Savannah’s continued transformation into one of the most powerful trade hubs in the United States took a major step forward today with the news that SJP Properties broke ground on the first phase of construction of the Georgia International Commerce Centre (GICC), a 6.5 million-square-foot, Class A industrial facility comprising 12 buildings, with vertical construction of the first building, for which it is partnering with Manulife Investment Management, now underway. Signifying SJP’s largest land acquisition to date, the GICC is located on 809 acres of industrial land near the Port of Savannah, the most dynamic commerce center and the fastest-growing container port in the country, and is part of a joint venture with Chesterfield and Atalaya Capital Management.

Conceptual plans for the GICC site call for 12 buildings ranging in size from 250,000 to 1,300,000 square feet, each with cross-dock, front-load or rear-load configurations. Spanning one million square feet, the first building is a Class A cross-dock facility that will feature 40-foot clear heights; 228 dock doors; four drive-in ramps; 273 trailer parking spots; a 185-foot-deep truck court; and car parking for roughly 190 employees. The building is set to be delivered in July 2023 and is available for lease. 

The site, which features direct access to public roadways, is ideally situated 2.5 miles from Interstate 16 — the primary route for transporting merchandise inland to Atlanta and points further north and west — and just 22.1 miles from the Georgia Port Authority. The GICC sits in close proximity to the recently announced Hyundai manufacturing facility, which will total over 16 million square feet and include an electric vehicle assembly plant and adjacent EV battery factory. The site is also conveniently located 18 miles from Savannah / Hilton Head International Airport. 

“As the Southeast experiences explosive population growth and e-commerce continues to accelerate, the demand for state-of-the-art, large-scale distribution facilities has skyrocketed. We’ve spent the last four years studying industrial market fundamentals in the Southeast, and both this asset class and geographic area was a logical point of expansion for our organization’s development expertise,” said Steve Pozycki, CEO of SJP Properties. “The Port of Savannah serves as the conduit for the world’s manufactured goods to reach more than 75 million consumers, and yet, the surrounding region has a dearth of suitable sites that meet the needs of its end users. We’re proud to enter Savannah’s industrial sector and eager to bring the Georgia International Commerce Centre to life alongside Chesterfield, one of the region’s premier industrial developers.”

"Chesterfield is excited to continue its industrial development in the Savannah area with its joint venture partners SJP Properties and Atalaya, each firm having established prominence over a long period in the real estate industry," said Will Gardner, CEO of Chesterfield. Gardner expressed confidence in the growth of the Savannah industrial market, his firm having already completed over six million square feet of Class A industrial in Savannah over the last five years, with an additional approximately 4.5 million square feet of industrial now under construction.

“Capitalizing the first building of GICC amidst the current market environment corroborates Atalaya’s three-fold thesis in the strength of sponsorship, market, and sector selection,” said Young Kwon, Head of Real Estate for Atalaya Capital Management. “Hyundai’s entry just minutes from our site further bolsters our Day 1 belief that the Interstate-16 Corridor presents the natural path of growth for the nation’s third-largest port in the years to come. We are excited and honored to contribute to Bryan County’s continued growth alongside world-class partners in SJP, Chesterfield, and now Manulife.”

Located at the crossroads of the largest global trade flow between Asia, Europe and North America, the Port of Savannah is often the first port of call for ocean carrier services bringing imports to the East Coast from the Panama Canal, and is typically the last port of call for carriers exporting goods to Europe and Asia via the Suez Canal. The Port is home to the single-largest container facility in the country, along with two modern, deep-water terminals: Garden City Terminal and Ocean Terminal. 

With direct access to Interstates 16 and 95, the Port of Savannah also has connectivity to cities such as Atlanta, Memphis and Nashville, along with critical manufacturing hubs throughout the Southeast and Midwest. The Port’s Mason Mega Rail project is the largest intermodal rail facility for a port authority in North America, offering 38 trains per week that handle import and export cargo for the CSX and Norfolk Southern rail service providers. The area is also home to Amazon’s newest 3.2-million-square-foot, multi-story distribution facility.

Stephen Ezelle of Gilbert & Ezelle Inc., a regional non-owned affiliate of Cushman & Wakefield Inc., is serving as the exclusive leasing agent for the Georgia International Commerce Centre. For further information, please visit www.giccsavannah.com