The Work We Do

Expanding Manufacturing Potential by 3.5 Million Square Feet

In order for the continued growth of jobs and industry in our region, there must be available land to accommodate that growth. The year-end CoStar Vacancy report continued to show historically low vacancy rates. So when the right land becomes available, it receives SEDA’s full attention. To that end, in November 2016, the SEDA Board of Directors unanimously approved the purchase of a 685-acre property located off of Old River Road near Interstate 16. The property, which was purchased from Harry E. and Charlotte Kitchen, Jr. of The Foxfield Company for $5.087 million, is zoned industrial and master planned for 3.25-3.5 million square feet of industrial building space.

"The addition of up to 3.5 million square feet that can be managed and marketed by SEDA will give us much needed property and greater flexibility to entice manufacturing to Savannah," said Trip Tollison, SEDA President and CEO.

Thanks to foresight of Chatham County voters, $3 million in SPLOST VI funds were used in the purchase of the land with SEDA funding the remaining $2.087 million.

During the announcement, Steve Green, Chairman of the SEDA Board of Directors thanked voters, among others, saying, “I would like to thank Chatham County Commission Chairman Al Scott, Chatham County Commissioners and the county staff for supporting SEDA’s efforts to develop a manufacturing industrial park. Of course a special thank you to the citizens of Chatham County. Without their approval in this most recent SPLOST, this project could never have become a reality. Today’s announcement adds a much needed tool in our toolbox to bring well paying jobs and investment to Chatham County.”

SEDA Returns 14 Parcels to County Property Tax Digest

At the end of 2016, the Savannah Economic Development Authority returned more than a dozen parcels of land to the Chatham County tax digest. The action resulted in nearly $3 million in additional annual property tax revenue for an increase of 1,200 percent.

“Property tax abatements are one of the best tools in SEDA’s tool kit as we work to grow jobs, but it’s also one of the most misunderstood,” stated SEDA president and CEO Trip Tollison. “To qualify for a tax abatement, a project must be one that we are competing for with at least one other area, or it could be an existing company that wants to expand and needs some assistance to make it happen – bottom line: it must be a project that will create jobs and investment in the community.”

If a project does qualify, SEDA can take the property of interest off of the tax digest for a set number of years; however, the interested company must fulfill its promise and once the now-developed property goes back on the tax rolls, it will do so at its full current value as of the end of the abatement period.

“This is an earned incentive and something every community does and we have to do it to be competitive,” added Tollison.

According to Tollison, “It’s a short-term investment for a long-term gain. In order for us to be competitive on incentives, we have to offer some sort of tax abatement that allows companies to forego the full load of property taxes while they are making substantial infrastructure and jobs investments in our community.”

Gulfstream offers a direct example of tax abatement benefits to our region. When Gulfstream was considering expansion in 2006 and 2010, they looked at all options – including their other facilities from Oklahoma to Long Beach, California, all of which were offering incentives. According to Gulfstream President, Mark Burns, “We twice chose to expand here because of the tremendous support network, from the port, the rail system, the interstates and the airport to the strong economic development incentives that SEDA helps manage. Other locations had one or two of those elements but not everything we needed to continue growing business. In multi-site competitions, these incentives are important.”