State Buying 1,500 Acres to Lure Ford

ATLANTA-After a disappointing experience last month in trying to attract DaimlerChrysler AG to a potential new 1,550-acre manufacturing site in Savannah, state officials are now courting Ford Motor Co. at another location nearer to the city, area industrial brokers intimate with the negotiations tell GlobeSt.com.

In secret negotiations with an undisclosed seller, the Georgia Properties Commission has approved the land purchase in hopes of interesting the Dearborn, MI-based automaker into opening a new manufacturing plant, brokers say. The Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism confirms the land purchase has been approved but won’t say where the tract is located and how much the state is willing to pay for the dirt.

Brokers following the negotiations tell GlobeSt.com Ford has narrowed its search for a new assembly plant in Georgia to Morgan and Meriwether counties. Morgan is east of the metro area; Meriwether is south of Downtown. Both counties have adequate land reserves, railroad connections and interstate access.