Plans are beginning to move forward to prepare the former Perdue plant in Monterey for future redevelopment, though developers have noted no specific industry.
Perdue closed on the sale of the facility in December to an unknown developer. Highlands Economic Partnership Vice President Adam Poe said the site requires alterations before any long-term development plan can move ahead.
“Before there is a development plan that can be put in place, there are some things that need to be corrected on the site, and that is the first step of the entire plan,” Poe said. “There are communications taking place that will advance that first step, but I don’t know what those specifics are. Just know that the communication has started.”
Those early efforts center on making the building usable for a wider range of industries, rather than its original purpose as a poultry processing facility.
“It’s more basics around the structural integrity of the building and really making it to where it’s not so niche and allowing it to be opened up to more industries,” Poe said. “In making some structural changes and cosmetic changes to the facility, it’ll allow more industries to be able to see themselves, and that is a long-term solution.”
Local leaders are aligned on the type of jobs they hope to attract once the site becomes marketable.
“High wage jobs is the alignment across all city and county leadership,” Poe said. “Being able to inject technology and have a business that will grow with AI and technology and manufacturing over the next ten to twenty years is incredibly important.”
While the building itself needs work, Poe said the surrounding infrastructure is already a major asset for recruitment.
“The infrastructure is incredible,” Poe said. “It has every tool that any manufacturer would need to succeed, including wastewater treatment, a nearby TVA substation, truck access, and parking for up to four hundred employees.”
Poe said visible improvements could begin within the next year, though he emphasized that timeline estimates are not firm.
“I would guess over the next nine to twelve months you’ll see a lot of improvements being made to that facility,” Poe said. “Then you’ll really be able to have active recruitment after that.”
No decisions have been made about what industry could eventually occupy the former Perdue building.
At the same time, Poe pointed to progress at the Summit Industrial Park in Monterey, where construction has already begun on multiple speculative buildings.
“When you look at them in the aggregate, they’ll actually be able to house more employees than what Perdue did,” Poe said. “This is going to diversify the industrial portfolio in Monterey.”
Poe said the first building at the industrial park is expected to open in about ten months, with Stephens Seed And Supply already secured as the first tenant.
“This is going to be a net-net gain once the industrial park and the old Perdue building are both back to where the community would like to see them,” Poe said. “I’m incredibly optimistic about the number of jobs in Monterey and the employment opportunities that will be coming with that.”