Tennessee Plant Poised for $1.6B Expansion

South Korean tire company Hankook Tire has tapped Clayco as general contractor for the 2.2 million-square-foot expansion at its Clarksville, Tenn., plant. Hankook first announced its plans last year and aims to invest $1.6 billion in the project.

Partners on the project include architect of record Lamar Johnson Collaborative, structural engineer Tucker-Jones and civil engineer TTL, while ICT Thomasson will oversee the MEP components.

Plans call for a multistory structural steel mixing building, site enhancements, utility installations, specialized equipment pits, IMP exterior and TPO roofing. The project includes the previously planned second phase expansion, which will double Hankook’s production capacity of passenger car and light truck tires, as well as an additional third phase, representing the firm’s first production of truck bus and radial tires in the country. These expansions are set to add 1,200 jobs to the plant.

Tire production at the second phase is expected to start in July 2025, while manufacturing at the third phase will start at the end of the same year. Hankook expects to reach full capacity by 2026. The $800 million initial facility came online in October 2017 and measures 1.5 million square feet. About 5.5 million tires have been produced each year since its opening—the expansions are estimated to double that number.

The new buildings will rise on the 469-acre site at 2960 International Blvd., close to Interstate 24 and some 15 miles from Clarksville Regional Airport. Downtown Nashville will be 43 miles away, while Nashville International Airport will be within 48 miles southeast.

Industrial projects going strong in the Volunteer State

In July, Magna International invested nearly $800 million to build the first two supplier facilities at Ford Motor Co.’s $5.6 billion campus in Stanton, Tenn. Plans also call for a third plant in Lawrenceburg, Tenn., within Team Lawrence Commerce Park West. Production at these facilities is expected to start in 2025.

That same month, Distribution Realty Group acquired an 87.7-acre site in Murfreesboro, Tenn., for the development of Middle Tennessee Industrial Center. The 700,000-square-foot project will come online in two phases.