Charleston-area distribution site eyed by global products giant Unilever
A maker of household-name consumer products ranging from mayonnaise to deodorant is planning to open a distribution center in Berkeley County.
London-based Unilever Manufacturing plans to invest $90.6 million in Santee Cooper’s Camp Hall Commerce Park off U.S. Interstate 26, according to public documents.
The project is expected to create at least 187 jobs over the next five years.
Berkeley County Council gave its initial approval this week to tax breaks for the Unilever expansion, formerly known by the code name “Project Flower.” Under a 25-year agreement, the company’s property tax assessment would be cut to 6 percent from the normal 10.5 percent industrial rate. In addition, 20 percent of the payments Unilever makes during the first five years of operations — and 10 percent in years six through 10 — would go back to the company to help offset its investment costs.
The financial incentives still need final approval, and council is expected to vote on that next month.
Unilever makes hundreds of food and personal care products, including Hellmann’s mayonnaise and Axe body spray. The company occupies 500 logistics warehouses worldwide fulfilling 25 million customer orders per year. The manufacturer already uses the Port of Charleston to import goods, such as potato flakes from Germany and Dove soap from the Netherlands, according to trade data firm SeaAir Exim Solutions.
The Unilever expansion fits into the S.C. State Ports Authority’s plan to broaden its cargo base by targeting shippers of retail products.
The U.K. company will occupy one of four buildings that Portman Industrial LLC is building at Camp Hall. The Atlanta-based real estate developer purchased its 188-acre “Campus 4” property about two years ago.
Representatives of Unilever and Portman did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
Mike Wurtsbaugh, Portman’s industrial managing director, said when the company purchased the Camp Hall property that he sees “robust consumer demand for goods continuing to drive tenant demand across the logistics and supply chain sectors, and we expect that to only increase.”
He added projects like Camp Hall “reflect our focus on developing well-positioned projects in strategic, port-centric markets like Charleston.”
The 6,800-acre Camp Hall project is marketed as a turnkey industrial site with most of the permitting, roads, power and water lines and other infrastructure already in place.
Most of the parcels have been sold to developers, with about 10 percent of the 1,300 acres originally set aside for industrial use still available.
State-owned electric utility Santee Cooper, which is in charge of marketing the project, is also looking to fill the 114-acre Avian Commons retail, commercial and office space to be built at the center of the property.
The Volvo Cars manufacturing campus, where the automaker builds S60 sedans and will produce the EX90 sport-utility vehicle next year, is adjacent to the industrial park.