Just south of Atlanta, the Henry County Development Authority is working to control and to promote growth in the fourth fastest growing county in the nation. Billing itself as Atlanta' Southern Horizon, Henry County' population grew from 58,741 people in 1990 to 119,341 people in 2000, according to Bob White, executive director of the Henry County Development Authority (HCDA). Citing 2000 census information, White says the county grew 103 percent in the 1990s.

The county has previously been considered predominantly a prime location for big box buildings, and industrial developers are still putting up large buildings, many designed and located with regional distribution in mind. "Very strong competitors are putting up very good state-of-the art product," says David Welch, ProLogis Trust' market officer for Atlanta. "Because of that, Henry County has really reached a critical mass. There is enough product and there are enough users and employees that it has created its own nice submarket."

The county is also expanding its company base and attracting offices and more retail. "We are trying to diversify, to go after more technology companies, more white collar/gold collar types of jobs," says White. "The quality of life infrastructure is increasingly important to those kinds of companies." To that end, the county boasts several major entertainment venues. Atlanta Motor Speedway, the site of two Nascar races and multiple other events, is in Henry County, as is Eagle' Landing Country Club, where the county hosts the $1 million Chick-fil-A Charity Championship, the only Georgia stop on the LPGA tour. Additionally, the Festival Ballet Company, the Henry Arts Alliance and a community theater offer entertainment to the county, as does Spivey Hall, which is one of the premier performing arts venues in the country and is located just north of Henry County at Clayton State University.

Selling Points

In other efforts to attract new businesses, the county offers economic incentives. The county may assist with water, sewer and road improvements. Some development and building fees can be reduced or waived for projects that generate significant economic benefits to the county, and several corporate tax exemptions are available to Henry County businesses.

The HCDA has a strong working relationship with the board of commissioners that allows the county to turn around building permits in 3 to 5 working days. "We really pride ourselves on being pro-business and easy to work with," says White. "If time is an issue for you, we won1t slow you down. The county manager has a big red priority stamp that is put on economic development projects. It isn1t available to everybody, but if they work through us, we fast track building permits for projects."

"Henry County has been a great county to work with," says Welch. "They are pro-business and pro-development, but they are doing it in a very consistent and pro-active manner, not hastily. I think they are very attentive to prospective users who are looking down there. They throw out the welcome mat and are very prepared to address the issues and concerns that potential users have when they consider moving their location."

Henry County is in a great position to accommodate companies that are concerned with logistics. Located south of Atlanta, Henry County is bisected by Interstate 75, which runs south to Florida. The county has seven interchanges on I-75 and one on I-675, which connects interstates 75 and 285. "That means you can get to I-20 (which runs west through Alabama and east through South Carolina) without having to go through downtown Atlanta," White explains. Additionally, Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport is less than 30 minutes from any place in the county, according to White. Proximity to the interstate and the airport puts Henry County within reasonable traveling distance of most of the U.S. population, White says. From Henry County, 80 percent of the U.S. population can be reached in 2 days by truck or 2 hours by air.

"We are situated on the portside of Atlanta. The ports are going to be increasingly important to us as we develop our trade potential," says White. The county is fairly close to Georgia' two ports, located in Savannah and Brunswick, and within 300 miles of ports in Jacksonville, Florida, and Charleston, South Carolina. Another key element to attracting new businesses is to have space ready and waiting, says White. "The vast majority of corporate relocations occur in existing buildings. So it is very, very critical to have an inventory of office or industrial types of buildings."

And the county has available product. "We had these two forces come together -- the slowdown of the economy at the same time we were ramping up with a lot of inventory. So now we have over 3 million square feet of industrial space available," says White.

Industrial Developments

Sacramento, California-based Panattoni Development Co., for example, has a recently completed 577,000-square-foot building on the market. The company has built and leased 1 million square feet at Interstate South Industrial Park since 2000. The 437-acre park is located at the corner of I-75 and Highway 155. Four other pad sites at the park, ranging from 259,000 square feet to 900,000 square feet, are ready for development.

"This is a great piece of property, with immediate access to the interstate and very good topographical features," says Mike Demperio, partner with Panattoni. "There is less and less available land for this type of development in the immediate metropolitan area. It is becoming more obvious that areas like Henry County need to be explored more often." He expects the park to be built out in 5 to 8 years with a total of about 8 million square feet.

Duke Realty Corporation of Indianapolis has completed Liberty III at Liberty Business Park, just off Highway 155 and I-75. The 750,000-square-foot building, completed in July, is expandable by another 400,000 square feet. "We' be down there for a long time. With its employee base and its location relative to the rest of the Atlanta metro area, Henry County is always going to do well," says Greg Thurman, senior vice president of Duke Realty.

Pattillo Construction Company of Stone Mountain, Georgia, has been developing in Henry County for 35 years. The company' most significant recent project is a 110,000-square-foot U.S. headquarters building for ALPLA, an Austrian company that manufactures plastic bottles. Pattillo handled a design/build contract for this automated manufacturing plant located on Highway 155 in McDonough. ALPLA has 52 similar buildings around the world, according to Jerry Silvio, vice president at Pattillo Construction Company.

Other Pattillo projects in Henry County include buildings for Snapper (a total of 450,000 square feet in two buildings), Maurice Sporting Goods (100,000 square feet), Toppan (200,000 square feet) and EccoLab (150,000 square feet).

"Pattillo Construction Company started in the Atlanta area and has traditionally tried to stay ahead of the growth corridors of Atlanta," says Silvio. "We try to buy land ahead of the growth pattern. We then develop it when the timing is right. We don1t have any plans for any speculative construction in Henry County at this time, primarily because the market is saturated. There is both speculative construction going on down there, and there is also a fair amount of second generation buildings that have been put back on the market by the original occupants. It will just take a couple of years to digest the amount of product on the market presently," says Silvio.

Corbitt Woods, assistant market manager with Atlanta-based Robert Pattillo Properties, agrees. While he admits that there is a lot of product currently on the market, he says, "Robert Patillo Properties is still bullish on the area long-term. The county will continue to grow. They have a lot of good fundamentals in place."

After developing and selling some land, the company still has approximately 200 acres for future development at Greenwood Industrial Park. The 790-acre park, which was started in 1994, is located close to the intersection of I-75 and Highway 155. The company' most recent project was a 400,000-square-foot building, with a graded pad of 1.5 million square feet, constructed for DSC Logistics in 2000. Other tenants at the park include Sunglass Hut, TJX, Sports Authority, Amware, CS Integrated and Unimast.

"ProLogis has a nice building down there. It is a great addition to the park. ProLogis and First Industrial have spec buildings in the park that are currently available," Woods adds.

The building by Denver-based Pro-Logis Trust is a 570,000-square-foot speculative building that is called ProLogis Park Greenwood. ProLogis owns 210 acres at the park and anticipates building close to 4 million square feet of space there. "We bought that much land so we would be able to develop a nice master-planned park with multiple buildings," says Welch. "Our land is really positioned for inventory product on a continual basis and to do build-to-suits. We would like to do at least one building per year."

First Industrial Realty Trust of Chicago has completed 1.75 million square feet of development in three buildings at Greenwood Industrial Park. USCO Logistics occupies a 500,000-square-foot building, which was completed in 2000, and First Industrial currently has a 445,000-square-foot speculative building on the market. Also on the market is an 800,000-square-foot building completed for Amazon.com and vacated when the company downsized last year. Amazon.com has retained a broker to try to sublease the space.

Henry County is an excellent location because of a "combination of rail service, great interstate access and proximity to the Georgia and Florida markets," according to Sam O1Briant, First Industrial vice president of development services.

Champion Partners, headquartered in Addison, Texas, has developed three buildings at Eagle' Landing and plans a fourth. The company has already built 1.3 million square feet and senior partner Mike Perot expects the park to be built out with 2 million square feet by the end of 2003. The park is located on Eagle' Landing Parkway in Stockbridge, less than 2 miles from I-75.

"The county has a terrific quality of life. From an industrial real estate standpoint, you1ve got a lot of reasonably priced land with good topography. That allows you to build big buildings and have good competitive lease rates, but you have a terrific amenity package. You have neighborhoods in all different price ranges from apartments up to million-dollar homes. You1ve got golf courses, you1ve got lakes. I think overall [the area provides] a very good quality of life and it is close to Atlanta," says Todd Barton, vice president with CB Richard Ellis and leasing agent for Eagle' Landing TradeCenter 3, a 500,000-square-foot cross-dock distribution building currently on the market.

Eagle' Landing TradeCenter 4 will be a 650,000-square-foot facility. "We are waiting for the right market conditions before we start it," says Perot. "We are really watching the entire market. There is a lot of space down in Henry County right now. I anticipate we would not start before summer at the earliest unless a user needed more space than TradeCenter 3."

Office Developments

The HCDA is marketing the county to office users. "There is Class A product and potential down there. A big part of what we are trying to do is to make the brokerage development community aware of the potential that exists for the larger footprint office development," says White.

"We felt, while it was a little premature, maybe, that office space was going to be the next step in Henry County development and we wanted to be there," says Joe Crowe, president of Atlanta Brokerage Company, a subsidiary of JT Holding Company. "Henry County has a lot going for it. In terms of the labor market, you see firms located there, such as Georgia Power and SunTrust, draw from an extensive labor market as far away as Macon. You1ve also got a great development authority and great government that is friendly and that will help you out in any way they can."

JT Holding Company is developing SouthCrest, an office development at Highway 138 and I-75 that will contain three buildings totaling 128,000 square feet. A one-story, 28,000-square-foot building was completed last year and is ready for tenant work. Two 50,000-square-foot buildings are planned as well.

Atlanta-based Ackerman & Company, in a joint development partnership with Killearn Inc., is developing Northpark Business Center, an office development at Eagle' Landing. The company has completed a two-story, 32,000-square-foot, Class A building and has leased a total of 16,000 square feet to Killearn and Homestar Mortgage.

Gwen Wegman, leasing agent with Ackerman & Company, says the company has plans to start a second building as soon as the first is leased. The second building will be 30,000 square feet to 60,000 square feet, depending on the size of the first tenant.

Retail Developments

The Sembler Company of St. Petersburg, Florida, is developing Henry Towne Center, an 800,000-square-foot regional shopping center at the intersection of I-75 and Jonesboro Road. The Home Depot store has already opened. The rest of the project will open this summer. Tenants will include Super Target, Belk, BJ' Wholesale Club, Ross Dress For Less, Marshalls, Michaels, PetsMart, Staples, Bed Bath & Beyond, Pier 1, Books-A-Million and Famous Footwear.

"We felt that Henry County had staggering residential growth," says Jeff Fuqua, president of development with The Sembler Company. "The county has consistently been one of the top per capita growth counties of the 18 metro counties in terms of population and job growth. It is first or second every year and is under-served in terms of regional-type shopping. We were able to draw the regional national tenants to Henry County because of that."

"A project like this provides a lot of permanent jobs as well as a place to shop," Fuqua adds. "It also keeps the sales tax dollars in Henry County. That is a real important issue with the county -- keeping the tax dollars in the county."

Also in the county, JDN Development has started construction on McDonough Marketplace at the intersection of I-75 and Highway 20/81. Anchors Wal-Mart and Lowe' Home Improvement opened early in 2001. Approximately 35,000 square feet of additional shop space is scheduled to open this fall. The company' plans call for a total of 400,000 square feet of retail space on the 50-acre development, according to George Miners, construction manager.

White expects a mall to come in the next few years. "It will probably be 5 or 6 years before anybody has a mall open. The big question is getting the anchor tenants. Everybody is chasing after the same tenants," he says.

In the meantime, the development authority is aggressively pursuing restaurants. Several restaurants have opened locations in the county since November, including Italian Oven, Outback Steakhouse, Sydneys, Chili', Up the Creek Fish Camp and T.G.I. Friday'.

Mixed-Use Developments

Hudgins Communities is developing Westridge, a 650-acre, master-planned, mixed-use community. The property, which spans Highway 20 in the center of Henry County, is zoned for 131 acres of retail space with fronting on the highway. Approximately 200 acres have been reserved for industrial developments and 97 acres will be developed for office uses. The project also has a 235-acre residential component that is well underway. Half of the residential land has been developed with The Oaks and The Arbors communities. Much of the remaining land is zoned for cluster homes.

There are four buildings in the park. Robert Bowden Doors and Windows built its 40,000-square-foot distribution facility, the Henry County Water Authority and the Chamber of Commerce have buildings there, and Hudgins has built an 80,000-square foot speculative office/warehouse building where P&D Printing leases 5,800 square feet. The company also has a pad ready for a 90,000-square-foot building and will start on the retail component this year.

"Henry County has become incorporated into the general Atlanta feel," says Brandt Herndon with Apple Realty. He handles commercial and industrial sales at Hudgins. "The county has doubled in growth in the last 10 years and is predicted to continue with very aggressive growth. It was one of the top-growing counties in the 90s. I believe you are still going to see a lot of people moving in. I think you are going to see more office development as opposed to distribution coming to Henry County."


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