New County Tool Looks at Where to Build Warehouses

Henry County worked with a research team from Georgia Tech and Clayton State the past year to develop a web-based tool. The new tool looks at where to build warehouses within the county.

The project was part of the Georgia Smart Communities Challenge. The group held their final presentation in August.

New County Tool for Warehouses

Henry County’s new tool, referred to as the Henry County Smart Resilience Decision Support Tool, is intended to assist staff when considering industrial development and its impacts. The county won a grant in May 2022 for the tool’s development.

The final tool considers five factors in its analysis. They are as follows:

• Social vulnerability,
• Environmental sensitivity,
• Land Use suitability,
• Transport accessibility, and
• Survey factors.

Altogether, the five factors combine to generate a map of Henry County. An overview of the final suitability is in the article’s photo above.

Suitable Areas

The research tool found three areas of Henry County, shown in light blue, as somewhat suitable for new warehousing:

• west Hampton on US 19 / 41,
• northeast McDonough near Timber Ridge Elementary and GA 20, and
• southeast Henry County.

The tool found most of the I-75 corridor, shown in red, as not suitable for industrial development. There is little to no new warehousing happening in these areas. The tool scored the industrial area at state route 155 and north Locust Grove as okay. Within this area, infill industrial development is occurring where the current zoning allows for it.

New Industrial Development

The county’s land use plan does not presently contemplate any areas for large-scale industrial expansion. It remains to be seen whether the tool’s findings will lead to any policy changes, though it is unlikely. The land use plan is wrapping up its five-year update. Another update is not due until 2028.

There are areas in the cities, however, where industrial development is forthcoming. A new Target distribution center is building south of Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton. This is the first building within an area slated for warehousing.

Finally, there is new industrial development within the city of Locust Grove. It is concentrated around Bethlehem Road. Most recently, Andersen Windows started construction on their new manufacturing plant. When complete, they plan to hire for 900 positions. Other projects are also coming soon, such as NS Logistics South. It will have four buildings on 173 acres.

Featured image shows the county web tool to assess industrial development. Georgia Smart Communities Challenge photo.