JOC Staff | Mar 13, 2013 2:20PM EDT
The South Carolina Ports Authority has revealed that a refrigerated warehouse business that rents part of its property in Greer, S.C., has refused offers to budge, legally blocking the maritime agency from moving forward with its inland port project, The Post and Courier reports.
SCSPA’s board members have unanimously approved a proposal to extinguish Nordic Cold Storage’s lease though eminent domain. They will now seek to force the company to move by seizing, condemning and demolishing the building. Nordic has 11 years left on its lease.
Don Schoenl, CEO of Nordic, told a Post and Courier reporter that he was unaware of the decision and had no other comment.
The SCSPA broke ground on the inland port project on March 1. The $35 million, 80-acre railyard was scheduled to open in the Upstate region by September. The railyard would transfer shipping containers between trucks and Norfolk Southern railcars running to and from Charleston, S.C., about 220 miles away.
The railyard cannot open unless the Nordic warehouse comes down, said Jim Newsome, SCSPA’s CEO.