Michelin, Panattoni Prepare to Start Mega-Distribution Center in South Carolina
Monday, October 17th 2016
Michelin North America shifted into final construction preparation mode this week on its planned 3.3 million-square-foot distribution center in Greenville, SC, which will become the largest logistics and distribution projects under construction in the country when it breaks ground before the end of the year.
The massive $270 million distribution center will be developed by Panattoni Development Co. with the first phase expected to be delivered in late 2017 and full build-out reached by early 2019.
The new distribution center will consist of five buildings and include the latest automated distribution equipment built by Swisslog Group, a subsidiary of the German firm KUKA AG.
While Amazon’s coast-to-coast network of fulfillment and sortation centers dwarfs any other business entity’s development efforts in aggregate square footage, the Michelin facility in Spartanburg County would be the largest logistics development under construction in the U.S., according to a survey of industrial projects under way in the CoStar database.
Other large industrial projects proposed or under way, such Tesla’s gigantic 3.8 million-square-foot “Gigafactory” in the Reno, NV market, and Volvo’s 2.3 million-square-foot North America plant in Ridgeville, SC, involve manufacturing and R&D.
The South Carolina Department of Commerce on Wednesday hosted an outreach event at Spartanburg Community College for subcontractors to provide information on the massive development such as the project schedule, pre-qualification requirements, bid packages and diversity guidelines.
The Spartanburg distribution facility will cap a multi-year evolution of Michelin’s distribution network in North America, said Pete Selleck, chairman and president of Michelin North America, the Greenville, S.C.-based regional unit of Michelin Group.
“We see it as a transformational milestone designed to better serve our customers while optimizing inventories and improving supply efficiency,” Selleck said in a statement when the unit of the France-based tire company in announcing the project late last month.
The distribution center’s site is located near South Carolina Highways 101 and 417 a few miles south of I-85. The location is close to transportation hubs such as the South Carolina Inland Port for rail, and the Port of Charleston.
The new distribution center will be located near seven Michelin tire plants across South Carolina’s Upstate region, as well as the company’s Greenville-based North American headquarters.
By Randyl Drummer