$415M South Carolina Campus Debuts

January 10, 2025

The industrial park will eventually encompass 3.6 million square feet.

Aerial view of the first building completed in the 290-acre Cherokee Commerce Center 85 in Gaffney, S.C. — Cherokee Commerce Center 85 will include five buildings between 211,000 and 1.7 million square feet. *Image courtesy of Glenstar Logistics*

Glenstar Logistics has completed the first of five buildings at the $415 million, 290-acre Cherokee Commerce Center 85 in Gaffney, S.C. The speculative, cross-docked 550,520-square-foot building can be expanded to 1.3 million square feet.

Upon full buildout, the industrial park adjacent to Interstate 85 in upstate South Carolina’s Cherokee County industrial corridor will total up to 3.6 million square feet. Potential uses include warehousing and distribution, advanced manufacturing, food processing, assembly/light manufacturing and refrigeration/cold storage.

Glenstar Logistics, the industrial arm of Chicago-based Glenstar, is developing CCC-85 in partnership with Creek Lane Capital. The project was announced in the fall of 2022. In July 2023, the developers received the final approval for a tax incentive package from the Cherokee County Council.

The developer began vertical construction of the first building in August. CrossHarbor Capital Partners provided a $38.2 million construction loan in September 2023 for the first phase of the project.

The development team includes general contactor The Conlan Co., architecture firm Ware Malcomb and SeamonWhiteside as civil engineer.

A large South Carolina industrial park

The first building features 40-foot clear heights, 56-by-50-feet column spacing, 60-foot speed bays, up to 232 dock doors, four drive-in doors and flexible parking. The asset will be able to accommodate up to 200MW of power within three years.

The other four warehouses that will complete CCC-85 will range between 211,640 square feet and 1.7 million square feet, and will also feature 40-foot clear heights, 56-by-50-feet column spacing and 60-foot speed bays.

Located at the four-way Interstate 85/Highway 105 interchange, CCC-85 sits across I-85 from Boysen’s manufacturing plant, which supplies BMW’s manufacturing facility 31 miles away in Spartanburg, S.C. The park is also 35 miles from Inland Port Greer and some 50 miles from metro Charlotte, S.C. From CCC-85, tenants can reach more than 135 million consumers within a day’s drive, according to the developer.

Industrial momentum in Cherokee County

Vacancy in Cherokee County had decreased to 6.1 percent by the end of the third quarter of 2024, according to a Colliers industrial report. Colliers also noted that in-market tenants are beginning to trade older Class B and C buildings for Class A space.

There was an uptick in distribution and manufacturing users interested in leasing space in the new building, according to Brian Netzky, Glenstar Logistics managing principal. That came especially because of the propertyțs heavy power profile and water and sewer capacity. Netzky also said in prepared remarks that tenants have begun to make leasing commitments at a faster pace than earlier in 2024, and he expects that momentum to continue in 2025.

Recent Glenstar Logistics sale

In October, a joint venture between Glenstar Logistics and Columnar Investments sold Tri-County 75, an 818,000-square-foot industrial park in Fort Myers, Fla., to an affiliate of Walton Street Capital in a deal arranged by CBRE.

The developers had secured $97.5 million in financing from Square Mile Capital Management in 2022 for the four-building speculative park campus. At the time of the sale, the park was 95 percent leased.