Although it's not yet completed, a new spec building may be just what it takes to lure new industry to Thomson-McDuffie County.
At least that's what local city and county officials are hoping as a result of a new spec building being created in the city limits.
The 29,000 square foot spec building, located on the old Thomson Company property, is expected to be completed soon, according to Thomson-McDuffie Economic and Development Director Mike Carrington.
"We tried to take advantage of the property we own over there to create a much-needed spec building to attract new industry to our city-county," Mr. Carrington said in a recent interview.
Instead of constructing a new spec building, city and county officials decided to take an older existing building on the site and renovate it.
"We saved a lot of money by already having an existing building large enough for us to use for this purpose," Mr. Carrington said.
Workers with Two State Construction Company of Thomson have been busy the last several days "re-skinning" the existing building and putting up new sheets of metal, as well as replacing some steels supports, Mr. Carrington explained.
"It's going to look brand new from the outside when they've completed the work," he added.
Spec buildings are often used by industrial officials seeking to locate their business in a particular county, but don't have the financing to construct a new building, Mr. Carrington said.
"This provides them a way to go ahead and get established and then maybe seek some alternative financing down the road to build someday," he said.
The spec building allows industrial officials an easy set-up, because the building is empty on the inside.
"They can come in and set up their equipment and be operational on that site within just a short period of time," Mr. Carrington said. "It's really a win-win situation for everybody involved."
The new spec building is expected to be completed by the end of October.
