Jackson to construct speculation building to draw businesses

The Jackson Industrial Development Committee soon will construct a speculation building it hopes will help lure prospective businesses.

Jackson Mayor Dwain Hahs said he's pleased to see the progress being made on the project.

"The important thing is to help bring new industry to Jackson," he said.

The building that will be erected in the Jackson Industrial Park on Highway PP will sit on a 6-acre lot and cost between $1.2 million and $1.4 million.

The money required to complete the project has been obtained in loans from a consortium of local banks, which the Jackson Industrial Development Committee plans on repaying with money from the eventual sale of the building. The Chamber of Commerce has volunteered to pay the loan interest, Hahs said.

The building will be 50,000 square feet, with 30-foot ceilings and minimal ventilation. Features such as loading docks, bay doors, or specialized ventilation could be added, Hahs said, but for the purposes of a speculation building, adaptability is a top priority.

"We're going to pour a foundation and things like that, but past that will be up to the prospective business to decide," he said.

The building would function as a sort of head start to a company looking to expand.

"Having a building already there, ready to move into, could cut as much as six months off the time it would take to get started," Hahs said.

Hahs, also a member of the Jackson Industrial Development Committee in a role reserved for the mayor, said the idea for the speculation building has been around for two or three years. Serious planning started about a year ago. The building proposal also was a prominent feature of plans to spur economic development Hahs outlined during his campaign for mayor.

"This isn't the first time [the JIDC] has done this," he said, adding that similar speculation buildings played a part in drawing B&B Door and American Railcar Industry.

Based on this past success, Hahs said the Jackson Industrial Development Committee is confident the building will draw new industry to Jackson, although there are no identifiable candidates yet.

"We can't really do a whole lot of reaching out to businesses until we have something to show them," he said.

The project is scheduled to begin before the end of the year and be finished by early 2016.

tgraef@semissourian.com

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