Barnes & Cross and the Chatham County Business Park - Chatlist Post 4-12-08

Last Tuesday the Economic Development Corporation was treated to a tour of the new Chatham Hospital being built at the Chatham Business Park in Siler City. It was exciting to see this magnificent project take shape. To say the least the project is impressive! And in touring the Business Park campus itself, all 550 acres of it, you could begin to envision the types of business that could be attracted to it.

Roads, power (underground), water, sewer, and natural gas ... all in place. In total, including the land and infrastructure, the Business Park project is estimated to have cost between $10M - $11M. Quite an investment in the economic survival of Siler City, I would say. The land has been recently appraised at $40K per acre, which means the current value of the land itself is $22M.

The Central Carolina Community College has plans to build a campus there as well. These two facilities will be the anchor of the Park. Yes, they will not pay property taxes. However, their presence means good and expanding jobs, room to grow, and the attraction of related businesses.

Imagine the potential of the CCCC working with businesses that choose to move there. Imagine the prestige the Chatham Hospital will gain emerging from their old digs, and how this will attract businesses that service the facility. This Park dovetails nicely into the recently released economic development strategic plan proposal currently under discussion, http://www.chathamedc.org/strategic.shtml

Siler City, infrastructure wise, is better poised for economic growth than the rest of the County. In short this is a great opportunity for Chatham ... poised for an aggressive economic development push. The property is near the crossroads of US 64 and 421, making it accessible to the Triad, Sanford, Ft. Bragg, and RTP.

It took vision and it took action to make this park possible.
It took Patrick Barnes and Mike Cross to keep this vision alive, against others who wanted to parcel the property off and sell it … against those who said it wasn’t worth the investment.

It took Patrick Barnes and Mike Cross to get the infrastructure built and the project completed.

Vote May 6th
Re-elect Patrick Barnes, www.Barnes4Chatham.blogspot.com
Re-elect Mike Cross, www.Cross4Chatham.blogspot.com
Chatham County Commissioner