Where do we go from here?

By GENE ZALESKI, T&D Staff WriterMonday, November 17, 2008

Orangeburg County economic development officials say the game plan is in place, the motivational speeches given and now is the time to translate talk into action.

“The future is nothing but a string of nows,” Orangeburg County Development Commission Executive Director Gregg Robinson said, reflecting on last week’s economic development summit. “This is going to be a coordinated effort.”

With Jafza South Carolina planning to proceed with the development of its $600 million logistics/industrial park, there is not much time to waste, officials say. Jafza this week provided more details about its plans to build a 1,322-acre, five-phase park near Santee.

The company plans to break ground on the project in late 2009. It estimates it could create about 3,700 direct jobs in the county over the next 12 years.

Officials say the county must improve its infrastructure to handle the activity from Jafza and potential spin-offs.

Orangeburg County Council Chairman Harry Wimberly said council’s next step will be to have a meeting with Jafza leaders to better pinpoint the company’s specific road needs.

“We have to get a cost estimate on it and work from that standpoint and the funding we have available,” Wimberly said. “I think that will be the top priority for the county.”

The county’s infrastructure is being addressed through the capital penny sales tax. From the tax, $7 million has been set aside for water, wastewater and road improvements within what the county has trademarked the “Global Logistics Triangle.”

About $1 million of the $7 million will be spent on water and wastewater lines from the town of Bowman along S.C. Highway 210 to Interstate 95, Exit 165.

Additional money from the penny tax will go toward tying municipalities in the eastern part of the county to the Lake Marion Regional Water Agency project. Water lines will also be constructed to the John Matthews Industrial Park at U.S. Highways 301 and 176.

In addition, preliminary engineering studies are under way for a 1.5-million-gallon wastewater treatment facility to be built behind the Matthews Industrial Park.

“This is just the beginning,” Orangeburg County Development Commission Chairperson Jeannine Kees said. “The baton has been passed to us and we have to take it and run with it.”

Another issue facing the county is rail access.

“We (the county) can’t put in additional rail, but we can keep all focused,” Kees said. “We realize we have done the preparation and invested in ourselves. It will take a lot of work.”

Jafza believes that by 2020, its project could generate about 50,000 daily traffic trips with about 60 percent of the traffic using the interstates and the adjacent Interstate 95-U.S. 301 interchange.

“Rail is a significant issue,” Robinson said. “For years, with gas being a buck fifty, we said truck to truck. But let’s look at what the future offers. We are telling the people it is coming. We can embrace it or we can benefit from it or we can miss it.”

Currently, the Jafza property has about one mile of CSX rail line. But Jafza and local officials would also like for Norfolk Southern to serve the site.

Without dual access, goods destined for a location CSX does not serve would have to be transferred to Norfolk Southern – a timely and costly endeavor, they say.

Kees said another issue is education.

“We need to identify the types of training we need for the work force,” she said. “This means looking at the educational process of our young people so there are opportunities for them in the future.”

n T&D Staff Writer Gene Zaleski can be reached by e-mail at gzaleski @timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5551. Discuss this and other stories online at The TandD.com.

$600m project will provide employment to 3,000 people

By

Dan McCue on Saturday, November 15, 2008

Dubai-based Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority (Jafza) International revealed its master plan for a North American 'gateway' to be located in Orangeburg, South Carolina, one of the state's poorest counties, but one also blessed by its proximity to two major interstates and its equidistance to Charleston and Columbia.

Nearly 600 turned out for the announcement in a former cinema not far from the city's still challenged downtown – a downtown better known as the site of a 1968 race riot that left three dead and 27 injured than as a fulcrum of economic development or international trade.

Among those attending were vendors, construction contractors, real estate agents, maritime and logistics professionals, and members of the business and economic development community from throughout the state.

The $600 million (Dh2,204bn), 1,300-acre project – Jafza's first in the Western Hemisphere – will be built in five phases, with the ground-breaking for the first phase in the third or fourth quarter of 2009, said Steven Eames, Vice-President of operations for Jafza Americas.

Total built-out on the project, on the site of a former sod farm is to be completed by 2032. Although he acknowledged the ongoing financial crisis, Eames expressed confidence that the company would meet is timeline for development.

"The current economic climate has made all our clients restrict their spending," he said. "However, we are long-term investors. We remain confident that this is an opportunity to position South Carolina and ourselves for the upturn."

Jafza, is part of Economic Zones World, which is currently building logistics and R&D-driven industrial parks in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

In India, it has partnered with Tata Group, one of the country's largest conglomerates, to build a chain of business and logistics parks throughout the country, Eames said.

In North America, the first – $140m phase – of its South Carolina project will comprise about 135 acres of mixed-use development, with an emphasis on light manufacturing and light ind

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Santee area to get industrial hub

By Katy Stech (Contact)

The Post and Courier

Thursday, November 13, 2008

ORANGEBURG — Dubai-based Economic Zones World unveiled details of a $600 million master plan that would turn a rural Santee sod farm into an industrial hub with more than 4 million square feet of warehouse space.

They laid out their plan — which includes breaking ground late next year — in front of hundreds of South Carolina community and business leaders who looked past the plan's finer points, instead seeing the project as a major economic opportunity that could lift one of the state's poorest areas out of poverty.

The Post and Courier

The center would be built along U.S. Interstate 95 in what is often called the "Corridor of Shame" for the bleak prospects facing its younger, mostly black residents. The region is also plagued by double-digit unemployment figures.

"We're here today because of the leadership in this community that decided not to believe in the conventional wisdom, that we should not buy into these statistics," U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn told the audience.

The plan from Economic Zones World, which owns Jafza International, would create an estimated 3,067 jobs when it begins operating in 2012, said Steve Eames, vice president and operations manager for EZW Americas.

The industrial center would be built on about 1,300 acres that the company bought for about $10 million late last year. The site would be a place where major manufacturers could assemble products, then either store or distribute them to major Southeastern cities.

Most of the cargo will pass through the Port of Charleston before arriving at the site, which will also have rail access.

The Dubai company said it plans to launch a marketing campaign next year to try to attract its first occupants. Eames admitted that his company was pursuing industrial development at a time when clients at its other industrial centers were beginning to spend less.

"There is just no escaping this," he said.

But Eames said the decision was made to move forward with the long-term project because it is "an opportunity to position ourselves and South Carolina for the upturn."

By 2020, workers at the site are expected to handle the equivalent of about 660,000 20-foot-long cargo containers each year. That's roughly a third of what the Port of Charleston handles annually, although the new terminal in North Charleston would eventually boost port capacity to about 4 million 20-foot containers.

Savannah's port has siphoned away some container volume in recent years, but Eames said that Charleston's port is key to the development because it can handle bigger ships. That will become even more important after the Panama Canal's widening is complete in 2014, he said.

Gregg Robinson, executive director of the Orangeburg County Development Commission, said Orangeburg, located near the site, is capitalizing on Charleston's growth problems. Residential demand closer to the coast has made vacant land tracts for industrial development both sparse and expensive.

Eames laid the site's master plan out in three main phases:

The first, scheduled for completion in 2012, calls for 950,000 square feet of office and industrial space on about 135 acres. An new interchange that will connect the site with I-95 is expected to be completed at about the same time.

The second, 94-acre phase would add more warehouse space by 2016, bringing total square footage to 2,120,000 square feet. It also called for a 63-acre "intermodal" yard, where containers could be moved between rail cars and trucks

The final phase spreads an extra 1,060,000 square feet of warehouse and distribution space over 131 acres.

Wednesday's plans only called for development of about a third of the available land. The rest could house a high-tech business incubator or fill other needs, Eames said. The park is expected to be built out by 2032.

Next year, company officials will begin planning the site's infrastructure, such as roads, sewer lines and electric lines. They are currently awaiting a wetlands permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Reach Katy Stech at kstech@postandcourier.com or 937-5549.

Santee, Lake Marion ready to boom

By NOELLE PHILLIPS
nophillips@thestate.com

Two new developments planned for Santee and Lake Marion would add thousands of homes and businesses to this rural slice of South Carolina that suffers from high unemployment.

The developments aim to capitalize on the region’s growing popularity among retirees who want to live near golf courses and lakes. And, the developers will benefit from a massive industrial hub planned for the southeast tip of Orangeburg County.

Cantey Bay Plantation would transform 3,800 acres into a residential community with thousands of homes and commercial development along Lake Marion and I-95 in Clarendon County.

“It’s really a new town we’re proposing to construct here,” said Kevin O’Neill, vice president of Beach Development of Charleston, the project developer.

And, the Santee Town Center project would develop 75 acres in Santee with more than 400 homes. The town, population 750, has been little more than a crossroads without a “Main Street.”

“With all of this happening around Santee the time has come to build a downtown,” said Ron Nester, a Santee real estate lawyer who is working with a local group of investors.

Both projects were in the works before Economic Zones World — formerly called Jafza International — launched its plan to build an industrial park and logistics hub on 1,300 acres near Santee.

However, the developers spoke about the plans Wednesday during an Orangeburg County summit where more than 500 people gathered to talk about growth in the area.

“Jafza is coming, and it’s not happening in a vacuum,” said Nester, who is working for Santee Ventures LLC, which is developing the downtown Santee project.

The two planned communities and the industrial development are within a few miles of each other along I-95.

As oceanfront property skyrockets, retirees are attracted to this inland area that is home to three golf courses, Lake Marion, Santee State Park and Santee National Wildlife Refuge.

“We feel like the rest of the world is finally discovering our Garden of Eden,” said Julie Rickenbaker of ERA Wilder Realty in Santee.

Like the plans for the industrial hub, both developments will be years in the making.

The Santee Town Center developers plan to build 448 houses, condos and duplexes as well as retail and office space on 75 acres, Nester said. The land borders U.S. 301, S.C. 6 and Santee National Golf Club.

The estimated $180 million project should get under way next year, Nester said.

“The goal of this group was to control the growth to make sure it will work well with local people and the people who will move in over the next 10 to 20 years,” he said.

At Cantey Bay Plantation, plans call for 7,500 to 15,000 homes and 300,000 square feet of office and retail space. The land sits along 1.2 miles of Lake Marion waterfront and straddles both sides of I-95.

The company hopes to develop an industrial and business park on the east side of I-95, O’Neill said.

Development plans also call for two new canals to be dug out of Lake Marion into the property. That would increase the waterfront acreage, O’Neill said.

The Beach Co., the parent company of Beach Development, must get permission from power company Santee Cooper, which owns the lake, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

While retirees will be Cantey Bay’s target market, the area may attract people who work at the Economic Zones World development, O’Neill said.

“I’m not sure it helps us in a significant way,” he said of the large industrial hub. “But it certainly can’t hurt us.’

The Beach Co. is working through planning and permits for its project. Construction will not begin until late 2010.

It will take 25 to 30 years for the development to be finished.

“What has been a rural area will become much more suburban and virtually a new town,” he said.

Reach Phillips at (803) 771-8307.

Council gets more information on RMC's future in Santee

By PHIL SARATA, T&D Staff WriterMonday, November 10, 2008

SANTEE – The Santee Town Council during a 10-minute closed, executive session Wednesday night heard information from W. David Cope, Regional Medical Center vice president of strategy and development.

Council took no action on the information upon returning to regular session.

Last week Cope told the RMC Board of Trustees the hospital is planning for the day when it will offer more services in eastern Orangeburg County because of the area’s increased economic development activity, including Dubai-based Jafza International’s plans to build a distribution and light manufacturing hub near Santee.

At that time Cope said the hospital’s strategic team is now looking at where and what it would like to place in the Santee area, which includes Elloree, Eutawville and Holly Hill.

Council Wednesday also unanimously approved on a 4-0 vote second and final reading of an ordinance to allow Orangeburg County to enforce the demolition of dilapidated buildings. At the insistence of town attorney William Johnson of Manning, council also unanimously approved allowing Santee Mayor Silas Seabrooks to sign an intergovernmental agreement with Orangeburg County to enforce the ordinance.

“The county just requires any towns in which they enforce these standards to adopt the county ordinances regarding them so they will be the same everywhere,” Johnson said. “This vote also requires the town to repeal any similar ordinances it has and adopt the county ordinances.”

Johnson said the agreement, which also includes a 60-day termination clause, will allow Orangeburg County to enforce the dilapidated building ordinance at no cost to Santee.

Town Administrator Avery Frick, who said Wednesday night’s meeting would be his last as Santee administrator prior to his resignation from the post on Dec. 1, also went over the findings from the audit of the financial statements from the fiscal 2007 budget year. Three of the findings actually resulted from a previous audit of the 2006 fiscal year, which was performed by another accounting firm.

Frick noted that several of the auditor’s findings have been enacted in order to provide tighter internal financial records control, such as reconciling water receivables balances on a daily basis, producing automated sequentially numbered receipts and budgeting all known expenditures.

The findings also recommended there be a segregation of fiscal duties among town employees, but Frick said the low number of employees makes that difficult, a dilemma faced by other small municipalities with limited staff.

Frick will reply to the auditor’s findings by stating which ones are being implemented and on what timetable, or which ones cannot be implemented.

In other business:

* Council unanimously approved a proposed easement request by property owner Everett Sumner near the water tank on S.C. Highway 6 so he can access his land via the town’s right-of-way.

* Santee Interim Police Chief Capt. A.R. Staten said he is in the process of producing policies and procedures that can lead to state accreditation for the department.

* It was announced the Santee Christmas parade will be at 4 p.m. on Dec. 14, starting at the Quality Inn and traveling to the Santee Town Complex. The theme is “Sounds of the Season.”

* District 2 Orangeburg County Councilman Johnny Ravenell reported he and Santee Town Councilman John Gilmore are working together to help with improvements on the town playground. Gilmore said the town is still awaiting funds for the project.

* Ravenell said he will attempt to get OCtech officials to enhance the capacity for the upcoming Economic Summit on Nov. 12 by installing video screens for any overflow crowd.

T&D Staff Writer Phil Sarata can be reached by e-mail at psarata@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5540.

Graham: Feds ready to help Jafza build in Santee

By GENE ZALESKI, T&D Staff WriterWednesday, November 12, 2008

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham is promising federal support for infrastructure for the Jafza South Carolina project he says will transform Orangeburg County and the entire state.

“What has benefited the coast from the Port of Charleston can benefit the interior of South Carolina,” Graham said at the 2008 Orangeburg County Economic Development Summit. “I have never been more excited about the opportunity to create jobs that are attached to the global economy and are not subject to being outsourced.”

Graham promised help from the federal level to make the project a reality.

“When it comes to the interchange, sure we will help,” he said. “When it comes to rail, sure we’ll help. We will hit the ground running in the Senate. One of the first things we will take up is infrastructure legislation.”

Dubai-based Jafza International plans to invest $600 million or more near Santee to develop a 1,300-acre logistics, manufacturing and distribution park.

Graham described Dubai as having a Jetson-type of environment.

“Going there is like going to the 23rd century,” Graham said. “It gives me hope about what can be in Iraq.

It gives me hope for the region.

“You have some very progressive people who are developing an economy I think will withstand the energy crisis ... but the fact that people from Dubai would see a business opportunity in Orangeburg says a lot about the world in which we live in. Who would ever think that changing the Panama Canal would change Orangeburg?”

There are plans to widen the Panama Canal, which is expected to increase the amount of cargo coming into the Port of Charleston, especially with the increased congestion in the western ports.

T&D Staff Writer Gene Zaleski can be reached by e-mail at gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5551.

Jafza says economy won't stop $600 million project

By GENE ZALESKI, T&D Staff WriterThursday, November 13, 2008

While the U.S. economy continues to struggle, a Dubai-based company says it will proceed with plans to develop its $600 million Jafza-South Carolina Logistics/Industrial Park.

Speaking to hundreds gathered Wednesday for the Orangeburg County Economic Development Summit, Jafza-South Carolina Vice President Steven Eames conceded the company faces a challenge from the current economic climate.

"It has made all our clients restrict their spending. However, we are long-term investors. We remain confident that this is an opportunity to position South Carolina and ourselves for the upturn," he said.

During the summit, Eames provided additional details about the project that speakers called a "game-changer" for the area. The 1,322-acre, five-phase park near Santee will include light manufacturing, light industrial space, a public intermodal facility, a truck plaza, warehousing and mixed-use offices and commercial uses.

Jafza estimates the project could create about 3,700 direct jobs in the county over the next 12 years, including clerical, managerial, food service and transportation jobs. In addition, Eames said the project could create 1,500 indirect spin-off jobs in the state by 2020.

Entire article.