16 March 2009
Jafza Americas, a subsidiary of Jafza International, a Dubai-based Economic Zones World company, will on Thursday open requests for qualifications (RFQ) it requested from professional civil engineering firms interesting in competing for the design and construction administration work for the first phase of what will ultimately be a $600 million (Dh2.2 billion) project.
Senior executives said the design work would include creating plans for the roads and utilities that will need to crisscross the Jafza property, and "perhaps the design of some building pads".
The RFQ was sent to more than 50 civil engineering firms that have expressed interest in Jafza. Firms receiving an RFQ are mainly from South Carolina, though some are from Georgia state.
Jafza will select six firms through a private evaluation process, and only then will those firms be asked to submit requirements to a Request for Proposal (RFP).
The RFQ allows firms to present their qualifications for consideration. Jafza will review the responses to the RFQ against its own evaluation criteria.
The RFP will request more specific and detailed information as well as a firm lump-sum price and schedule for providing the specific scope of services. Finalisation of the RFP is expected this summer.
"Sometimes, given the state of the economy, it seems like we're working a little harder than we used to," Chuck Heath, Managing Director and Senior Vice-President of Jafza International, told Emirates Business. "But in the end, the results will show that it was well worth the effort."
Jafza Americas will revamp its development plans for 1,324 acres in Orangeburg in view of the global economic uncertainty, Heath said. The company will home in on the physical development of the central South Carolina site, and put on hold potential projects in the other US states of Virginia, Ohio and Texas.
"This is not a retrenchment," Heath said during a visit to South Carolina last week to meet with government and economic development officials as well as representatives of the South Carolina State Ports Authority.
"What we have done is taken a decision that we want Santee [the community adjacent to Orangeburg, and the one who's name Heath uses when speaking of the project] to keep moving," he said. "We've got very good friends and supporters here and there's no reason to stop the project in light of the current economic difficulties."
The timing of when ground will be broken on the project is largely dependent on when the federal government gets banks to start lending again, Heath said. But the economy's current travails "don't mean we can't continue to move forward", he said.
"Obviously, Santee is still in the development stage. We're fine-tuning our strategy, but we are not divesting anything. Those projects [in other locations] that we have not committed to have stopped; but if we've bought land and have committed, we're committed. As far as North America goes, we've decided to settle all of our resources and assets on Santee."
A firm sign of Jafza's continued seriousness in regard to the project is its selection of Nexsen Pruet, which has offices in Columbia, Charleston and Myrtle Beach, to serve as its attorneys here.
Heath said Jafza has received its wetlands jurisdictional letter from the US Army Corps of Engineers, which it had to secure before formally applying for development permits for the first phase of the project. The letter deals with wetlands mitigation and other environmental issues.
"We are most definitely making progress," Heath said. "But in this economy, some things will go more slowly than you might like."
Jafza, meanwhile, is moving forward with the development of phase two of its free zone project in Djibouti, after a phase one consisting of light industrial units, warehouses and office facilities sold out.
"It's the most modern container shipping terminal in East Africa," Heath said. Economic Zones World is also moving ahead with business park developments in China and India.
"No matter what business you're in, whether you are selling ballpoint pens or airplanes you always need to generate revenue and that's another reason to really hunker down and focus on Santee," Heath said.
"Right now, I'm sitting here with an asset that's not generating revenue. And in this climate, I'd rather have only one such property for a short time, than two and longer-range hopes for development."
Clint Murphy, Vice-President of Jafza International's Americas operation, said that in moving forward with actual construction, Jafza would likely emphasise building to suit committed tenants rather than creating buildings on spec for prospective tenants.
"Obviously, some spec buildings will remain part of the mix as we move forward with the 135-acre first phase of the project, but given what's going on in the economy right now, we have a little bit less of an appetite for that right now," he said.
The plan is now to build the first buildings on the site in early 2010.
"Right now, I'd say we're in client-relationship mode, rather than aggressively marketing the site," Health said. "I mean, how can you market a site when I can't tell them precisely where the access road will be or where the utilities are all of which will become clear later this summer when we expect to reward the design contract.
"Until then, we'll continue to introduce potential clients to who we are and what we are doing," he said. "And that will take place mostly outside of the Middle East, our local market, where Jafza is already a well-known entity."
Client outreach
As an example of the kind of outreach Jafza is already doing, Chuck Heath, Managing Director and Senior Vice-President of Jafza International, pointed to a recent reception hosted in India last month by the SC State Ports Authority.
"I was invited to participate and make a presentation and was happy to do so," he said. "It's all about awareness-building."
Heath was scheduled to meet for the first time with John Hassell, the ports authority's Interim President and CEO on Wednesday, and with Gregg Robinson, of the Orangeburg County Development Commission on Thursday, to discuss continuing such efforts.
The meetings come just days after the Orangeburg County Development Commission began to circulate a proposal to create a $700 million "global logistics corridor," linking the Port of Charleston to the Global Logistics Triangle in Orangeburg, and then to the Columbia Metropolitan Airport, where time-sensitive cargo could be flown out of the state.
"I'm a supporter of the corridor, and frankly, that concept was one of the reasons we made the decision to go with that South Carolina site, as opposed to the two or three others we were looking at back then.
"If you remember, after we talked to Congressman Jim Clyburn, Gregg and the folks at the OCDC, and heard their explanation of what the logistics triangle and corridor could be, we made a decision on Santee in 24 hours," he said.
Jafza Americas, a subsidiary of Jafza International, a Dubai-based Economic Zones World company, will on Thursday open requests for qualifications (RFQ) it requested from professional civil engineering firms interesting in competing for the design and construction administration work for the first phase of what will ultimately be a $600 million (Dh2.2 billion) project.
Senior executives said the design work would include creating plans for the roads and utilities that will need to crisscross the Jafza property, and "perhaps the design of some building pads".
The RFQ was sent to more than 50 civil engineering firms that have expressed interest in Jafza. Firms receiving an RFQ are mainly from South Carolina, though some are from Georgia state.
Jafza will select six firms through a private evaluation process, and only then will those firms be asked to submit requirements to a Request for Proposal (RFP).
The RFQ allows firms to present their qualifications for consideration. Jafza will review the responses to the RFQ against its own evaluation criteria.
The RFP will request more specific and detailed information as well as a firm lump-sum price and schedule for providing the specific scope of services. Finalisation of the RFP is expected this summer.
"Sometimes, given the state of the economy, it seems like we're working a little harder than we used to," Chuck Heath, Managing Director and Senior Vice-President of Jafza International, told Emirates Business. "But in the end, the results will show that it was well worth the effort."
Jafza Americas will revamp its development plans for 1,324 acres in Orangeburg in view of the global economic uncertainty, Heath said. The company will home in on the physical development of the central South Carolina site, and put on hold potential projects in the other US states of Virginia, Ohio and Texas.
"This is not a retrenchment," Heath said during a visit to South Carolina last week to meet with government and economic development officials as well as representatives of the South Carolina State Ports Authority.
"What we have done is taken a decision that we want Santee [the community adjacent to Orangeburg, and the one who's name Heath uses when speaking of the project] to keep moving," he said. "We've got very good friends and supporters here and there's no reason to stop the project in light of the current economic difficulties."
The timing of when ground will be broken on the project is largely dependent on when the federal government gets banks to start lending again, Heath said. But the economy's current travails "don't mean we can't continue to move forward", he said.
"Obviously, Santee is still in the development stage. We're fine-tuning our strategy, but we are not divesting anything. Those projects [in other locations] that we have not committed to have stopped; but if we've bought land and have committed, we're committed. As far as North America goes, we've decided to settle all of our resources and assets on Santee."
A firm sign of Jafza's continued seriousness in regard to the project is its selection of Nexsen Pruet, which has offices in Columbia, Charleston and Myrtle Beach, to serve as its attorneys here.
Heath said Jafza has received its wetlands jurisdictional letter from the US Army Corps of Engineers, which it had to secure before formally applying for development permits for the first phase of the project. The letter deals with wetlands mitigation and other environmental issues.
"We are most definitely making progress," Heath said. "But in this economy, some things will go more slowly than you might like."
Jafza, meanwhile, is moving forward with the development of phase two of its free zone project in Djibouti, after a phase one consisting of light industrial units, warehouses and office facilities sold out.
"It's the most modern container shipping terminal in East Africa," Heath said. Economic Zones World is also moving ahead with business park developments in China and India.
"No matter what business you're in, whether you are selling ballpoint pens or airplanes you always need to generate revenue and that's another reason to really hunker down and focus on Santee," Heath said.
"Right now, I'm sitting here with an asset that's not generating revenue. And in this climate, I'd rather have only one such property for a short time, than two and longer-range hopes for development."
Clint Murphy, Vice-President of Jafza International's Americas operation, said that in moving forward with actual construction, Jafza would likely emphasise building to suit committed tenants rather than creating buildings on spec for prospective tenants.
"Obviously, some spec buildings will remain part of the mix as we move forward with the 135-acre first phase of the project, but given what's going on in the economy right now, we have a little bit less of an appetite for that right now," he said.
The plan is now to build the first buildings on the site in early 2010.
"Right now, I'd say we're in client-relationship mode, rather than aggressively marketing the site," Health said. "I mean, how can you market a site when I can't tell them precisely where the access road will be or where the utilities are all of which will become clear later this summer when we expect to reward the design contract.
"Until then, we'll continue to introduce potential clients to who we are and what we are doing," he said. "And that will take place mostly outside of the Middle East, our local market, where Jafza is already a well-known entity."
Client outreach
As an example of the kind of outreach Jafza is already doing, Chuck Heath, Managing Director and Senior Vice-President of Jafza International, pointed to a recent reception hosted in India last month by the SC State Ports Authority.
"I was invited to participate and make a presentation and was happy to do so," he said. "It's all about awareness-building."
Heath was scheduled to meet for the first time with John Hassell, the ports authority's Interim President and CEO on Wednesday, and with Gregg Robinson, of the Orangeburg County Development Commission on Thursday, to discuss continuing such efforts.
The meetings come just days after the Orangeburg County Development Commission began to circulate a proposal to create a $700 million "global logistics corridor," linking the Port of Charleston to the Global Logistics Triangle in Orangeburg, and then to the Columbia Metropolitan Airport, where time-sensitive cargo could be flown out of the state.
"I'm a supporter of the corridor, and frankly, that concept was one of the reasons we made the decision to go with that South Carolina site, as opposed to the two or three others we were looking at back then.
"If you remember, after we talked to Congressman Jim Clyburn, Gregg and the folks at the OCDC, and heard their explanation of what the logistics triangle and corridor could be, we made a decision on Santee in 24 hours," he said.
By Dan McCue
© Emirates Business 24/7 2009
