Lenoir County moves shell building project into design phase
Lenoir County commissioners voted Monday to move forward with the design phase of a proposed shell building in the Highway 70 Industrial Park, approving a reimbursement resolution and a design services contract with Jackson Builders Inc.
The shell building is planned for a pad-ready site on Sanderson Way. County documents describe the site as the last remaining county-owned parcel on prime industrial property in the Highway 70 Industrial Park.
Adam Short, assistant county manager, said the reimbursement resolution allows the county to recover early project costs from future financing proceeds once financing is secured.
“Essentially this will afford the county the opportunity on our shell building project that once we secure that financing any money that’s spent by the county on the front end can be reimbursed from those financing proceeds,” Short said.
Short said the resolution is similar to steps the county took for other capital projects.
“On a later item on the agenda we’re really getting things rolling with the design of that shell building project,” Short said. “That’ll be the first step.”
Commissioners also approved a design services contract with Jackson Builders for an amount not to exceed $75,100. The contract authorizes the company to begin design work for a shell building expected to be between 30,000 and 40,000 square feet.
“You all should recall, we’ve kind of had a few items on this,” Short said. “The board authorized going through that design-build process. We went through that selection. We recommended selection of Jackson Builders for this project.”
Short said the design phase will give the county a clearer understanding of the construction scope and cost.
“Now we’re going into the design,” Short said. “This will really give us a full picture of what we can get and what we can expect in terms of construction on that site.”
After the design work is complete, staff is expected to return to commissioners with a construction contract and more details on the building’s size, footprint and cost.
“We’ll come back to the board once that construction number is shored up and we’ll have something for you to look at in terms of actual design on the building, square footage, footprint, that kind of thing,” Short said. “But this will allow us to really get things rolling with Jackson.”
The agenda packet states the county is positioned to receive about $2.3 million through the Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant program. The reimbursement resolution references an expected maximum financing amount of about $3.5 million for the project.
Both shell building items were approved after motions and seconds. No opposition was heard during the votes.
