The Golden Triangle Development LINK has been talking for 12 years about building an office at the Golden Triangle Regional Airport.
Construction for the facility will finally begin this summer.
But why are they moving? What will the building look like? And what will happen to the office space in Columbus where the organization has spent two decades?
What will be included in the new office?
The LINK, established in 2003, serves as the region’s industrial recruiter, helping bring 10,000 jobs and billions of dollars in capital investment to Lowndes, Oktibbeha and Clay counties.
It owns the 6,400 square-foot, two story office building at 1102 Main St. in Columbus, sharing space with the Columbus-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce, which operates under the LINK umbrella.
The new LINK office on GTRA property will be 7,000 square feet, CEO Joe Max Higgins said, with suite offices, a boardroom and a work area for putting together proposals. It also will include a “training room” that can seat about 60 at tables, which Higgins said will better accommodate meetings of The Trust (business people who serve as the LINK’s boosters) and advisory council.
“We always have to move those around and borrow space,” Higgins said. “Now we’ll be able to do it in our own place.”
While the LINK will own the new building, it is negotiating a long-term lease with GTRA for the 2.23 acres it will occupy.
Why does the LINK need a new office?
The LINK’s six primary clients — Lowndes, Oktibbeha and Clay counties, along with the cities of Columbus, Starkville and West Point, all collectively own GTRA.
Moving the LINK out to its clients’ property, Higgins said, “sends a powerful message.”
“We’re everybody’s,” he added. “… We were joking with the architects about trying to put our logo on our roof so when you fly in you can see it.”
A central location on Highway 82 — nearly equidistant from all three cities — is also more practical.
When a business prospect lands at GTRA to meet with the LINK, Higgins said, it’s not uncommon for those visits to be truncated to 3 1/2 hours, sometimes less. That includes desktop presentations at the LINK office, meeting with utility providers and visiting an industrial site.
“We’ll generally burn or lose maybe an hour, an hour and a half just getting from Point A to Point B,” Higgins said. “With this (new office), we’ll still have to drive, but there’s going to be a lot of drive time cut off.”
The new office will better accommodate board members and consultants who live in Starkville and West Point, and it will be “an easy 15 minutes” from any sites the LINK is apt to show. It also will be virtually right across the highway from the Cinco megasite being prepared to recruit large industrial development.
When will the new office be built?
The LINK plans to open construction bids May 30, and plans are to move in by spring or summer 2025, Higgins said.
He noted the seven general contractors invited to bid are all members of The Trust, and whichever is awarded the job is asked to give preference to subcontractors that are Trust members.
What will happen to the existing office building?
Higgins said The LINK plans to sell the building and accompanying property, including a wooded lot between its current office and the old Bellsouth building.
The Chamber has announced it will become an independent entity Oct. 1 and move into the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau office building downtown.
Appraisals place The LINK office property at $700,000, Higgins said, and sale proceeds will help pay for the new building. About half a dozen interested parties have looked at the Main Street property, he said, ranging from realtors to wealth management firms to local government entities.
“It lends itself to a lot of stuff,” Higgins said. “It could be a law office. It could be for bank mortgage processing.”
The LINK will entertain offers any time, Higgins said, even if that means it has to rent its own building from new owners until it can vacate.
“If somebody wanted to put their name on it right now, we’d probably say yes, but understand it will probably be about a year before we move out,” he said.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 40 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
