Charleston Port Projects

Together with its partners including Lubert-Adler Real Estate Funds, Branch purchased the Macalloy plant site in North Charleston, South Carolina. Containing 110 acres, the property is zoned heavy industrial, fronts on deep water and adjoins the Navy Base Container Terminal (currently under construction) and CSX Corporation's Cooper Yard. Branch and its partners intend to develop a functionally “on dock,” state-of-the-art intermodal facility on a part of the Macalloy property to serve the Navy Base Container Terminal as well as the other terminals in the Port of Charleston. The remainder of the land at Macalloy will be developed for distribution centers, warehouses, and related logistics uses.

In addition to Macalloy, Branch and its partners intend to develop the nearby Laurel Island site. Located south of Macalloy in Charleston, Laurel Island contains 160 acres of land primarily zoned heavy industrial and located on deep water in close proximity to the Port of Charleston's existing Columbus Street Terminal. Branch and its partners intend to develop on part of the Laurel Island site a state-of-the-art intermodal facility for use by other railroads besides CSX. The waterfront property at Laurel Island will be developed for maritime uses and the remainder of the site will be utilized for distribution centers, warehouses, and related logistics uses.

The development of the Macalloy and Laurel Island intermodal and logistics facilities will help the Port of Charleston reclaim its former position as the premier Southeastern port in the United States. When the widening of the Panama Canal is completed in 2014, larger vessels will be able to travel directly from Asia and the Indian sub-continent through the Panama Canal to East Coast ports and then on to the consumption zones in the East and Midwest. Today, these ships must unload their goods at congested West Coast ports and, from there, the freight is brought east by train through Chicago.

Charleston has several unique natural advantages, including deep shipping channels, high bridges, and close proximity to the open sea. Because of these attributes, Charleston will be one of the few East Coast ports that will be able to accommodate the larger post-Panama-widening vessels. This, combined with the ability to build and dispatch 2-mile long trains, will allow the Port of Charleston's shipping radius to extend far beyond its current footprint.