Thoughts about the White Mill sale & development project.

By now, everybody has heard about the sale of the “White Mill” building in Danville. Here’s SouthsideCentral’s take on what’s happened and what will happen…

• Gibbs International (the company that bought the building) is a company that buys and sells buildings of this type. They’re not going to open any type of business inside this building because they bought the building as a commodity to be resold or leased to another company. Gibbs International seems to be a smart company that doesn’t seem to be the type to buy white elephants. I believe that they really think that they can get a high-tech firm to locate in the area. I believe that they really can accomplish that, too.
• The “400 jobs paying $40,000 a year” is horsecrap for now. It’s a nice phrase, but as of now there is absolutely nothing to back that up. That being said, I know that they are talking about the potential of the project. I just feel it’s a bit disingenuous for the “400 jobs paying $40,000 a year” to be the main story here because the main story is the sale and development of the building.
• The Register & Bee has a story saying that “About $400 million will be spent to turn the former No. 8 Mill into a technology center”. That is complete horsecrap. $400 million can buy you a brand new NFL & NBA stadium. I have no idea where that number came from.
• Danville’s fiber-optic internet project “nDanville” is the big star here because it will have the capability to support any data center’s needs.
• Some naysayers are reminding people that Gibbs International is the company that bought the Schoolfield mill complex and pretty much destroyed it. That’s true, but that was the plan going in. That building was falling apart and Gibbs International maximized their investment by subcontracting out the demolition. That’s not the plans for the White Mill building (although with the apparent state of the building’s disrepair it does make me wonder if a “start from scratch” plan would be more wise).
• All of the bonus money that is going to this project is hooked to very specific performance agreements. Gibbs International gets $400,000 per year for 5 years from the City of Danville if they meet their capital investment and employment goals. The jobs also have to be locked in for 5 years or else the money comes back. The Tobacco Commission’s $2,450,000 comes with the follow-through of the jobs and construction. The Danville Regional Foundation’s $1,000,000 is in two parts: $500,000 when they close the sale on the property and another $500,000 in a $1 for every $3 that is spent on renovations (up to $500,000). All three organizations should be commended for getting strict performance benchmarks in their agreements.

Final thoughts: It truly is a great announcement for Danville. Gibbs International is the type of company that can get something like this accomplished. The timing is right because the economy is starting to turn around and by the time the renovations are finished, high-tech companies will be looking for ready-to-go space just like this. However, this is just the start of an extremely long process and there are a lot of potential pitfalls that can easily derail this project. The City of Danville was justified in making the giant announcement because the odds are that something terrific will come out of this project. The people are also justified in having a degree of skepticism about the job numbers because there is nothing finalized on that horizon. Overall, I’m highly impressed at the planning that has already taken place and at the potential of this project.