Nonprofits identify nearly 700 warehouses in Savannah area, largely due to port expansion

Caption

Dashboard records 165 million square feet of warehouses built, approved or under construction.

Credit: Warehouse Dashboard/100 Miles, Savannah Riverkeeper, and Ogeechee Riverkeeper

Nearly 600 warehouses now dot the greater Savannah area, according to a new map released earlier this month by nonprofits 100 Miles, Savannah Riverkeeper, and Ogeechee Riverkeeper. About 100 more are either in construction or have been approved.

The 700 recorded warehouses amount to 165 million square feet in Chatham and neighboring counties dedicated to the storage buildings.

"Warehouses are just the most common form of industrial development we have here on the coast," 100 Miles North Coast Advocate Jeff Beauvais said. "That's primarily because people are trying to get ahead of the curve and support the logistics needs of the Port of Savannah."

The data was compiled through a collection of aerial imagery, community reporting and ground-truthing that began a few years ago. The effort's primary purpose is to provide a tool that residents and officials can point to when attempting to preserve the rural character of places like Effingham, Liberty and Bryan counties.

"We are seeing a lot of these warehouses start to creep out from the traditional industrial zoning areas and start to get more into areas that were formerly agricultural or forested or rural communities," Beauvais said. "This is a baseline that people can say...that enough is enough with these warehouses."

The nonprofits are encouraging the public to submit more warehouse data points, especially beyond Chatham County. That includes Jasper County, across the Savannah River into South Carolina.