Glenstar Lands 1.3 MSF Lease at South Carolina Park
As soon as a major expansion of a spec building is completed, the tenant will launch a $330 million manufacturing plant.
Glenstar Logistics has leased 1.3 million square feet at Cherokee Commerce Center 85, its 290-acre industrial park in Gaffney, S.C., to First Solar. Colliers represented the owner, while CBRE and Savills negotiated on behalf of the tenant.
First Solar will use the facility to house its new $330 million, 3.7-gigawatt manufacturing plant, which is expected to begin operations in the second half of 2026. The firm already operates a distribution center in Duncan, S.C., and maintains a longstanding partnership with Inland Port Greer, some 35 miles from CCC-85.
An industrial building slated for expansion
The leased facility is Building 2, a cross-docked, 550,520-square-foot speculative building at 121 Logistics Drive, completed in January. It will be expanded to 1.3 million square feet to enable First Solar to onshore the final assembly of its Series 6 solar modules. The development team will include architecture firm Ware Malcomb and civil engineer SeamonWhiteside, alongside Evans General Contractors.
Glenstar, in partnership with Creek Lane Capital, broke ground on CCC-85 in 2023. When complete, the industrial park will eventually total 3.6 million square feet across five buildings, at the interchange of Interstate 85 and Hyatt Street/S.C. Highway 105. The four additional facilities will range from 211,640 to 1.65 million square feet.
John Montgomery, Garrett Scott, Dillon Swayngim and Brockton Hall of Colliers’ Spartanburg office represented Glenstar. Michael White of Savills and Nate Zoucha of CBRE negotiated the lease on behalf of First Solar.
Greenville-Spartanburg still shining
Strong growth in the Greenville-Spartanburg region in Upstate South Carolina is dominating the state’s industrial real estate activity, also driven by statewide “relative affordability, strong logistics connectivity and rapid workforce growth,” according to a third-quarter report from Colliers.
The market’s industrial vacancy rate dropped 426 basis points year-over-year to 7.11 percent, the report shows. Net absorption amounted to 5.3 million square feet in the third quarter and 11.7 million square feet in the first nine months of the year.
Noteworthy projects in the region include a 267,840-square-foot speculative building at Speedway Industrial Park in Pickens County and a 264,000-square-foot build-to-suit for AIRSYS in Woodroof, S.C., due for completion in the second and first quarters of 2026, respectively.
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