INDUSTRY APPRECIATION 2023-24: I-95, I-26 industrial park planned

North Point Development LLC wants to develop about two parcels totaling about 1,500 acres located primarily in Dorchester County but at the Orangeburg County line.

“Those are very promising parcels,” North Point consultant Jim Newsome told the Orangeburg County Legislative Delegation at its Jan. 2024 meeting.

“We think the development, because of the growth of the port and because of the establishment of the Walmart distribution center, is moving further out on I-26,” Newsome said.

Newsome is the former president and chief executive officer of the Port of Charleston.

One of the parcels – Weathers Farm – covers about 400 acres and the other is the 1,100-acre Quail Run property.

Newsome said Weathers Farm is at the intersection of U.S. Highway 15 and I-26 in Dorchester County and Quail Run is on I-95 between U.S. 178 and I-26, also in Dorchester County.

Newsome said the property – specifically the 1,100-acre parcel – is “a prime manufacturing site, among other possibilities.”

“I think we would all agree that we are short on manufacturing sites in South Carolina,” Newsome said.

The challenge for the parcels is the lack of water and sewer infrastructure.

“Water and sewer is critical to development,” Newsome said.

Newsome said he has been working with Dorchester County officials on developing the properties, noting there has been request for both sewer and water upgrades. The total project cost is estimated to be about $16 million.

Newsome said the upgrades to the sewer would cost an estimated $6.5 million, of which about $4.28 million has been received through a U.S. Housing and Urban Development grant. Newsome said the gap of about $1.5 million to $2.5 million needs to be funded to make the upgrade a reality.

On the water side, Newsome said Dorchester County applied for a Rural Infrastructure Authority grant last year. The project would require a 20-inch water main on U.S. Highway 15 to connect to the Lake Marion Regional Water System on U.S. 178.

Newsome said the total cost for the water project would be about $9.5 million, with about $4.75 million and $5 million needed to fill the gap to make that possible. Newsome said the county is planning to apply for more RIA grants to help make up the shortfall. The grants have been applied for as part of a broader infrastructure plan for the upper Dorchester area. 

At the current time, the county would need between $7 million to $7.5 million to complete the water and sewer infrastructure.

Newsome said the site will have plenty of water capacity when the infrastructure is in place.

“The timing is an issue,” Newsome said. “It may require an interim well between $1.5 and $2 million dollars to make Weathers Farm a reality.”

Newsome said Quail Run is “more complicated.”

He said the sewer capacity of about 100,000 gallons a day would work if the project was all distribution. He said manufacturing or a multi-use projects would require about a 500,000 to 1 million gallon a day capacity.

“There needs to be further study of the sewer requirement to actualize that large property,” Newsome said.

“Even though these properties may be mostly or all located in Dorchester County, if we were able to site facilities there with jobs, a good many – maybe half the employees – would come from Orangeburg," said Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg. “It is right on the line. Jobs are jobs and people are mobile. It is real prime territory for development.”

Newsome echoed Hutto's comment.

“We unlock Dorchester County, Orangeburg County is next,” Newsome said. “The development has to come further up on the highway system.”

Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, recommended Newsome contact the governor for access to federal dollars.

“There are other states that are pulling this money down,” Cobb-Hunter said. “We are doing it here in South Carolina, but we aren't crediting where it is coming from.”

She said much of the infrastructure money is coming from the infrastructure bill signed by President Joe Biden.

“The bottom line is there are people in the executive branch and the legislative branch that are more focused on President Biden not getting credit for anything,” Cobb-Hunter said. “There is money on the federal level. There is much money out there that we are missing out on.”