The exterior $2 million shell building inside nears completion as Richmond County officials hope to have the facility available for viewing by the end of the year.

Constractors will soon begin work on the roof of the $2 million shell building, which began construction over the summer and will serve as the newest edition of the Richmond County Highway 74 Industrial Park.

“Our shell building project at the Highway 74 Industrial Park continues to take shape. The external skeleton is coming out of the ground. The construction team from Hall’s Contracting is still targeting a late December completion date. Marty Bulter, our economic development director and myself, are actively marketing this building almost weekly,” said Richmond County Manager Brian Land, during the October Richmond County Commission meeting.

Funding for the $2 million, 40,000 square foot addition to the Richmond County Highway 74 Industrial Park comes as part of an federal program facilitated through Pee Dee Electric. As part of the program, the county would finance the project over 10 years at no interest with the option of differing payments for up to 24 months.

“It’s a really sweet deal for Richmond County. Obviously, this is the sixth one we’ve done. We’ve been very successful with them in the past. It’s one of the most successful shell building programs in the state of North Carolina. Martie and I are extremely excited about what we’ve been able to do,” said Land, during an update with the commissioners in September.

Land and Butler introduced the project last May, but progress on construction stalled due to multiple bouts with heavy rain. In September, Hall’s Constracting erected the first wall, then continued making progress with the doors and roof slated to begin construction in the coming weeks. Last summer, Butler said the shell building at the industrial park would benefit economic development in Richmond County by attracting outside manufacturers to either relocate to Richmond County or establish themselves in Richmond County. With a building already in place, and not having to spend time to renovate an existing buildg or go out of pocket to construct a new building, companies may put Richmond County higher on their list of potential suitors.

“Having product available is key in economic development. If you do not have any product, then you’re more than likely not going to have any new business or growth. We’ve had existing industries expand into our shell buildings and new businesses move into our shell buildings. We have a mixed bag … We’ve been at this for a while. It’s been a pretty good little program for us,” Butler said.

While presenting the 2024-2025 budget last July, Land said all five previous buildings are occupied by businesses.

“These folks have on point operations and an annual impact of 225 jobs, 401 total jobs, $27 million in labor income and $165 million in total economic output – essentially $23 dollars in economic output for every $1 that Richmond County invested into these shell buildings. You can see why Martie and I are constantly huge cheerleaders for our shell building program,” Land said.