Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 24, 1993 TAG: 9301260402
SECTION: NEW RIVER VALLEY ECONOMY PAGE: 5 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
BUILD IT, AND THEY WILL COME
Blacksburg Town Manager Ron Secrist says showing a potential new company a shell building is very much like looking at a new house."The company officials are able to walk inside the building and actually visualize where they will put their equipment," he said. "Shell buildings are a tried-and-true successful way to attract new companies."
Secrist isn't alone in his praise for shell buildings. Economic development and government officials around the New River Valley agree that to attract new companies, the area must continue to build publicly owned structures ready for use.
Don Moore, executive director of the Montgomery Regional Economic Development Commission, said about 80 percent of the companies looking to expand or relocate go to communities that have existing buildings.
Montgomery County started its shell building program in 1985. The county invested $362,000 in the first shell building of 51,200 square feet in Christiansburg.
In 1989 Ames Textile Corp. bought that building for $821,500. Had the building not been available, the company could very well have located elsewhere, Plant Manager John Vessey said.
"In our case, we wanted to move in very quickly," he said. "If we had to start from scratch, then I'm not sure what would have happened."
Montgomery County officials took the money from the sale of the first shell building and funneled it back into a second building in the Blacksburg Industrial Park.
Tetra Sales USA bought the 81,260-square-foot building in August for $1.15 million and is scheduled to move in soon.
The shell program was so successful that both Christiansburg and Blacksburg town councils passed resolutions asking Montgomery County to finance more buildings.
Brad Denardo, chairman of the Montgomery Industrial Development Authority, which oversees the shell program, said the authority is developing a long-range plan and will present it to the county Board of Supervisors this year.
Supervisors' Chairman Ira Long said the county probably will continue the shell program, assuming there is money available.
Giles County also has been successful in attracting new industry with a shell building.
Rene Composite Materials Ltd., a heavy-truck hood manufacturer, began production Sept. 14 from its new plant in the Mountain View Industrial Park in Giles County.
The company has a five-year lease and an option to renew for another five years with the county Industrial Development Authority for the 50,000-square-foot shell building, which cost the county $449,000.
The company, which rents the property for $3,500 a month, also has an option to buy the building and 16 acres in the industrial park. Additionally, county officials are developing another 50,000-square-foot shell building to attract more businesses, Weaver said. County Administrator Kenneth Weaver said county officials have notified their marketing agents about the property and hope to have the building completed by spring.
Pulaski County also has set aside 50 acres for an industrial shell building and is seeking state money to build it.
Initially, the state was to pay for six shell buildings, and Pulaski County was fifth on the list. Then state budget cuts shortened the list to three. One of those three now has been sold. When another one sells, Pulaski County should get back on the funding list.
Following the success of other localities, Radford will construct a shell building in 1993, said Economic Development Director Jill Barr. The structure will be in the city's industrial park.
"It's pretty widely known that a shell building does increase the attractiveness of a community," she said.