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Experts say many factors changed following the advent of the pandemic.

INVESTMENT PROFILE: MONROE, LOUISIANA

Where vision becomes reality, collaboration is key to the city’s economic development plans.

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Ford in August resumed production of the F-150 Lightning after expanding and retooling the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center plant in Dearborn, Michigan, to triple manufacturing capacity for the electric truck.

Photo courtesy of Ford Motor Co.

The electric vehicle revolution (the current UAW “Stand Up” strike notwithstanding) is sparking nearly as many reports as new manufacturing plants. Among the more compelling:

• CBRE on September 7 published “Electric Vehicle Trends and Challenges for Industrial Real Estate,” which includes analysis of more than $150 billion worth of manufacturing plant projects across 16 U.S. states and dozens in Canada and Mexico too. The chart below documents which states are welcoming the most capex in this space. “Demand for EV manufacturing space is heavily concentrated in the U.S.’s Midwest and Southeast regions due to logistical, economic and labor market advantages, but California and Texas also stand to see significant investment,” the report states, noting that “rising demand for EVs, charging stations, batteries and other components will require strategically located distribution centers and manufacturing spaces that are often near renewable energy sources.” Chicago and Detroit lead the way on a chart of metro areas with the most space leased for EV-related activity.
• “The plant as a product: Hyperscaling green capex,” a McKinsey & Co. report released the same day, walks readers through industrializing “the end-to-end process of designing and delivering gigafactory projects,” with cost savings one chief benefit. The report includes discussion of pursuing multiple projects on overlapping schedules.
• The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS), based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, last week published a new Technology Brief, “A Road Map to Electrification,” focused on ways to accelerate the nation’s transition from gas-powered to electric vehicles by looking at potential crossovers between the civilian and military domains and studying 21 companies that build, supply and support EVs. Among its findings is the potential for use of supercapacitors (SCAPs) instead of batteries for energy storage.

Select EV Manufacturing Investments in New or Existing Facilities, Ranked by Value Chart courtesy of CBRE

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In response to industry needs, multiple speculative building developments are underway in South Carolina’s northeastern region as a result of proactive effort from various counties.

Two speculative buildings are already available, including a 117,180-square-foot building in Florence, South Carolina; a 100,107-square-foot building along a CSX-operated rail line in Scranton, South Carolina; and a county-owned 50,000-square-foot building in Marlboro County.

Construction is underway for a 100,000-square-foot building in Andrews, South Carolina; a 51,885-square-foot building in Kingstree, South Carolina; and a 99,360-square-foot building in Conway, South Carolina.

There is no doubt these buildings will not be available for long due to soaring demand and the region’s ideal location along the East Coast, located halfway between New York and Miami along the I-95 corridor, and its direct access to the Port of Charleston via Inland Port Dillon.

To learn more, contact NESA at info@nesasc.org or 843-661-4669.

2020 photo by Chris Hill courtesy of Visit Derry and Tourism Northern Ireland

Today, September 21, is the International Day of Peace. The Peace Bridge in Derry~Londonderry connects the two sides of the River Foyle in Northern Ireland. Designed by WilkinsonEyre Architects and AECOM, the bridge opened on June 25, 2011. “The city of Derry~Londonderry in Northern Ireland is central to the turbulent political history of Ireland and as the inaugural UK City of Culture in 2013, has undergone an ambitious program of economic, physical and social regeneration,” WilkinsonEyre says on its web page devoted to the project.

The serpentine path of the bridge approximates the tilde symbol now used in the city’s name that separates the historically Catholic name of “Derry” and the historically Protestant name of “Londonderry.” The structure is one of several notable peace bridges in the world, including one in Calgary, Alberta, and “The Bridge That Peace Built” that opened in 1927 connecting Buffalo, New York, and Fort Erie, Ontario.