New land development is as hot in key southern states as a July afternoon. And the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is out in front of this trend. Since 2004, five sites have been sold to major corporations including Toyota, VW, Dow Corning, and Hemlock Semiconductor for large-scale manufacturing development in Mississippi and Tennessee.
Only three are still available. The TVA developed and marketed the megasite’s program that requires the sites to be developed according to stringent standards.
A 5,000-acre parcel in West Tennessee is sure to be on the radar of big name manufacturers looking for land, thanks in part to SSOE’s role in the marketing effort. TVA wanted the site to be “shovel ready” when potential buyers, automakers for example, show interest. SSOE developed a conceptual layout of all the major components that go into developing this megasite. This included the location of transportation access points such as highway interchanges, plant access roads, and railway. SSOE also conferred with various government agencies on options for water, wastewater, natural gas, and electricity services.
Greg Brogley, SSOE’s Project Manager, explained, “TVA is moving ahead by preparing the site for development according to the needs of a potential manufacturing client, and is compressing the schedule for having the infrastructure in place from 5 years to 18 months.”
“This project was a natural fit for SSOE, based on our long-term experience in the automotive industry. In the last ten years, SSOE designed 50% of all automotive assembly plants built in the United States,” Brogley said.
Developing this site will be a boon to West Tennessee’s manufacturing and employment statistics. There’s more: plans are underway to develop one of the largest solar farms in the eastern US on a nearby site. The 23,000 solar panels will generate five megawatts of power, enough for 450 to 600 homes.
The combination of energy generation and manufacturing on this site may inspire other multi-use plans for the remaining TVA megasites and similar developments nationwide.
