The Georgia Ports Authority plans to sell 500 acres of property for commercial development to handle increasing customer demand for warehousing, distribution and transload services near the Port of Savannah.
Situated on five parcels of land at GPA’s Savannah River International Trade Park, this new development is less than five miles from the Garden City Container Terminal and can handle up to 5 million square feet of logistics space.
“Today’s announcement will help further establish Savannah as a gateway port for the US Southeast and beyond,” said Executive Director Griff Lynch. “With an increased demand for reliable, cost-effective logistics opportunities, this development is another example of GPA’s focus on supply chain solutions for our customers.”
The project is one mile from Interstate 95 and will help fill a need to service a larger range of customers from the Southeast to the Midwest. January was the third month in a row of record performances at the Savannah container port, with the GPA moving 331,190 twenty-foot equivalent container units, an improvement of 16.1% (45,889 TEUs).
For November, the GPA reported a 5.8% increase in container traffic, reaching 300,671 TEUs. In December, the Port of Savannah handled 292,172 TEUs, a 12.3% gain over December 2015.
“The expansion we’re seeing in our container volumes constitutes a strong vote of confidence from our new and longtime port customers,” said GPA Board Chairman Jimmy Allgood. “Keeping ahead of demand requires infrastructure development in both the public and private sector. The new facilities destined for our trade park are part of that equation. The GPA is also making the on-terminal improvements necessary to stay ahead of demand.”
Other efforts to increase capacity include:
•A rail expansion project at Garden City Terminal will double the Port of Savannah’s rail lift capacity to 1 million containers per year. A part of GPA’s Mid-American Arc initiative, the expansion will better accommodate 10,000-foot-long unit trains. This $128 million project will make routes running deeper into the Midwest more attractive to rail providers by making more efficient use of rail infrastructure. The Mid-American Arc enhances global trade options for manufacturers in cities such as St Louis and Chicago. Partially funded by a $44 million federal grant, the project will be complete in 2021.
•In December, the GPA broke ground on its new inland terminal in Northwest Georgia: the Appalachian Regional Port. GPA estimates the CSX rail route will reduce Atlanta truck traffic by 50,000 moves annually, and expand GPA’s target market in Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky.
For more information, access www.gaports.com.
