Ingevity plans new global headquarters in North Charleston

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Chemical manufacturer Ingevity Corp. plans to expand its presence in North Charleston by building a new global corporate headquarters near its existing operation and creating at least 100 jobs.

The 110,000-square-foot building will be built at 4920 O’Hear Ave. Weaver Capital Partners and Wecco will build the $20 million headquarters space near the Garco site, which is undergoing extensive renovations to become a mixed-use project with offices, retail spaces and a food hall.

Ingevity will invest an additional $5 million to upfit its building, which will be designed by architect firm LS3P. The new headquarters will house the company’s leadership, business, non-technical support functions and business development teams.

The North Charleston-based company currently operates its headquarters out of the Ingevity Technical Center less than a mile away at 5255 Virginia Ave. Technical employees will remain at the existing center, which will transition to laboratory and office spaces for research and development, the company said in a news release.

A groundbreaking ceremony is set for Tuesday, and construction is slated to begin in the fall. The relocation is planned for spring 2020. Hiring is underway.

The company has more than 1,600 employees at 25 locations worldwide, including a manufacturing facility at 5598 Virginia Ave. It uses wood-based raw materials to produce chemicals and carbon materials used in a variety of applications, including asphalt paving, oil exploration and production, agrochemicals, adhesives, and automotive components that reduce gasoline vapor emissions, for example.

Ingevity, which has operated in the Lowcountry for more than 70 years, trades on the New York Stock Exchange as NGVT.