Campbell breaks ground on $11M shell building

U.S. Rep. John McGuire, R-Goochland, and other officials attended a groundbreaking Tuesday for a 100,000-square-foot industrial building that will be built at Seneca Commerce Park in Rustburg.

An $11 million project, the building is the largest initiative undertaken by Campbell County‘s Economic Development Department in over a decade, according to the county. The building, which is scheduled to be completed in 2027, will be a dark shell building, meaning it will offer few or no interior improvements.

Lynchburg‘s Architectural Partners designed the structure and will provide engineering services.

Manufacturers and logistics companies would be good fits for the building, which will have 36-foot clear ceilings, according to Nina Rezai, director of economic development for Campbell County.

Campbell County went with a 100,000-square-foot building because there’s a shortage of industrial buildings that size across the nation and in the Lynchburg region, she said.

Built in 1998, Seneca Commerce Park is currently home to Shentel, CTP Advanced Composites, and Pinnacle Trailers.

Campbell County has more plans in the works for the industrial park: the construction of a second 45,000-square-foot shell building and a pad-ready site on 3.5 acres. The three projects, collectively, will sit on 17.3 acres of the park, leaving seven parcels — totaling more than 58.7 acres — available for future development.

Preparing the site for the new shell building cost $808,000 according to Rezai. That cost was covered by county funds and a $404,000 grant from the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission and a $202,000 grant from the Southeast Crescent Regional Commission. The county is financing the cost of constructing the shell building.