Industrial development in the Greenville/Spartanburg, South Carolina, area slowed during the last quarter. As a result of this slowdown, the area has not had a significant amount of new industrial space developed over the last 6 months. Even though the BMW assembly plant has expanded, this year has claimed five large textile manufacturers in the Greenville/ Spartanburg market, says Jonathan Good, an NAI Earle Furman agent in Greenville.

The slowdown has boosted the unemployment rate, which was 2.1 percent. This will fuel the area' expanding automotive industry, which has suffered from insufficient manpower, according to Good. "Hopefully, other automotive-related industries will realize the same benefits offered by the Greenville/Spartanburg market that 215 other automotive-related industries have found in the state," he says.

In addition to BMW, Michelin and Mitsubishi are major users of bulk space. Also, a speculative cross-dock facility developed by Patillo has recently been leased to an undisclosed tenant for 10 years. This 189,600-square-foot facility is located directly off Interstate 85 and Highway 25.

The majority of the industry growth and absorption has been centered around two industrial parks in the area. Hillside Industrial Park on Highway 290, the location of many BMW suppliers, recently offered another 350 acres for development. BMW' growth has propelled this area of Spartanburg County, which appears to be a future growth corridor.

A new high technology industrial park, The Matrix, recently announced its first new tenant. Toyoda Koki plans a $27 million facility that will create 80 new jobs. Toyoda Koki, part of the Toyota family companies, will manufacture transmission valves and couplings for four-wheel drive automobile manufacturers. Toyoda cited Greenville' good distribution network, excellent work force and a high level of interest shown by the citizens of Greenville as its reasons for locating in the market, notes Good.

The Matrix is located at the intersection of the new Southern Connector and Highway 25. This road joins Interstate 85 to Interstate 385 and provides a partial loop around Greenville. The Highway 25 corridor shows great potential for future development that will be spurred on by The Matrix and the Southern Connector.

Rental rates for new industrial space range from $3.50 to $4 per square foot, triple net, and second generation space is available from $2.50 to $3.50 per square foot, triple net. Business center and flex space is available for $3 to $4.50 per square foot for warehouse space and $10 to $12 per square foot for office space. The vacancy rate for the Greenville/Spartanburg market is approximately 12.61 percent, a slight increase over last year. Total vacant space is near 14.5 million square feet with 118 million square feet of industrial space in the market. The majority of vacant space is in the 100,000-square-foot and up classification. The buildings in the 25,000-square-foot and below category have shown the lowest vacancy rates of any classification.


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