Industrial construction booming near Punta Gorda Airport
February 8th, 2024
By Samantha Serbin - NBC-2
CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. —
Industrial building is booming in Charlotte County. Economic Development Director, Dave Gammon, reports commercial space doubling in the last two years alone. It’s all happening in a zone near the Punta Gorda Airport.
If you’ve driven down Piper Road, you’ve seen the construction left and right. You’ve likely also seen signs advertising commercial real estate. Professionals working in the area said this is just the beginning of the boom.
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“The weather is beautiful and it’s a great atmosphere for all businesses,” Marv Lawrence said, branch manager at Dakota Premium Hardwoods.
The Texas-based company just moved into the nearly 400,000-square-foot facility over the holidays. He’s only working in a small section of the space now. However, he said it might not stay that way long.
“I’d like to knock the wall out and get bigger in a couple years but we’re growing really, really fast,” Lawrence said.
Like the manufacturing company, the industrial zone surrounding the business is growing fast.
“Land prices are still affordable and I think we’ve got so much happening that it’s a snowball effect,” Gammon said.
Everywhere you look, you can find either new buildings, like Fedex’s 250,000 square foot facility, or buildings in progress.
“The airports just on fire — that’s what we focus on. I think it’s just finally been discovered by everybody. It’s taken a long time and now they’ve discovered it,” Gammon said.
He expects the area will continue to grow over the next three years. He said it was designed for development like this. Since it’s near an airport, noise won’t be an issue. Plus, there aren’t many homes nearby.
The more businesses that call this place home, equals less money coming out of your pockets.
“Ad valorem tax base. That’s the big thing for Charlotte County is it brings in a commercial tax base that helps keep our property taxes low,” Gammon said.
Read more and watch Samantha’s report.
