The state agency had an option to purchase the land from Missouri-based Jefferson Lamar Banks in September and again in October but allowed the options to expire, according to brokers and agency sources. A second site in Meriwether County, 63 miles south of Downtown Atlanta off Interstate 85, has also been ruled out for now, brokers tell GlobeSt.com.
"The frustrating part of all this is that Ford has never formally said it was looking for a new plant site at all to replace its existing location in Hapeville," an Atlanta industrial broker close to the land search activities tells GlobeSt.com.
Ford officials in Dearborn, MI declined comment on whether the automaker was looking for a new plant site. But in previous public announcements, the automaker acknowledged its 56-year-old, 128-acre plant in Hapeville, GA is land-locked and not suitable for near-future expansion. The plant employs 2,322 skilled workers and has an annual payroll of $150 million, according to the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism.
The state agency's decision to delay buying the acreage comes a month after DaimlerChrysler AG told state officials it wasn't ready to consider building a new $754-million, van-manufacturing plant near Savannah, GA, as GlobeSt.com previously reported.
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