PUBLIC TERMINAL REDEVELOPMENT
EDGE and the Port Commission have worked out a final Master Lease agreement with Watco Companies for the operation of the 60-acre public terminal on Presidents
Island. The documents have been approved by the EDGE and Port Commission boards and are currently working through City and County approvals.
Watco’s first new client is Lhoist North America, whose sublease is also currently moving through City/County approvals.
The $1.7 million State of Tennessee rail grant for improvements at the public terminal is awaiting final approval by the Canadian National Railroad prior to bid package approval by the State of Tennessee.
Construction on the rail project should begin Spring 2021.
FORMER NAVY PROPERTY SITE IMPROVEMENT
The 41-acre Navy property on Presidents Island recently acquired by the Port Commission is currently under two reviews. The Property is under administrative review for inclusion within the Select Tennessee Certified Sites Program. The program was developed as a rigorous process aimed at elevating Tennessee’s sites to the level of preparedness necessary for corporate investment.
The site was also awarded a $101,955 TVA InvestPrep grant for demolition of the abandoned 19,000 square foot administration building to clear the site of all obstructions. That grant is currently in the middle of a required six-month National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review process. Bid documentation preparation will start soon for the demolition with an anticipated letting in Spring 2021
Hyosung Heavy Industries
Mitsubishi Electric Power Products, Inc (MEPPI) was looking to partner, sell or close its electric transformer manufacturing facility at the Rivergate Industrial Park. Korean manufacturing company, Hyosung Heavy Industries announced that it has big plans for the plant including saving a number of jobs for workers there. The EDGE board of directors helped encourage the company’s purchase of that facility and related job creation.
Hyosung will hire 131 employees within the first two years with an average base salary of $51,475. This project will generate $9,453,993 in local tax revenues, and Hyosung has committed to more than $4.3 million in MWBE spend. Further, the company plans to hire 410 employees with a total investment of more than $115,000,000 by 2026.
To help make this project reality, EDGE approved an 11-year Jobs PILOT, encouraging the company to retrofit the facility to manufacture Hyosung’s power transformers. If the company achieves its long-term goals, the PILOT will be rescored at the end of 2026 and, if earned, the term will be extended to account for the growth in jobs.
Mayor Strickland, Mayor Harris and Governor Bill Lee all acknowledged the positive outcome for the Mitsubishi plant and the employees who stand to be rehired.
PUBLIC DOCK REDEVELOPMENT
The Port of Memphis contracted with the engineering firm Smith Seckman Reid to develop a master plan for the redevelopment of the public dock facility on Presidents Island.
The waterfront dock facility, which was closed last year, was the first to incorporate multi-modal transfers between barge, rail and truck.
The new design will provide versatility while drastically increasing the efficiency and diversity of the materials handled.
The City of Memphis is in the process of engineering a 6,800-foot expansion of the southern end of Paul R. Lowry Road at Pidgeon Industrial Park. The expansion of the road will create a southern access point to the proposed CN Riverport Logistics Center on 730 acres of property immediately east of the Intermodal Gateway Memphis facility in the Frank Pidgeon Industrial Area.
The Logistics Center will be complimented by the expansion of the Intermodal Gateway Memphis facility. The intermodal facility is scheduled to be modernized and doubled in size with construction starting Summer 2015.
CN INTERMODAL EXPANSION
The CN and CSX railroads are in the final planning phases of an expansion of the Intermodal Gateway Memphis facility in the Pidgeon Industrial Park. The expansion will double the size of the current facility and more than triple the current annual container throughput of 140,000 twenty-foot equivalent units.
ELECTROLUX SUPPLIER PARK
In late 2014, Electrolux announced the choice of Columbia, SC-based Red Rock Development to be its partner in the development of the 600-acre supplier park in the southwest corner of Pidgeon Industrial Park. Development is anticipated to start in 2015.
PAUL LOWRY ROAD EXPANSION
In 2014, the City of Memphis approved EDGE’s request for $2.5 million for construction of a 6,800-foot extension of Paul R. Lowry Road at the south end of the Pidgeon Industrial Park. The extension will provide access to the 600-acre Electrolux Supplier Park and southern access to the proposed CN Bridgeport Logistics Center east of the Intermodal Gateway Memphis facility. Construction is anticipated to begin in 2015.