Pharmaceutical maker plans $28.5 million expansion

GenPhar Inc., a biopharmaceutical company that develops and produces therapeutic vaccines against some of the world’s most dangerous diseases, is planning a $28.5 million expansion of its presence in the Lowcountry.

On Wednesday night, the Mount Pleasant-based company, which recently moved into an interim facility on Seacoast Road, received final approval for a new 50,000-square-foot facility to be located in the Oakland Plantation Business Park on Highway 17 at Porcher Bluff Road. The approval, however, is pending the resolution of minor design issues brought up by town staff.

The plan outlined for the town of Mount Pleasant Design Review Board by architect James P. Verkaik is for the creation of a three-story building, with GenPhar’s offices to be located on the ground floor, lab space located on the second and high maintenance equipment, like the lab’s filtration system, located on the third.

In addition to the main building, the plan also calls for the construction of an 800-square-foot accessory building.

Once GenPhar addresses the design issues, the biggest of which is the placement of an awning over the building’s main entrance, it will be able to secure its building permit.

“It’s definitely the biggest project we’ve done in Mount Pleasant, although my company has done big projects elsewhere, including Benefitfocus’ building on Daniel Island,” said Verkaik, who company, James P. Verkaik Architects LLC, is also headquartered in Mount Pleasant.

“It’s an exciting project that will have an international impact in the world of health sciences and has tremendous implications for the economic development of the region,” he said.

Representatives of the company declined to comment on their expansion plans, which had largely been kept under wraps pending a formal announcement.

The planned facility will employ 133 people.

Later today, the Charleston County Council’s finance committee is set to accept a $50,000 utility incentive being provided to GenPhar by the SCANA Corp.

The Utility License Tax Credit Infrastructure Grant is intended to help extend public utility service to the new facility. Under the grant program, a municipality—in this case Charleston County—must act as grantee and administer the grant through its economic development office.

The Charleston County Council finance committee has already acted twice regarding financial incentives for GenPhar Inc.

In September 2006, the committee accepted a $175,000 Set-Aside grant from the S.C. Coordinating Council for Economic Development for use by GenPhar for site development and entry-road expenses.

Last December, the committee authorized fee-in-lieu-of-taxes financial incentives on the proposed investment by the company as well as the use of up to $35,000 as a contribution toward infrastructure expenses associated with the project.

A document outlining the incentives for the committee’s use today said Charleston County’s contribution for infrastructure expenses was equivalent to those made by the town of Mount Pleasant and the Mount Pleasant Water and Sewer Commission.

The finance committee’s recommendation on the SCANA Corp. incentive is expected to be ratified by the full Charleston County Council at its meeting March 6.

Verkaik told the Mount Pleasant Design Review Board that having the project approvals in place as quickly as possible was vital to the company’s efforts to line up additional grants and funding in support of the lab. The federal government typically bestows such grants only once a year.

He later told the Charleston Regional Business Journal that the company is seeking millions of dollars worth of grants to purchase equipment for the laboratory and vaccine production facility.

But if the approval of the incentive packages and building design seem on a fast track, GenPhar must still secure the approval of the federal Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, a process Verkaik said could take months.

“You can turn plans around and secure your building permits, but you can’t put a shovel in the ground until the OCRM says so,” he said.

County officials indicated that OCRM approval also will figure in significantly when the project actually gets on the county’s tax rolls.

Although a fee-in-lieu-of-taxes incentive has been approved, the county still has to pass a formal fee-in-lieu-of-taxes ordinance that will establish the millage rate for the site and effectively start the tax clock ticking.

as provided by Charleston Regional Business Journal by By Dan McCue , Staff Writer