source: Post and Courier Columbia
COLUMBIA — Economic developers in Richland County spent five years planning ahead, putting out millions of dollars to buy up some 1,300 acres in the fast-growing area north of Columbia before it could be overtaken by residential development.
It’s what aided the county in winning a $2 billion deal with Volkswagen subsidiary Scout Motors.
Now, all but 200 acres of that site will be covered by the automaker’s manufacturing campus, where it plans to produce some 200,000 next-generation electric SUVs and pickups annually. Richland County now finds itself in a position of rebuilding its inventory of industrial sites.
With an eye to the future, the county is considering another 1,600-acre parcel in Lower Richland, near the existing Pineview Industrial Park, said Economic Development Director Jeff Ruble.