CULLODEN, W.Va. — The Putnam County Development Authority (PCDA) is continuing to expand economic opportunities in the region– this time through the purchase of an 84,000 square foot industrial warehouse.

PCDA recently announced the purchase of the industrial property. It’s located at 2301 Virginia Avenue in Culloden.

The West Virginia Economic Development Authority and Putnam County Bank assisted PCDA with the acquisition of this property by collaborating their funding resources.

Putnam Development Authority Executive Director Morganne Tenney said this purchase demonstrates a strong public-private support system for economic development in Putnam County and in West Virginia.

“This has been many months in the making and we are just so excited we’re going to have property available for industry, it’s going to be prime for any type of distribution or logistics,” Tenney said recently on 580 Live with Dave Allen.

She said anyone who manufactures or distributes goods would be the ideal tenant.

Tenney said it’s located just a stone’s throw away from half the U.S. population.

She said not only is it ideally located near the I-77/I-79 interchange, but it has direct access to I-64, and is just a four hour drive from major population hubs such as Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio, Louisville, Kentucky, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Tenney said the area is rapidly growing and is on course to grow even more with the I-64 and Culloden interchange that’s currently under construction and is set to be complete in fall 2026.

“This building is right in front of that exit, so our board of directors felt it was a really good move for PCDA to purchase it,” Tenney said. “You know, it’s great to tell businesses about why they should come to West Virginia, and why they should come to Putnam County, but if you don’t have anywhere to put them, you’re kind of a salesman without any product to sell.”

Tenney said Putnam County, and West Virginia as a whole, has for a longtime struggled with the lack of having readily available real-estate with adequate utilities, flat acreage, and transportation accessibility.

For a longtime, she said there has been a need for more residential real-estate in the area as well, but with the growth of new businesses such as Nuccor Steel in nearby Mason County, their mission to bring in more housing has been pushed into overdrive as more housing development makes its way in.

Tenney said she is proud to see how proactive her and her team at PCDA has been toward alleviating the housing shortage and creating more opportunities for economic development in Putnam County.

“We want to see holistic development in Putnam County,” Tenney said. “We have over a thousand units being built over the next three years in Putnam County for housing, we’re working on workforce development through starting an apprenticeship program, we have this Hometown Advantage campaign talking about skilled-trades in West Virginia, but we’re also working on site development like purchasing this property.”

Tenney said one of their overall goals is to increase the tax base and create more jobs.

She said, however, that as they approach the attempt to increase the tax base, they are also keeping the number of senior citizens and veterans in the community in mind.

Tenney said by putting more into private investment, this helps limit the tax burden on the aging population that’s already in Putnam County,

“You know, that’s one of the reasons why we want to own this building, we want to lease the building, we want to make sure that we’re supporting the business community, but that we’re also supporting the residents of Putnam County as well,” she said.

Tenney said they have been reaching out to distribution industries and site consultants who could potentially lease the warehouse and so far, they have garnered a lot of interest.

She said the building was already previously being utilized as a distribution facility being formerly owned by U.S. Foods and then prior to that, Continental Can Company. Tenney said it comes complete with 12 dock doors and has more than enough space for laydown.

She said it could start being used again by a new tenant as early as tomorrow.

“The distribution space is turnkey, somebody could move their goods in tomorrow, its office space is going to be built out according to what the tenant is wanting, but the distribution space is ready to go,” Tenney said.

She said organizations interested in leasing the warehouse are encouraged to contact the Putnam County Development Authority directly for more information and a tour of the building.

You can call Morganne Tenney at (304)-757-0318 for leasing inquiries or additional information regarding the warehouse.