Attracting business is a priority for the Mooresville Redevelopment Commission and the Morgan County Economic Development Corp. But sometimes a community doesn’t have what a prospective retailer or industrial customer is looking for. At the MRC Board’s meeting Thursday, members discussed the possibility of putting up a shell building that can be finished out by the clients. They heard a presentation by a veteran firm in the business, Runnebohm Construction out of Shelbyville.
MRC president Harold Gutzwiller said there would be no firm commitments by the board on a shell building, since a site has not been chosen. But commission members did vote to draft a letter of intent so that Runnebohm can put together a proposal, including costs, for Mooresville.
A study committee of members George Watkins and Bill Boyd, with the help of MCEDC director Chelsey Manns, have been looking at and studying shell buildings at different locations. Watkins said it took nearly two months, but they had learned a lot about the projects and wanted to move forward on getting costs and a proposal.
Manns said no site in the Mooresville area has been selected, but they are looking at a few properties that might be right for a shell building.
Gutzwiller explained Thursday that Mooresville and the county does have some empty buildings that could be rented out, but many are obsolete and not up to code for clients. They would be expensive for a company to update. Manns said she simply has to respond when companies inquire that the county doesn’t have what they need.
Watkins said there were a couple of impressive builders who answered their request for qualifications - and both had excellent backgrounds. He added that choosing one of them to make a presentation boiled down to little details and a lot of recommendations. Runnebohm came out on top.
Representatives from the company came to Thursday’s meeting: Tom Davis, vice president of opertions/senior project manager and estimator; James R. Bogemann, director of business development; and Chris King, executive vice president for Runnebohm. In a PowerPoint presentation, King said the goals of a shell building are to be marketable, flexible and efficient, something that will build value in the community and something that would draw other development projects to the area.
“Of course, your goals are to bring jobs and investment into the community - to generate traffic to your town,” King said.
He said shell buildings can be made of metal or masonry materials, no floor is put in and areas for parking are mapped out. Shells can start at 50,000 to 75,000 square feet and be doubled in size when the need arises. They have 32-foot ceilings on average, King said, and pre-cast glass. architecture.
Bogemann said Runnebohm values its clients and likes to continue the relationship even after the shell building is up. An economic development organization can either take care of selling/renting the building or use a broker’s services.
“It’s a chance for us to work with communities to see things happen - when it works, it’s a win for everyone,” King said.