Executive Director of thee Anson Economic Development Partnership John Marek reveals the Atlantic Gateway Logisitics Park on Sept. 1.
WADESBORO — Anson Economic Development Partnership (EDP) revealed a new business park coming to the county, bringing with it an estimated 300 jobs.
The Atlantic Gateway Logisitics Park, located five miles east of Lilesville, was announced during the Anson County Commissioners monthly meeting on Sept. 1.
Anson EDP Executive Director John Marek reported the project is a partnership between Pee Dee Electric, North Carolina South East and Anson Economic Development Partnership.
“As you can see, they created a plan which includes both the Pee Dee Electric headquarters, which we announced last month…as well as potentially seven additional buildings totaling about 800,000 square feet,” Marek said during the meeting. “At build out, and whenever we develop a business park like this, we assume about 20 years for build out. I personally think this one will build out a little quicker than that.”
Pee Dee Electric already began the clearing and site work for their building in early August. The new headquarters will consolidate Pee Dee Electric in Anson and Richmond counties into one central location. It is set to be complete in the third quarter of 2021, according to Marek.
The rest of the park will be built out as businesses come. Marek anticipates at least one business to come every two years, which leads it to being less than a 20-year project.
The land, owned by Pee Dee Electric, is 129 acres in total. About 50 acres are north of Highway 74, which is where the electric company’s headquarters will be placed. South of Highway 74 is about 80 acres. According to Marek, there is room for about seven more buildings on the property.
“Those buildings range in size from about six to 6,000 square feet, up to about 150,000 square feet,” Marek said. “Those are good sized buildings for the purposes of what we are talking about, which are warehouse, distribution and light manufacturing.”
The limiting factor Marek pointed out during the meeting is the sewer issue. The county will have to run about three miles of sewer line and build a pump station, costing about three million dollars. But Marek is already working on grant applications to fund the sewer project.
The park is estimated to produce between three and $5 million in annual property tax revenue and will add more than $11 million to the county’s annual payroll, according to Marek.
“Three hundred jobs is an estimate that is based on the square footage and type of businesses,” Marek said. “They will primarily be jobs in material handling, forklift operators, kickers, packagers, shipping. Perhaps truck driving, light manufacturing, welding, those types of manufacturing. They would be good paying jobs.”
Marek believes these jobs will have higher paying hourly wages than Anson County’s average. He estimates a little over 16 dollars an hour for the jobs at this park.
The Atlantic Gateway Logistics Park was named after the unique location as it is a pipeline between Charlotte and the Atlantic. Plus, it is close to railways, the interchange between Highway 73 and 74, as well as proximity to the Wilmington Port.
There will be a sign unveiling and marketing launch event at the park’s location on Sept. 23.
Reach Liz O’Connell at 267-467-5613 or at eoconnell@ansonrecord.com. Follow on Twitter at @_eoconnell.
