New auto park land deal proves well worth wait

e-mail this story discuss this issue in our forums Guest column [an error occurred while processing this directive] More details Republican Mark Sanford was elected governor in November 2002. He represented South Carolina's 1st Congressional District in Congress from 1995 to 2001.

I believe the answer is twofold.

First, there are the details of the research park itself. Our team has worked diligently with BMW, Clemson and associated parties to promote a larger vision for this project, a vision that will be unveiled here in a few short weeks. I think that announcement will be even more exciting news for the Upstate than the announcement earlier this month.

The second and more important part is that this is a continuing process. Most folks know I ran a campaign based on changing the way things have always been done in state government, yet some friends in the Upstate were surprised when I declined to attend a ribbon-cutting for the International Center for Automotive Research last December. To simply say 'yes' to a deal that was clearly cloudy on details would have been at odds with the promises of the campaign and quite frankly who I am.

During the time that passed, we looked at the original deal and problems surfaced — the developer was getting more than his share of return, there was no guarantee in writing of a wind tunnel, and control rested in the developer's hands rather than with Clemson. Negotiations wore on and some folks were critical of the wait, but here are a few reasons I think it was worth it:

We've been able to rework majority ownership of the 400 acres of land on this property, increasing the state's stake from 100 acres in the original deal to 250 acres in the new deal. That's a direct investment gain of roughly $12 million.

An additional $11 million has been shifted from the developer's pockets to the taxpayers' pockets by forcing competitive bidding for the development fees. They had been set at 7 percent while the fair market value on a management fee of this kind is closer to 3 percent.

Given our enhanced land ownership and the change in covenants and restrictions that had formerly favored the developer, as much as another $111 million of construction value has been added to our side of the deal.

All in all, the total value shift to our side of the ledger with this new deal will amount to roughly $134 million.

Some folks liked our process, others did not, but I think it's important to focus on that process because quite frankly there will be other deals and this administration will follow a similar process. Here are two things we did that people can expect to see again in these situations:

First, we engaged. Some would say we ought to take a more passive role in projects that are not statewide but exist in one corner of our state. Our approach is different. I work for the taxpayers of this state, and if a project involves their money, I think I owe it to them to take a serious look. In fact, we just went through a similar process in Columbia regarding a proposed hotel affiliated with USC.

Second, you can't negotiate a strong deal unless you're willing to walk away from it. From the beginning of these negotiations we were committed to this project and to Greenville, but not to this developer or this site location in Greenville. This allowed us to take much stronger positions in negotiations.

Too often, political pressures prevent a willingness to walk away and keep people from being able to take those stronger positions. Ultimately, that means far less value to the taxpayer and — in this case — what would have been a lack of control over one of the most significant economic development efforts in our state's history.

Whether it's in the Lowcountry, the Midlands, the Pee Dee or the Upstate, this is a process we will employ again.

I believe trust is something that's earned slowly in the political process, and rightfully so. It is my hope that the closing of this first major component of the auto park deal is the beginning of not only a great economic opportunity for the Upstate, but also a starting point in getting to know each other better.

On that front, I have grown to admire the focus of the Upstate business community more than I had before, and I'm confident that when we announce the larger vision for this project, the merits of our involvement in this process will become even clearer. Ultimately, that larger vision is even more critical in advancing our economic interests as a state than the $134 million that came with this chapter of a much larger book.