From staff reports
Beaufort City Council, on Oct. 26, approved the sale of eight acres of land in the Beaufort Commerce Park to Magnus Development Partners, who will build a second spec building in the park next to the building that was completed earlier this year.
The first building, at 64,000 square feet, is fully leased to two companies that are scheduled to start operations before the end of 2022.
The new spec building will be 72,000 square feet, and will be marketed to warehouse and manufacturing companies. The land is being purchased from the City for $25,000, or approximately $200,000. That amount will be repaid to the City in $5,000 increments, beginning with a first payment when a Certificate of Occupancy is issued for the building, and then yearly. However, if Magnus sells the property, the purchase price will be paid in full at that time.
Magnus Partners will next move forward with the engineering and design of the building.
“We made a bet. We proved the Beaufort Commerce Park was a great investment,” said John O’Toole, Executive Director of the Beaufort County Economic Development Corporation, which partners with the City in economic development, at the first reading of the ordinance on Oct. 11.
Approximately $6.1 million in private investment was made into the first spec building, he noted, and the two companies that are leasing the space, Norman USA and Critical Role, are expected to invest $16 million into their operations and hire more than 80 employees between them.
