Siemens agreed to pay $6.45 million in water and sewer charges before its Pendergrass plant makes a single electrical component. On July 30, the Jackson County Water and Sewerage Authority approved an application from a manufacturer it called "Project Viking." The plant is going into the former Sears warehouse on Raco Parkway. Mainstreet News reported the terms: $3.45 million in wastewater tap fees, plus a separate $3 million contribution toward a new treatment plant. The authority also capped average daily water use at 150,000 gallons and required the company to reuse at least 20% of its wastewater on-site.
A week later, the state confirmed what Project Viking was. Georgia's August 7 announcement described a Siemens investment of at least $185 million and more than 1,400 jobs at 580 Raco Parkway. The plant will make low-voltage electrical components. Buildout is expected in November and hiring in 2027.
Those utility terms explain the county's industrial market better than any vacancy rate does. Jackson County has plenty of empty warehouse space. What it has much less of is wastewater capacity, along with roads that can take more trucks. If you own, buy, or lease industrial property here, those two limits set value more than rent comps do.
A Plant Running Out of Room
The authority's wastewater department lists one treatment facility, the Middle Oconee Wastewater Treatment Plant. In its July 30, 2026 minutes, staff described a plant with limited capacity that is "nearing our permitted capacity." Staff tied the need for a replacement plant to growth and rising wastewater demand.
Demand is climbing fast. The authority's September 10 operating report covered May 2026 and showed billed sewer usage up 41% from a year earlier, with 55 new sewer customers that month. The plant averaged 1.23 million gallons a day and peaked at 1.4 million. Staff also reported "higher flows and an uptick in plant maintenance and repair issues."
The fix is real, but it is still early. The authority hired Hazen and Sawyer for the first phase of design, about 30% of the total scope, capped at $1.1 million. The construction budget is estimated at $69 million. Detailed design and construction services will be negotiated separately. As of the September meeting, the next step was asking contractors for proposals. Board chairman Dave Ehrhardt described the situation bluntly to Mainstreet News: "Really, our backs are against the wall right now."
Drinking water has a similar timeline. In September, the authority's general manager said plans for the Bear Creek water treatment expansion were complete. Bids were expected to go out October 12 and come back by December 10, and construction would take three years and double treatment capacity. A regional committee draft dated October 14 said the sealed bid set was still headed to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division for preliminary review. The same draft put the inflation-adjusted cost at $113 million to $144 million.
The authority is not sitting still. Until new capacity comes online, though, every new connection takes some of what is left. Siemens' terms show what that costs: tap fees, a plant contribution, a cap on use, and a reuse requirement.
Two Kinds of Vacancy
This is where the headline numbers mislead. Colliers' Q3 2026 Atlanta industrial report counts Jackson County separately from the Gwinnett and I-985 part of the Northeast submarket. Side by side, the two areas look like different markets.
Q3 2026 | Jackson County | Northeast: I-285/Gwinnett/I-985 |
|---|---|---|
Total vacancy | 12.4%, down from 13.5% | 8.0%, up from 7.3% |
Warehouse vacancy | 13.1% | 8.4% |
Manufacturing vacancy | 7.2% | 2.5% |
Warehouse asking rent, NNN per SF per year | $5.95 | $10.39 |
Manufacturing asking rent, NNN per SF per year | $7.25 | $9.34 |
Under construction | 936,924 SF | 3,314,305 SF |
Jackson County's 12.4% is almost entirely a warehouse number. Warehouses make up about 46 million of the 52 million square feet Colliers tracks in the county. Manufacturing space is a much smaller pool, and in this table it is the only product type in the county that asks more rent than warehouse space.
The manufacturing numbers probably make it look easier to find than it is. Colliers tracks properties over 20,000 square feet and leaves heavy manufacturing out of its inventory. So the tightest kind of space a production user might need isn't in that 7.2% figure at all.
The warehouse space is not sitting idle, either. Jackson County absorbed 580,815 square feet in Q3 2026 and 3.2 million over the trailing 12 months, according to Colliers. Big leases are still being signed. Cushman & Wakefield's Q3 2026 report lists TikTok Logistics taking 1,017,900 square feet at Jackson 85 North Building 2. Earlier in the year, Kubota signed an 810,000-square-foot new lease at 860 John B. Brooks Road in Pendergrass.
Siemens connects the two halves of the table. A manufacturer that needed a large building took an existing warehouse. Cushman & Wakefield recorded the Siemens deal as a 772,200-square-foot new lease at Jackson 85 Distribution Center. The state describes the plant itself as about 550,000 square feet, so the plant may use only part of the building. Mainstreet News reported that the building sits at the Dry Pond exit on I-85. The Jackson County Industrial Development Authority approved a seven-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes arrangement covering Siemens' personal property and equipment investment. It does not include the building, which Siemens is expected to lease from the current owners.
Why Developers Keep Proposing Warehouses
Manufacturing space is tighter and asks more rent, yet most new proposals are warehouses, partly because a warehouse needs far less water. In September, the authority approved Trammell Crow Company's applications for TCC 85 North Buildings 3 and 4. Those applications sized water and wastewater demand at 25 gallons per day per employee. At that rate, a hypothetical warehouse with 300 workers would need about 7,500 gallons a day. That is one-twentieth of the average Siemens is allowed to draw.
A distribution building is an easier yes for a utility under pressure. The friction for warehouses shows up somewhere else: trucks. Three current proposals show how.
- Jefferson, U.S. 129 area. DCK Highway 129 LLC wants 144 acres rezoned from medium-density residential to light industrial for two buildings of about 496,000 and 550,000 square feet. Mainstreet News reported that the Jefferson-Talmo Planning Commission voted 3–2 against the request. At the council's October 12 work session, according to a follow-up Mainstreet News report, the developer offered several changes. They included a deceleration lane, a left-turn lane, a 120-foot setback where the site borders unincorporated county land, and a wider undisturbed buffer of up to 75 feet instead of 40. The city council vote is scheduled for October 26.
- Braselton, Jesse Cronic Road. Mainstreet News reported that SDP Acquisitions, LLC proposed a one-million-square-foot distribution building on 82 acres next to I-85. No tenant is named. The project needs a rezoning and a variance, and it would be finished in 2028 if approved.
- Jefferson area, Airport Road. Jackson County approved Choice Equipment Company's rezoning of 108.57 acres on September 21, Mainstreet News reported. The concept plan shows three buildings totaling about 860,600 square feet. The approval requires enough truck staging on the site and bans truck parking or queuing on public roads. The traffic study projects about 2,564 daily trips.
The Jefferson debate shows how this friction ends up in the price. Mainstreet News reported that the city's public works director said New Salem Church Road meets current standards but has been battered by truck traffic. A full repair would cost a couple million dollars or more, which the city does not have. The mayor said the Georgia Department of Transportation expects "substantial traffic impacts" at the U.S. 129 signal. Turn lanes, setbacks, berms, repaving, and on-site staging all cost land or money. They get paid before the building earns any rent.
What This Means for Your Property
Put the sewer limits and the truck limits together and some properties come out ahead. A building that already has a sewer connection, workable truck access, and the right zoning has cleared hurdles that a new site still has to clear. Here's how that plays out for each type of client:
- Owners of existing industrial buildings. Your building's value isn't just the warehouse rent comp, $5.95 per square foot in Jackson County as of Q3 2026. Before you price it, gather your utility service records, sewer capacity, power, truck court, and road access. Siemens shows what a production user will pay to get into the right building.
- Investors buying land. Zoned land without confirmed utility service is a bet on approvals that haven't happened yet. The authority's posted connection-fee schedule, effective April 11, 2024, lists sewer connection fees of $10,000 per equivalent residential unit. Larger users have faced negotiated terms on top of that, as the Siemens approval shows.
- Manufacturers and other high-water users. Plan for the utility application to happen alongside the lease or purchase, not after it. Its conditions may affect your schedule and your operating costs.
- Warehouse occupants. Choice is better for you. With 13.1% warehouse vacancy in Jackson County as of Q3 2026, you have more room to negotiate than you would in the Gwinnett and I-985 part of the Northeast market.
FAQ
Is Jackson County overbuilt with warehouses? Warehouse vacancy was 13.1% in Q3 2026, down from 14.3% the quarter before, and the county absorbed 3.2 million square feet over the trailing 12 months. Vacancy is high, but it's falling.
When will new wastewater capacity be available? No completion date has been published. The Middle Oconee project finished the first phase of design hiring in July. Contractor solicitation was the next step as of September.
Do different brokerage reports agree on this market? On direction, mostly, but the numbers differ. Each firm defines its submarkets and size cutoffs differently. Don't mix one firm's figures with another's.
This post is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Confirm utility fees, approval terms, and zoning conditions for your own property with the relevant authority and your own advisors.
If you own an industrial building on the I-85 corridor or you're weighing a site in Jackson County, Jake Blickenstaff can walk you through a building's value, timing, and options before you set a price or sign a lease. Let's Connect.
