... built out over a three or four year period, that’s an $80 to a $100 million project that provides a lot of tax base for Peach County and the city of Warner Robins.”

The 24-acre indoor growing facility requires 90% less land and water compared to traditional farming, according to a new release announcing Pete’s planned location to the industrial park.

“They specialize in living greens, living lettuce,” Walker said. “Their main product is living organic. It’s just kind of cool that whole trend of buying the lettuce with the roots still on them so when you’re about to cook, (the lettuce) is actually still alive and you can’t get any fresher than that.”

Pete’s is expected to be operational by the end of the year, growing and shipping lettuce by Jan. 1. The development is expected to generate 15 jobs.

Pure Flavor invests millions

The industrial park is already home to the 60,000-square-foot Pure Flavor Southeastern Distribution Center. That’s about an $5 million investment with nearly 100 people employed there, Walker said.

“All the produce from around Texas to Mexico to Canada comes to that facility — as well as what’s grown locally — and goes back out to distribution centers across the Southeast,” he said.

The distribution center is located just 10 minutes away from Pure Flavor’s $105 million greenhouse facility on 75 acres at 9465 Miami Valley Road in Peach County toward Fort Valley.

“They have 25 acres under glass right now, their first phase,” Walker said. “They’re looking to expand. They can go up to 75 acres under glass over there.

“It’s a hydroponic vertical growing system. They can do English cucumbers, several different varieties of tomatoes, the grape tomatoes, the cherry tomatoes, they call it TOVs — tomatoes on vines — as well as some trials of different tomatoes that are coming out; new varieties.”

The first phase represents an initial investment of about $30 million, Walker said.

“I don’t think we’ll have much of a problem locating additional facilities and smaller projects as well — just local business that are in Warner Robins or Macon or Perry or Fort Valley or Byron that are looking to expand and need property,” Walker said. “We can help them and provide them with land to do that and advise them and help them grow their business. That’s part of what we do; that’s what development authorities are here for — to help existing industry as well.”

A vetted project

The industrial park is among only a few in the state that has Georgia Ready for Accelerated Development certification with Select status. The GRAD Select status is an indication that a site has met or exceeded more rigorous certification requirements to attract development, according to a Georgia Department of Economic Development news release.

“What it says to potential developers and investors is, ‘Hey, we’ve vetted this project’ ... all the cultural resources, environmental studies, provided a Topo (topographic map), certified that the utilities are available, a clean title. So when they’re interested in coming to look at that property, they don’t have to do all that because the speed of the market is sometimes critical to companies wanting to locate,” Walker said.

“They don’t have 120 days to investigate a site. They want to make sure that it’s clean and can be developed.”

In addition to the industrial park, there from 300-to-400 acres of privately owned tracts along Vietnam Veterans Memorial Parkway available for sale and development.

The development authority is also trying to work with those property owners as well to bring in additional investment, Walker said.

“Companies in the state continue to look to Middle Georgia and Peach County as an opportunity for investing,’ Walker said. “We have good land that’s flat, relatively inexpensive compared to some of these other markets in Atlanta, Savannah — just provides a lot of opportunity.

“Our workforce is one of the biggest things … I don’t know if people realize, but in Peach County, within a 45-minute drive time, you’ve got work force that’s almost 600,000 strong .. The numbers are there to support large projects ... I think we’re in a good position.”