Sanford hails Indian Land project

INDIAN LAND - Officials called Tuesday a day of celebration for Lancaster County as HSBC Mortgage Services held a ground-breaking for its new home in Indian Land.

After construction of its 182,000-square-foot building in EdgeWater Corporate Center, along U.S. 521 South and Possum Hollow Road, the company will open its doors next year.

Indianapolis-based Lauth Property Group is developing the 90-acre corporate center, which will also include shops and medical offices.

Gov. Mark Sanford joined in Tuesday's celebration with local government, Lauth Property Group and HSBC Mortgage Services officials. He said the announcement is especially bright for this area of the state, hit hard by closings in the textile industry.

"We could be standing in front of a plant that's closing," Sanford said. "This is as good as it gets."

Sanford asked his audience to consider what one job means to a person, in terms of the holidays or a child's birthday. There have been hardships in this part of South Carolina, but with an investment like Lauth's and HSBC's, it will keep the state globally competitive.

"There has been extremely hard work at the local level in making these folks feel welcome in their relocation," Sanford said.

Lancaster County Council Chairman Alston DeVenny thanked Lauth Property Group officials for their vision and said he is excited and pleased about the mortgage company's relocation to Lancaster County. He praised the work of Lancaster County Economic Development Corp. President Keith Tunnell and County Administrator Chap Hurst for their work in bringing an investment like Lauth's and HSBC's to the county.

"It does take hard work for these projects to come together on the county side," DeVenny said.

HSBC Mortgage Services' property will include a parking garage and a 5-acre lake, which will be enhanced by walking trails.

The company is relocating its headquarters from Charlotte's South Park to the corporate center.

Company officials say employment could double from 450 initially to about 900 in Lancaster County within five years, with 120 workers remaining at the Decision One mortgage branch office at South Park.

HSBC Mortgage Services employs more than 3,000 nationwide. The company's new 182,000-square-foot facility at EdgeWater Corporate Center will offer nearly 60 percent more space to accommodate the company's anticipated growth.

Having space to grow is just one of the criteria Lancaster County met in the decision to locate here, said J.C. Faulkner, CEO of HSBC Mortgage Services. A friendly, safe business environment, a good employee base, good roads and access to interstates, hotels and restaurants also factored into the company's move.

"And to be part of a new, exciting development," Faulkner said. "It's pretty exciting. There are a lot of good businesses coming down here."

The company's relocation, a $30 million investment, will begin in early summer 2006.

The county's fee-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement with HSBC Mortgage Services includes a 95 percent rebate on taxes for the company's first year in the county and a 65 percent rebate the second year.

The state will give an $800,000 grant for improvements to Possum Hollow Road, which will be widened to three lanes, Hurst said. Another $400,000 state grant will be used for utility lines.

Other plans for EdgeWater Corporate Center - a $170 million project that will bring 850,000-square-feet of office space to the Panhandle - include retail and bank outparcels along U.S. 521, and other professional and medical buildings along Possum Hollow Road.

Lauth Property Group, founded in 1977, has offices in Charlotte, Denver, Nashville and Orlando.

The company, named in the top 30 among real estate developers in the nation last year, specializes in office, industrial, retail and health-care real estate.

Contact Jenny Hartley at 283-1151 or

jhartley@thelancasternews.com