City of Beaufort purchases industrial park

BEAUFORT, S.C. (AP) — The City of Beaufort has agreed to spend nearly $2 million for an industrial park that earlier went into foreclosure.

The Beaufort Gazette (http://bit.ly/HY01) reports that the city council agreed at a special meeting Tuesday to buy the 209-acre site.

Mayor Billy Keyserling had proposed the idea of buying the park and using marketing and offers of job training to lure businesses. He said several businesses are already interested, so he asked for the special meeting to approve the deal.

Keyserling would not say what the businesses were.

A group called the Lowcountry Economic Network bought the park five years ago, intending to pay off the cost as it sold land. But needed business never materialized, the network folded and a bank bought the property out of foreclosure in December.

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Information from: The Beaufort Gazette, http://www.beaufortgazette.com