Logistics firm plans 125-acre industrial park in Dorchester County

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A logistics company bought a 125-acre site in Dorchester County with plans to build an industrial park focused on distribution and warehousing.

DHL Supply Chain, a global logistics company and part of Germany-based Deutsche Post DHL Group, said it intends to spend $100 million on the project.

DHL Real Estate Solutions, an arm of DHL that develops properties for the logistics industry, will develop the industrial park in St. George.

The company plans to construct three buildings, totaling 1.7 million square feet. The DHL Commerce Park will open in phases. The first new facility should come online in the first quarter of 2020.

“We have seen significant growth in this area of the country and customers are even asking us to evaluate opportunities in South Carolina specifically,” Steve Hess, DHL Supply Chain vice president of real estate development, said in a news release. “With that in mind, we got ahead of the curve to offer premier facilities in one of the hottest emerging markets in the country.”

S.C. Ports Authority CEO Jim Newsome has said the region needs more distribution and warehousing facilities to handle the amount of cargo flowing in and out of the Port of Charleston’s oceanside terminals and inland ports.

Newsome said the new industrial park will help handle the growing import volumes bound for Southeast consumers and “support the international supply chain needs of multiple port-related business segments.”

DHL said the new industrial park will create 450 jobs. 

“The development of this commerce park and recruitment of jobs and opportunity to western Dorchester County have been a dream of mine,” Dorchester County Council Chairman George Bailey said in the release. “Today, that vision becomes reality as we welcome DHL Supply Chain and its logistics center to St. George.”

The state Coordinating Council for Economic Development approved undisclosed job development credits related to this project. A $1,000,000 Set Aside grant was also awarded to Dorchester County to offset project costs.