One of the last parcels of land the State Ports Authority plans to sell has hit the auction block, with bids being accepted for a roughly 106-acre vacant parcel on Daniel Island.
The commercial property, known as the North Island Tract and zoned for light-industrial uses, sits between Seven Farms Drive and the Cooper River, within Berkeley County and the city of Charleston. It includes between 45 and 50 acres of developable land, with the remaining site wetlands, according to Phil Padgett, the authority's chief financial officer.
It was to have been the site of a new container terminal called Global Gateway, but state legislators nixed the plan in 2002. The terminal site was later moved to the former Navy base in North Charleston, where it is currently under construction.
The winning bidder would have to build a 1,945-foot road, estimated to cost about $2.1 million, to link the site to Seven Farms Drive.
The SPA is accepting bids on the property until 5 p.m. on Feb. 28. Documents outlining the property and bid process are on the maritime agency's website. Offers must be submitted with a $100,000 deposit that's refundable to non-winning bidders.
The sale is part of the authority's effort to dispose of surplus property it doesn't need to run the Port of Charleston. In past years, the SPA has shed its headquarters building on the peninsula, a former marine terminal in Port Royal, undeveloped lots along Market Street and two Morrison Drive parcels, among other sites.
One firm that isn't planning to bid on the site is Daniel Island Co., the original developer and master planner of the 4,000-acre island. Matt Sloan, president, said the company plans to focus on its current assets during what he termed "a big 2020 planned."
The authority's property sales place government-owned land back on local and state tax rolls. The former headquarters building on Concord Street, for example, is expected to generate $6.3 million a year in various taxes and fees when a hotel being built on the site opens next year.
The authority has not said what it thinks the Daniel Island property is worth, but county records show the five parcels that make up the tract have a taxable value of about $5.8 million.
