By Jeff Berman / www.logisticsmgmt.com / April 8th, 2019
Earlier this month, DHL Supply Chain, a subsidiary of Deutsche Post DHL Group, formally announced a $100 million capital outlay to build a Dorchester, County South Carolina-based distribution and warehouse park.
Company officials said that this facility is expected to create around 450 jobs and its first phase is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2020.
With this investment, DHL Supply Chain purchased 125 acres on a site it has named DHL Commerce Park, which will be comprised of three buildings accounting for 1.7 million square-feet.
“We have seen significant growth in this area of the country and customers are even asking us to evaluate opportunities in South Carolina specifically,” said Steve Hess, Vice President, Real Estate Development, DHL Supply Chain. “With that in mind, we got ahead of the curve to offer premier facilities in one of the hottest emerging markets in the country.”
A DHL official told LM that the company has seen a lot of growth in the Charleston area and has identified it as one of the hottest emerging markets in the country.
“The investment will help ensure the company is able to quickly respond to growing customer needs in the region, particularly given the tight industrial real estate market,” she said. “This is a hallmark example of DHL Real Estate Solutions, a standalone product of DHL unique in the logistics industry. The integrated approach provides customers a single point of contact insuring that building design, racking and building systems are all coordinated at the onset of the design process, resulting in smoother transitions when operations commence.”
What’s more, DHL explained that DHL Real Estate Solutions engages early to understand customers’ strategic priorities and saw this area as an emerging/growing market. Key drivers in the decision to grow at this location were proximity to port and rail; a strong labor market; and strong support of the project from South Carolina and Dorchester County. Additionally, the development of a distribution park at this site will offer competitive lease rates to DHL’s diverse customer base.
“South Carolina Ports Authority is seeing significant distribution center and warehousing activity in our region, driven by port users who rely on our marine and inland facilities to handle growing import volumes bound for consumers across the Southeast,” said Jim Newsome, SCPA president and CEO, in a statement. “DHL Supply Chain will play an important role in supporting the logistics needs of multiple port-related business segments, and we look forward to the opening of their new facility.”
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