Pee Dee Commerce City industrial park to expand across SC 327, include new spec building

Orginial story by the Florence Morning News

Development of the area around the intersection of I-95 and S.C. 327 continues to heat up.

Marlboro Development Team, the economic development arm of the jointly managed Marlboro and Pee Dee Electric Cooperatives, recently expanded the Pee Dee Commerce City industrial park west across S.C. 327 to include 174 additional acres. The development team is also expected to complete construction of a 117,180-square-foot class A industrial speculative development in the new part of the park by the fourth quarter of the year.

“Marlboro Development Team has a strategic development plan to construct new speculative product in targeted growing markets and Florence County certainly qualifies,” said William Fleming, president and CEO of Marlboro Development Team. “We focus on communities and willing partners that are fully vested in economic development and in the belief that these type investments result in better paying jobs and opportunities for their citizens.”

“Florence County has always maintained a great relationship with our existing industry, and this has never been truer than our relationship with Marlboro Development Team and their related entities of MPD Electric Cooperative and Pee Dee Electricom Inc.,” said Rocky Pearce, chairman of Florence County Economic Development Partnership. “We are already assisting in the marketing of this property and look forward to its delivery this year.”

The spec building is designed to accommodate modern manufacturing and logistics requirements and includes tilt-wall construction, twenty-two dock doors, 200-foot truck court depths, 32 feet 6 inches clear height, 50-foot x 54-foot column spacing with a 60-foot x 54-foot speed bay, and expansion capability to at least 235,000 square feet.

“Florence County is experiencing a wave of new investment to our community, the likes of which we’ve never seen, and it is only made possible by our willingness to support the confluence of public and private partnerships such as this one with Marlboro Development Team,” said Willard Dorriety Jr., Florence County Council chairman.

The new section of the park and the spec building are the latest in a series of announcements of activity in the area. Niagara Bottling and Innovative Construction recently located in the eastern half of the industrial park. Performance Food Group and Ruiz Foods recently announced expansions of their operations in the eastern half of the park. A Buc-EEs and other as yet unknown development are under construction across I-95 from the eastern half of the park. And Pee Dee Electric is moving its headquarters just down Pocket Road from the Buc-EEs.