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Park could cost $500M

By Jennifer Preyss
jpreyss@coxnc.com

Thursday, August 28, 2008

CAMDEN — An industrial “green park” in Camden County could potentially cost more than half-a-billion dollars to develop and take more than 15 years to complete, a study of the park’s conceptional design shows.

Despite the mammoth projected costs, primarily for infrastructure, officials said the project is doable — provided it can be funded.

“It is feasible (to build the park), but not through the county alone,” said David Salvesen, deputy director of the University of North Carolina’s Center for Sustainable Community Design. “External funding will be necessary.”

Salvesen made a presentation on the proposed green park at Camden Middle School Thursday night, discussing recent findings from a feasibility study administered by UNC’s Institute of the Environment and sponsored by the Golden LEAF Foundation.

Research about the park, which is the brainchild of green enthusiast Sen. Marc Basnight, D-Dare, was conducted by UNC teams from the Institute of the Environment, the Environmental Finance Center in the School of Government and the Center for Competitive Economies in the Kenan-Flagler Business School.

The team focused on three key areas, including regional development, environmental quality and finance.

The conceptual design for the park included a three-phase design, each taking about five years to complete. Because the project is still in the conceptual phase, the UNC team could only estimate costs.

Projected costs for phase 1 of the park would be $40 million to $60 million over several hundred acres near the state Dismal Swamp Park. Completing phase 2 would cost an estimated $200 million to $240 million, while phase 3 would cost in excess of $300 million, the study indicates.

More than 30 members of the Camden community, including County Manager Randall Woodruff and County Commissioner Mike Andrews attended Salvesen’s presentation.

Despite the costs, Andrews was optimistic about the proposed industrial green park concept.

“The infrastructure problem doesn’t concern me; development will come in time,” he said. “If we set our mind to it, I really believe it’s possible.”

Camden, a small rural county without a large tax base, stands to receive substantial benefits if the park becomes a reality. In phase 1 alone, the study estimates more than 260 jobs would be created, as well as $285,000 in property tax revenue.

The study also found that green parks around the country vary in both design and function. A company may be drawn to a green park because their core values are environmentally motivated. Another company may relocate to a green park because they produce eco-products.

Yet another may come simply for the location.

But Salvesen said it was difficult to truly measure how attractive Camden’s proposed park would be to potential industry because the research sample was too small.

Of the 20 businesses the UNC team interviewed, only half expressed an interest in expanding or relocating to a green park. The majority said Camden was “too far” and had too little infrastructure.

The study found that five firms, however, might consider Camden as a possible relocation choice.

Still, even if the county found interested businesses to relocate in Camden, millions of dollars would be needed to build the multi-phase park.

“I’d like to see a public-private (development strategy), where the county owns the land and joins with a private entity” to develop the park, Andrews said.