A multi-million-dollar project at the White Oaks development that began in January is still going strong eight months later. Not only going strong, but nearly finished.

 

Since the start of the project in an area described as White Oaks Phase II-A, roughly 350,000 cubic yards of dirt has been moved at the site. Most of the work is being done to facilitate the future home of Jenkins Subaru and Jenkins Hyundai.

 

“The contractor is just about ready to wrap things up and should be putting the finishing touches on the earth work,” said Austin Thrasher, the project manager representing High Tech Corridor Development who is responsible for development at White Oaks. “As we get into (this)week, I look for them to be spreading the topsoil.”

 

Once finished there will be plenty of new, flat acreage available. The Jenkins family will assume 17.7 acres at White Oaks, 13.7 of which will be usable. The additional four acres will be hillside. All of the land is visible from the interstate.

 

The Jenkins family of dealerships in Bridgeport will eventually move from their current location on Lodgeville Road and it is anticipated to begin construction in 2025. The current Jenkins property, which can be seen from the northbound side of I-79, is roughly eight acres. The current building is roughly 4,600 square feet. The new site will house buildings for both Subaru and Hyundai. The size of those buildings will be determined at the time of construction with input from the manufacturer. The project, according to the Jenkins family, will top $10 million.

 

The entire work area will cover 40 acres, City Engineer Beth Fox said earlier this year. For those not familiar with the site work, it is in an area stretching from Route 131 to an area near The Thrasher Group building that is visible from the interstate.

 

As part of the earth moving, another flat parcel was created, Thrasher said. He said it covers roughly seven acres and is separate from what the Jenkins family will obtain.

 

Access will be able to be reached to the Jenkins acreage through White Oaks Boulevard. It can also be reached, said Thrasher, from a lower area before the main White Oaks entrance off of Saltwell Road known as Wildlife Lane. Those won’t be the only entrances to the new acreage.

 

“We’ll be working on a turn lane to access the additional seven-acre parcel in the future; a left turn lad directly into that pad,” said Thrasher. “It is down from the assisted living facility you can see and during the construction there will always be one lane open so it should not disrupt traffic. If it does, it will be insignificant.”

 

That leads to the question of whether the new pad was built to meet the needs of a client that was coming aboard. The answer, said Thrasher, is no.

 

“That’s up for sale. We’ve had a few looks at it, but nothing significant or solid as far as something serious,” said Thrasher. If anyone is interested in the lot, they can contact Austin Thrasher at 304-624-4108

 

Doss Enterprises handled the $2,851,282.70 earth-moving project, along with the placing of some infrastructure, as a lot of infrastructure was already in place. The Thrasher Group has handled the engineering.