State still courts major businesses for 1,500-acre property

It’s considered primo real estate.

It’s had at least three or four projects that were close to calling it home only to back out later.

But Georgia officials, who market the 1,550 acres in Pooler just outside Savannah, say the property is still a contender for major projects, and there’s continued interest from major firms despite the current down economy. Pooler’s mayor even has hopes of a big announcement this summer.

Georgia economic development officials say they’re eager to house a project at the site, which the state purchased for $24 million in 2002. But they add that after spending an additional $37.07 million to lay sewers, build roads and grade the site, the project that lands there has to merit Georgia’s initial investment.

“We continue to actively market that site, and we show it on a regular basis,” said Alison Tyrer, spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Economic Development. “The priority on that site is getting a return on jobs and investment that makes the state’s investment in the site worthwhile.”

To be sure, the property, which sits at the northeast quadrant of I-95 and I-16, has had plenty of nibbles of interest. And in addition to the two interstate highways, state and local economic development leaders tout the site’s proximity to the Port of Savannah, the Savannah airport, rail line access and the labor pool as draws.

Most of the would-be projects came from the automotive industry, the biggest among them Daimler AG, which planned to build a $754 million plant to build its Sprinter vans at the site. Had it proceeded, the project was projected to employ 3,300 and create an economic stimulus of more than $250 million a year to the Savannah area.

But in 2003, Daimler, which owned Chrysler at the time, backed out of the project, citing the economy and problems with the Chrysler unit.

Both sides later worked on a scaled-back project for the site, but that, too, fell through.

A fellow German automaker, Audi, also considered the Pooler site, but those plans also were nixed.

Yet another German firm, Volkswagen, was courted by the state, and the company considered the Pooler site. But the company has decided to build its $1 billion plant in Chattanooga instead.

If there’s a silver lining, Pooler Mayor Mike Lamb says it’s perhaps in the fact an auto plant isn’t there, given the current state of the auto sector.

He said one company, which he wouldn’t name but described as a non-auto-related “big business” that would employ at least 500, is expected to make an announcement later this summer.

Still, he stopped short of saying it’s a sure thing. “I hate to tell people it’s for sure, because if a company decides not to do it, I can’t make them change their minds,” Lamb said.

He added there are “two or three” other firms also looking at the site as the state seems to be shifting from a strategy of having one big user of the Pooler land to dividing it into parcels for multiple industries.

Lamb likes that idea given the current economy.

“This makes a lot of sense to me when you have a lot of diverse businesses out there,” Lamb said. “So when a downturn does come, it doesn’t affect the entire site; it only affects a small number of companies.”