Boeing keeps growing

NORTH CHARLESTON - Boeing Co. has picked Palmetto Commerce Park as the site of its interior fixtures plant, marking the aerospace giant's first local investment beyond its growing campus at Charleston International Airport.

The company said Thursday that it will build the previously announced 150-worker plant in the North Charleston industrial park, which is off Ladson Road.

Construction is expected to begin by the end of the year. The plant should be operational by early 2012.

"This decision is another significant step toward creating a solid aerospace presence for future generations to come in South Carolina," said Ray Conner, Boeing Commercial Airplanes' vice president and general manager for supply chain management and operations.

The new factory will make overhead bins, partition walls and other cabin parts that Boeing workers will install in 787 Dreamliner jets, which will be assembled at the airport campus starting in late 2011.

The company is building its $750 million 787 assembly plant next to its two North Charleston fuselage factories. When the 1.2-million-square-foot Dreamliner production line opens, it will become only the third site in the world where wide-body commercial jets are made. The others are Boeing's manufacturing hub in Everett, Wash., and Airbus' plant in Toulouse, France,

Florida architect BRPH Inc., which designed the North Charleston 787 facility, also will design the interior fixtures building.

Pattillo Construction, a Georgia-based industrial real estate developer, will build the plant on land that one of its affiliates will sell to Boeing. Terms were not disclosed.

The project builder and land- owner are subsidiaries of Pattillo Industrial, which bought several hundred acres in Palmetto Commerce Park when the development was proposed more than a decade ago. Peter Anderson, vice president of Pattillo Industrial, said Boeing's selection "verifies our confidence in the investments" the company made in the local area.

"We're thrilled for what it means for the Charleston region as well as our company," he said.

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Boeing announced the fixtures plant earlier this year and then set out to find a location. One requirement was that it be between 10 miles and 20 miles from the airport. Charlotte-based real estate firm Childress Klein said this week that Boeing also had looked at a large building it is proposing to develop near the Pattillo site.

Once completed, Boeing's local operations will be about 10 miles apart, but proposed road improvements could make the commute between them much easier.

Long-term plans call for South Aviation Avenue to be extended to Ashley Phosphate Road. By then, Ashley Phosphate will offer direct access into Palmetto Commerce Park under a separate project that is set for completion next year.

Charleston County still is looking for money to extend South Aviation, which wraps around Boeing's airport campus.

Boeing Charleston spokeswoman Candy Eslinger said the proposed road improvements in the area were not a factor in the location of the fixtures plant.

The company said in a statement that the proximity of two sites "will help improve the efficiency of the final assembly and delivery process in South Carolina."

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