After years of being vacant, the speculative building at the Brookhaven Industrial Park will soon see activity.

     Rex Lumber Company has entered into a 10-year lease-purchase agreement with the city of Brookhaven and Lincoln County for the building.

     The first year’s lease payment of $20,000 was announced at the Lincoln County supervisors’ meeting on Monday.

     The deal, which went into effect July 10, calls for a 10-year contract at $20,000 a year and a $200,000 final payment to purchase the building. All payments will be split evenly between the city and county.

     The spec building was originally built in 1996 as many communities across the country were doing the same, with the thinking of “build it and they will come” being applied to lure businesses. The city and county each put up $200,000 for the construction of the 45,000-square foot building on five acres.

     At Monday’s supervisors meeting, Lincoln County Chancery Clerk and former Lincoln County/Brookhaven Chamber of Commerce executive vice president Tillmon Bishop said the agreement was a long time coming.

     “There is no one in North America happier than me right now,” said Bishop. “This has been 15 years in the making.”

     Bishop said Rex Lumber will get the warehousing space they need out of the deal while the city and county fill the building.

     Rex Lumber officials were unavailable for comment on the spec building development.

     Lincoln County/Brookhaven Executive Vice President Cliff Brumfield said the announcement is welcome news.

     “Rex Lumber’s utilization of the spec building is wonderful news on several accounts,” he said. “The building has sat there unused for quite a while.      “Secondly, the best part is it’s a local company, and one of our newest industries that is putting it to use,” Brumfield continued. “Rex Lumber has added over 120 jobs over the past year and half in Brookhaven.”

     The Industrial Development Foundation, city and county built the spec building and have been waiting for someone to fill it since 1996.

     “The chamber and Cliff (Brumfield) have done a great job with helping us,” said Bishop. “Rex Lumber was in need of some warehousing space; this was already available.”

     It’s taken longer than officials expected to fill the building, but Bishop said he is thrilled to have a local company that can make good use of it.

     “It was a pleasure to work with Rex Lumber Company,” he said. “They really wanted the building and we really wanted them to have it.”

     Brumfield said despite being vacant, the building has been important for the area.

     “It has been vital over the years to help bring companies here to visit, many of which stayed after they came,” he said.

     He also said Rex Lumber has been great to work with.

     “They have been a delight to work with since coming to our community,” he said. “We should be very proud to have them here in our area.”

     Brumfield said many spec buildings built in the 1990s are vacant today, because companies came in and used them and then decided to build from the ground up.

     “But we are tickled to death to have ours filled,” he said.

     Rex Lumber has not yet begun to move in, but they do have interior and exterior improvements planned to start soon, said Brumfield.

     “The building at this point has no electricity or plumbing,” he said. “It is merely a shell with a concrete floor. Rex Lumber will have to make a significant investment to get the building up and running, which will create more economic opportunities.”