When recruiting key businesses to the Cape Girardeau area, it is critical to have available buildings that meet their criteria.
The Jackson Industrial Development Committee, or JIDC, recently embarked on a journey to add more inventory with the construction of a speculative building. A spec building is simply one that is built without a designated tenant or buyer, but rather is built to attract a specific type of business to the community.
Our spec building is located on six acres in the city limits of Jackson, Mo. It is a 50,000 square foot facility with 30-foot ceilings completed in 2016.
There are a few key elements to the spec building that make it attractive to businesses. Many modern companies need facilities with high ceilings that much of our aged infrastructure is unable to accommodate. The 30 foot ceilings will be adequate for most businesses.
Additionally, the spec building is really a blank slate. The foundation and arteries already exist and the guts can be added specifically as needed by the new tenant or owner. This is really important. Most of the businesses we talk to like the idea of having a new facility, built to suit, that can be ready to go much quicker than if they were starting with fresh dirt only.
There are potential new businesses considering our community every day. The Jackson spec building is one piece of inventory that makes our region more attractive for consideration, but of course there are many other important options in our region. Ultimately the goal is to connect a potential business with a facility that matches their needs…then and only then will we have a chance of bringing those jobs to our region.
Resources:
www.locationone.com