Boeing building in works?

Developers are moving forward on an industrial building that's believed to be a leading candidate for Boeing Co.'s jet fixtures factory, where workers will make overhead bins and other interior components.

Boeing announced the plant in March, kicking off a regional search for building sites.

The company has said it wants a spot within 20 miles of its existing campus at Charleston International Airport, where the parts will be installed in locally assembled 787 Dreamliner jets.

Childress Klein, a Charlotte developer, has applied for a permit to build a 240,000-square-foot building in Palmetto Commerce Park, an industrial development off Ladson Road in North Charleston. That matches the amount of space that Boeing officials said they'd need for the fixtures plant.

Childress Klein principal Tricia Noble confirmed that Boeing officials were considering the site but declined to elaborate.

The permit request, submitted to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control's Ocean and Coastal Resource Management office, estimates that 300 workers would report to the building in three shifts.

Boeing Charleston spokeswoman Candy Eslinger would not say whether the aerospace company has picked a site yet.

Time is running short. Boeing has said it wants to open the 787 fixtures plant around the time of its first locally assembled passenger jet at the airport in early 2012.

The permitting document estimated the building project will take a year to complete. Childress Klein has proposed an Oct. 1 start date.

Design plans also call for a neighboring, 340,000-square-foot warehouse. It was unclear this week whether Childress Klein is developing that building for a specific company or with the hope that another business will occupy it in the future.

Palmetto Commerce Park, a roughly 1,100-acre development, has become a major industrial hub for the Charleston region since it welcomed its first tenant in 1999.

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The business park is home to Daimler Vans Manufacturing, which has more than 100 workers who piece together Sprinter vans from kits shipped over from Germany. Nearby, Venture Aerobearings makes bearings for aviation industry clients. Another tenant is Cummins Turbo Technologies, which makes truck engine parts.

Reach Katy Stech at 937-5549 or kstech@postandcourier.com.