“I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse,” said Marlon Brando as the Godfather in the movie of that name. It remains to be seen whether Hawkins County will accept an offer like that: 160 acres of land developed as an industrial park at a cost of some $5 million, for an investment of just $30,000.
A representative of Kingsport told the Hawkins County Commission about the deal. The new industrial park would be located at Holston Army Ammunition Plant, said John Rose, Kingsport’s economic development director, at the behest of BAE Systems, the current contractor for HAAP.
The proposed industrial park would border Highway 11-W, 174 acres in total with 14 acres being within the city limits and 160 acres belonging to the county. Claire Powell, director of communications for BAE Systems, said it’s an ongoing project.
“The 150 acres at the Holston Army Ammunition Plant was first certified over 10 years ago,” Powell said. “The city of Kingsport is evaluating a request from the U.S. Army to determine the feasibility and cost of preparing the site for development. This is not a new development, just a step in the ongoing process. We are always looking for additional opportunities for partnership for the betterment of the community and the installation.”
The project was pitched last winter to the Kingsport Industrial Development Board, which paid $12,000 for a survey of the site. Rose informed the commission that the city and county would need to pay for design work to be done by Barge Solutions, which would cost $60,000 in total. However, the county would be responsible for paying only half.
Once the design work is complete, Rose said, BAE will present the project to the Army, which would pay for all the grading and site development. The Army could spend at least $5 million developing the park, but the final budget will be determined by the engineering services.
“So the benefits with this $60,000 investment are that we would be able to get roughly 160 acres developed, and it would have rail on it,” Rose said. “Then obviously it would bring jobs with it. When it comes to developing, the total investment by the Army will be well over $5 million.”
Commissioner Mark DeWitte said the property would not compete with Phipps Bend Industrial Park.
“I just want to clarify to everybody that Phipps Bend and this place are really two different types of developments,” DeWitte said. “What could go in Phipps Bend may not go here, and what could go here may not go in Phipps Bend. So they’re complementary.”
Rose agreed with DeWitte and explained that the proposed park might be more marketable to some clients.
“They do complement each other,” Rose said. “What this allows for Hawkins County to happen is we have an industrial park that’s closer to an interstate than what Phipps Bend is. So other companies have requirements that they want to be within so many miles of a four-lane interstate or four-lane highway, so it allows us to meet more requirements of potential customers.”
The park would include businesses that do warehousing, light industry and transportation. All the county needs to do is say yes, and write a check.
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