Inland Port planned for Hall County (Gainesville) (Atlanta, Savannah: to buy, construction)

[Airforceguy]

While a location has not been announced, the proposed facility is expected to open in 2021.

A proposed inland port in Hall County would use existing rail lines and connect Hall to the port in Savannah, making it easier for local businesses to import and export goods.

The project is still in the early planning stages, but if everything goes according to plan, the port would likely open in 2021, according to John Trent, senior director of strategic operations with the Georgia Ports Authority. Construction would take about 18 to 24 months, he said.

https://www.gainesvilletimes.com/new...halls-economy/

[cwkimbro]

That's great to hear! I can't wait to see details.

I like Hall County as a location for the I-85 corridor better than the new one in Chatsworth. The new one is so close to Tennessee, it almost feels like it is to help the development of Chattanooga.

I hope they design this one carefully with more holding room. This has a chance of being a really large, busy one for two reasons:

1) It could help spur industrial development like what has been going on in Upstate South Carolina along the I-85 corridor

2) It is very close to the I-85N corridor between Dekalb, Gwinnett, and Hall Counties. It is the largest Industrial submarket in the Atlanta Market. It has 197.5 million square feet of industrial space out of the Atlanta region's 700.1msf

Gainesville is also well-positioned to seek new industrial growth in the future and Athens isn't that far away with the new Caterpillar factory.

And all of this is just with the in-state market in mind. It can be beneficial for shipments to and from Upstate South Carolina as well.

[OhioNative]

I’ve been trying to figure out where they would put this. Obviously it has to go right along the current Norfolk Southern line. They needed 42 acres for the location in NW Georgia, so I’m guessing it would have to be located somewhere north of Gainesville, maybe in an area with easy access to the newly widened GA-129 (in progress) which goes between 85 and 985.

[cwkimbro]

My best guess is they will go north and likely have to go a step further near White Sulpher. It is a short drive to 129.

They are going to run into engineering/cost issues on re-grading land in the area in general.

There are a few options to go South where there are existing rail freight customers near Falcon Pkwy. They might need to buy a handful of developed parcels to make that work. Grading would cost less.

There is another good option they might want to consider. They are working with Norfolk Southern on this, so they likely need to stick with their tracks. There is a NS shortline that connects customers in Athens to their Mainline in Gainesville. This could make sites near Maysvills and Commerce very close to I-85 a real possibility. It can help them with some of the grading issues too.

NS might have a few issues. I'm not sure the quality of those tracks currently. However, I like this much better, because there isn't much room for industrial development going north of Gainesville, compared to the I-85 corridor. It also splits the distance between Gainesville and Athens.

[DJDeadParrot]

Originally Posted by cwkimbro

This could make sites near Maysvills and Commerce very close to I-85 a real possibility. It can help them with some of the grading issues too.

So that's what they're going to do with the abandoned Diamond C Ranch property!

[MattCW]

Actually the tracks to Athens are CSX, not a shortline.

[DJDeadParrot]

Originally Posted by MattCW

Actually the tracks to Athens are CSX, not a shortline.

Norfolk Southern has a line between Gainesville and Athens, also. It goes by way of Lula and Commerce paralleling GA 52 and US 441.

[MattCW]

It starts at Lula, I wouldn't qualify that as Gainesville.

[OhioNative]

Looks like it is going to be northeast of White Sulphur Rd., between Gateway Centre Pkwy and Hillcrest Drive. I ran across a legal notice of an eminent domain proceeding for a small piece of property in this area. It indicated that it was for the purposes of the inland port.

[DJDeadParrot]

Originally Posted by OhioNative

Looks like it is going to be northeast of White Sulphur Rd., between Gateway Centre Pkwy and Hillcrest Drive.

...which would place it alongside the Norfolk Southern line.