Centre South Riverport is down to its last parcel, a 10-acre tract that’s hard to access, as Hamilton County looks at making an offer within a month for the McDonald Farm in the northern part of Hamilton County to hold its next big industrial park.
“Certainly when communities undertake acquiring and building out infrastructure for an industrial park, it’s a long-term strategy. That was the case at Centre South,” said Charles Wood, the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce’s vice president of economic development.
Development of the 300-acre Riverport off Amnicola Highway began in the 1980s by Hamilton County government. Japanese chemicals maker NA Industries was the first company to locate in the park, according to the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency.
The site is served by a 2,400-foot fleeting area for public use of the general cargo docks as well as rail access from Norfolk Southern Railway.
While the industrial park is nearly full with companies ranging from a steel processor to chemical manufacturers to a medical device maker, Wood said that few businesses actually use the Tennessee River.