Large-site industrial infrastructure makes progress in southeastern Mississippi.
Eagle One has landed. Now it’s ready to land major projects.
In Hattiesburg, nicknamed The Hub City for its highway interconnectivity, the Eagle One Mega Site has 2,155 acres that the Area Development Partnership of Greater Hattiesburg (ADP) is preparing for development, part of a statewide land and infrastructure buildout.
“With almost 400 acres of the site shovel-ready today, the local community’s attention has turned to infrastructure development and preliminary engineering along adjacent roadway corridors,” says ADP Executive Vice President Todd Jackson. “The site is served with water today from the Eagle One Water Partnership, and wastewater service will be provided by the City of Hattiesburg who currently has over 9 MGPD of excess wastewater capacity. Cooperative Energy and Pearl River Valley Electric are well situated to serve the property with hundreds of megawatts of electricity given that Cooperative Energy’s power generation facility is located only two miles from the site.”
Room to Build
When asked what projects would suit the mega site sprawled across Forrest and Lamar counties, Jackson says a wide array of industries looking for large-scale projects with substantial infrastructure needs could find a comfortable home at Eagle One. Greater Hattiesburg has over 700,000 people and a diverse and growing economy that covers healthcare, education, manufacturing and military. Three Class I rail lines and three ground transportation corridors, along with five commercial airports and three Gulf of Mexico ports within two hours of the city, boost Hattiesburg’s attractiveness to site selectors and corporate real estate hunters.
Jackson notes that businesses aiming to build projects that create a large amount of new jobs can find success at the Eagle One Mega Site, citing the goal of the Forrest-Lamar Alliance (which owns the entire site, including the complete rail right-of-way to the Norfolk Southern mainline) to create a substantial volume of new employment opportunities for local citizens.
Site development is coming along swimmingly, with those 400 acres having been grubbed and graded to a 1% slope, says Jackson.
“The South Mississippi economy is poised for this growth and the entire region is excited about the future ahead.”
— Todd Jackson, EVP, Area Development Partnership of Greater Hattiesburg
“The community has long known the site has a lot of competitive advantages, but the recent earth work and access road construction makes the property truly look and feel that way today,” he adds. “Hattiesburg’s local industrial sector makes up 7% of total employment today, so while that is a significant amount of jobs in the industrial market locally, there is a strong belief that percentage can grow substantially over the coming years.”
Each prospective project at Eagle One Mega Site will receive incentives according to its ability to provide long-term return to the local community and state, notes Jackson. Some programs available for future tenants include Fee-in-Lieu of Taxes (FILOT) and Mississippi’s Flexible Tax Incentive (MFLEX).
The FILOT program allows local governments to negotiate reduced property taxes for companies, with businesses required to make a capital investment of more than $60 million in a new facility or expansion to be eligible (the threshold for some healthcare industry facilities applying to this program is $100 million). Reduced tax burden granted to companies under FILOT must receive local city and council approval, with final authorization given by the Mississippi Development Authority. MFLEX is a streamlined universal tax credit used to offset Mississippi state tax liabilities for new and existing businesses in Mississippi.
All technical due diligence has been completed at the Eagle One Mega Site, which has received over $30 million so far for site development and road infrastructure improvements.
