Port of Savannah loses out as Disney begins imports through Jacksonville

By Associated Press Wire
June 19, 2012 03:21 PM

This is a short and to the point article so I am reposting it here entirely.

AP Photo/Florida Times-Union, Bruce Lipsky

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Mickey Mouse ears, Tinker Bell tumblers, Snow White nightshirts and other Walt Disney World souvenirs will be imported through the Port of Jacksonville.

Mickey himself was on hand at the port Tuesday for the announcement by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.

So were Gov. Rick Scott, Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll as well as Disney and port officials.

Disney previously imported merchandise for its central Florida attractions through Savannah, Ga. Officials say a quarter of the cargo will continue to flow through the Georgia port but the remaining 75 percent will come through Jacksonville.

It's part of efforts by Scott and Florida business leaders to boost the state's economy by increasing activity at its ports.
Read the full article at Port of Savannah loses out as Disney begins imports through Jacksonville

A. Joseph Marshall
Coldwell Banker Commercial
Commercial Real Estate Advisor
Savannah, Ga

SHEP "invasive", "sketchy" says Charleston Post and Courier

Court will put DHEC to test Posted: Monday, June 4, 2012 12:27 a.m

Summary: Editorial hopes the S.C. Supreme Court with see through legal morass and decide against DHEC.

Key Quotes:

Plaintiffs say the DHEC board acted inappropriately when, after Gov. Nikki Haley intervened in the process, it reversed an earlier decision and approved a water quality permit for Georgia. We agree.

If the Supreme Court agrees that DHEC was in the wrong, the prospect for stopping the ill-advised plan improves.

Yes, it will slow down the Georgia Ports Authority in its environmentally sketchy plan to dredge the Savannah River. But when you tease apart the controversial details, you still get a system that awards federal dollars to projects with the most political muscle instead of the most merit.

The disputatious situation calls for a more reasonable approach to funding projects like the dredging of the Savannah River and of Charleston Harbor.

The S.C. State Ports Authority believes the Charleston Harbor dredging proposal would fare well if it were compared to the much more expensive ($600 million) and environmentally invasive Savannah River proposal. And industry analysts suggest that only one of the projects is necessary.

Read the full article at Court will put DHEC to test.

A. Joseph Marshall
Coldwell Banker Commercial
Commercial Real Estate Advisor
Savannah, Ga

A Third Port for Georgia?

Atlanta Business Chronicle Carla Caldwell
Date: Thursday, February 16, 2012, 6:14am

Key Quotes:
A 720-acre site of a bankrupt paper mill on Georgia’s St. Marys River is an excellent location for a third Georgia ocean port, says David Keating, the executive director of the Camden County Development Authority.

He has presented his proposal to Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal and to the Georgia Ports Authority, but neither has issued an opinion

Read the full article at: Official: Bankrupt mill should become state's third port

A. Joseph Marshall
Coldwell Banker Commercial
Commercial Real Estate Advisor
Savannah, Ga

Georgia ports boosted volume, advanced harbor-deepening project in 2011

Posted 1/25/2012 on Progressive Railroading

 

On Monday, the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) announced its ports in Savannah and Brunswick registered record volumes in 2011. The ports handled 26.1 million tons of cargo, up 4.3 percent compared with 2010 volumes.

In terms of container volume, the Savannah port handled a record 2.95 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs), up 3.5 percent year over year. The Brunswick port handled a record 495,000 auto and machinery units, a 23 percent increase.

The authority’s position as the nation’s No. 2 export port “provides a clear and compelling case” for advancing the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP), said GPA Chairman Alec Poitevint in a prepared statement. The Savannah port, which is served by CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway, is the nation’s fourth-largest container port and needs to accommodate larger ships to prepare for the Panama Canal expansion in 2014, according to the GPA. SHEP calls for deepening the harbor’s depth from 42 foot to as much as 48 feet.

Work to deepen Savannah Harbor “is precisely the type of effort that will bring sustainable economic recovery to the United States,” said Poitevint. Last year, the GPA finalized the SHEP study and moved the project toward construction. The project has secured $134 million in state funds and Gov. Nathan Deal has proposed an additional $46.7 million.

Read the full article at Georgia ports boosted volume, advanced harbor-deepening project in 2011.

A. Joseph Marshall
Coldwell Banker Commercial
Commercial Real Estate Advisor
Savannah, Ga

The right site, at the right price

From http://www.dcvelocity.com/

Strategy December 31, 2011

special report | Warehousing

By John K. Boyd Jr.

Summary: Rising fuel costs and a sputtering economy means warehouse site selection is essential for companies to save money. Important factors are location, shipping costs, right-to-work states and community and state incentives.

Key Quotes:

With fuel and shipping rates projected to rise significantly in 2012 and beyond, comparative costs in areas like labor, property taxes, energy, and real estate are under the site selection microscope like never before.

For many [companies] , a less-than-optimum operating cost structure for their warehouses can compromise their competitive position for years.

These costs are expected to rise throughout the coming year. Despite continued advancements in warehouse automation technologies, overall operating costs for distribution warehousing are expected to increase by 14 to 16 percent in 2012 due to a rise in diesel fuel costs, above-average utility rate increases, and recovering real estate markets in most locales.

Container shipments are projected to increase tremendously at U.S. East Coast ports, creating inland warehouse opportunities (not unlike California's Inland Empire) for communities situated within a few hours' drive by truck from deepwater ports in Miami and Jacksonville, Fla.; Savannah, Ga.; Charleston, S.C.; Norfolk, Va.; Baltimore, Md.; Wilmington, Del.; Newark/Elizabeth, N.J.; and Boston, Mass.

To read the full article see The right site, at the right price.

A. Joseph Marshall
Coldwell Banker Commercial
Commercial Real Estate Advisor
Savannah, Ga

Growth at Savannah-Brunswick could herald stronger economy

Published Monday, November 28, 2011 in Local

From STAFF and WIRE REPORTS

news@newnan.com 

Summary: A 5% growth rate from the last quarter of fiscal year 2011 to the first quarter of fiscal year 2012 at the Savannah/Brunswick ports means millions in revenue and a strengthening economy.

Key Quotes:

Some experts see economic growth in the shipping industry as a precursor of general economic improvement. Robert Morse, spokesman for the Georgia Ports Authority, said earlier this year that transporting goods by ship was "the part of the economy that came back quickest" after the recent economic downturn.

After a slight dip during the worst of the economic doldrums, the ports at Savannah and Brunswick "are back to record numbers," Morse said in early 2011. "That's good news."

"Elected officials from both sides of the aisle and business leaders from all corners of the state understand the significance the ports have as an economic engine," Gov. Nathan Deal said. "The need to maintain the Port of Savannah as a viable, efficient point of entry for international shipping cannot be overstated."

"The expansion of this port is a job creator," U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said during his visit to Savannah earlier this month. "It fits the president's agenda of putting people back to work."

Read the full article at Growth at Savannah-Brunswick could herald stronger economy.


A. Joseph Marshall
Coldwell Banker Commercial
Commercial Real Estate Advisor
Savannah, Ga

Savannah Expands Intermodal Railyard

Savannah Expands Intermodal Railyard

Joseph Bonney, Senior Editor | Nov 21, 2011 3:05PM GMT

The Journal of Commerce Online - News Story

Summary: Georgia Port Authority Board approves 6,000-foot extension of Mason Intermodal Container Transfer Facility because of increased traffic through port.

Key points:
The Georgia Ports Authority board approved a $6.5 million, 6,000-foot extension of the Mason Intermodal Container Transfer Facility, as the Port of Savannah aim to further fuel growing intermodal rail traffic.

Construction will begin in January on the project, which will increase to 4,291 linear feet the rail track at two railyards serving CSX and Norfolk Southern at the port’s Garden City Terminal.

Intermodal container transfers at the port from July through October, the first four months of the GPA’s fiscal year, rose 14 percent to 109,036 moves. August volumes were 28,610, a record.

October container volume was down 6.7 percent year-over-year, with a 9.43 percent drop in imports offsetting a 3.48 percent increase in export loads. Through the first four months of the fiscal year, container volumes were up 1 percent.

The port authority posted a 10.4 percent increase to 207,545 tons in breakbulk volumes. Through the first four months of the fiscal year, breakbulk volume was up 14.9 percent 797,486 tons.

-- Contact Joseph Bonney at jbonney@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @josephbonney.

A. Joseph Marshall
Coldwell Banker Commercial
Commercial Real Estate Advisor
Savannah, Ga

Savannah Port to Expand Refrigerated Storage Space

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- The Georgia Ports Authority is expanding the Port of Savannah's refrigerated storage space for poultry and other cargo that needs to be kept cold.

The agency's board approved the $4.75 million project Monday. It will consist of 20 container racks, each four stories tall, that will power refrigerated containers.

The new racks will expand the Savannah port's refrigerated storage by 45 percent, with total space for 1,536 cargo containers.

 

Port officials say poultry was the Georgia ports' fourth largest export commodity in fiscal 2011, with 1.6 billion pounds shipped overseas in cargo containers.

The Port of Savannah is the fourth busiest container port in the U.S.

Read more: http://www.thesunnews.com/2011/09/26/2411492/savannah-port-to-expand-refrigerated.html#ixzz1ZReJBjzH

A. Joseph Marshall
Commercial Real Estate Agent
Savannah, Ga.

Atlanta mayor expects 'significant' funds for port .

Note: Mayor Reed was representing the Building America's Future coalition (which is an educational fund) and his speech topic was "Successfully Promoting the Infrastructure Investment Agenda".

Associated Press

SAVANNAH, Ga. — Just back from visiting the White House, Atlanta's mayor said Tuesday he expects Georgia will win "significant" funding from the federal government to begin a $600 million deepening of the Savannah harbor — an economic priority for the state that's been threatened by the federal budget crisis.

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed's ties to the Obama administration have made the Democrat one of the top pitchmen in Georgia's efforts to expand the Port of Savannah. Officials want to deepen the Savannah River shipping channel by 6 feet to accommodate supersized cargo ships expected via an expanded Panama Canal by the end of 2014.

"I believe that we are going to be successful in obtaining a significant appropriation before the budget process concludes," Reed told reporters Tuesday after speaking in Savannah to a seminar of the American Association of Port Authorities.

Reed declined to discuss specifics of why he's so optimistic. But it's one of the most positive statements made by any supporter of the port expansion all year.

The Georgia Ports Authority is counting on federal permits being approved in time for construction to begin in 2012. Securing money from the federal government has proven extremely tough, with the president and Congress focused on cutting the deficit.

Also Republican members of Congress have sworn off so-called "earmarks" — line-item projects inserted into budgets by individual lawmakers, which are typically how port projects get funded — and President Barack Obama has pledged to reject them also.

Curtis Foltz, Georgia's port chief, said the soonest the project will be permitted by regulators is next spring. If the federal funds don't get included in the 2012 budget, but do get approved in 2013, that would only set construction back a few months because of the government's fiscal calendar, he said.

"It's clearly not the end of the world," Foltz said. "It just means it's another three months away."

Though he's mayor of a city 250 miles away, Reed has been aggressively pushing the Savannah port expansion in Washington. He made sure to mention it Monday at the White House, where Obama invited Reed and other mayors to discuss the economy.

Reed said his pitch to the White House and others in Washington has been simple, consistent and persistent: "The deepening of the Savannah port is consistent with the priorities of the nation. It is exactly in line with the president's focus on increasing the export capability for the U.S."

Monday was the Atlanta mayor's second Washington trip this month. Three weeks ago he joined Republican Gov. Nathan Deal for a bipartisan trip to Capitol Hill to strategize on the port expansion with Georgia's members of Congress.

After that meeting June 1, Deal said Georgia might have a chance at getting about $70 million — less than the $105 million port officials had wanted. The governor said he was "hopeful," but far from certain Congress would approve the port money.

Reed said work has continued behind the scenes in Washington. One reason he's keeping mum on specifics, the mayor said, is that other East Coast ports from New York to Miami are also seeking federal funds to deepen their harbors.

"I don't believe we should show our roadmap to people who are competing for the same dollars and for the same purpose," Reed said.
—Copyright 2011 Associated Press.