BE&K of Charlotte picked for Boeing job

By Katy Stech - The (Charleston) Post and Courier

NORTH CHARLESTON -- The same construction team that built the two original 787 supplier factories in North Charleston will take on Boeing's bigger expansion.

The aerospace giant announced Friday that BE&K Building Group of Charlotte will link up with Turner Construction of New York to serve as the general contractor on the 584,000-square-foot aircraft assembly plant at Charleston International Airport.

BRPH of Melbourne, Fla., designed the site plans.

BE&K's regional office in Greenville will spearhead the project and has already begun “mobilizing” the North Charleston site, according to the company.

Local construction businesses hoping to work on the Boeing project have awaiting the general contractor's identity.

The new assembly plant, an investment of $750 million, is expected to employ 3,800 workers. It is scheduled to open in mid-2011.

Boeing Charleston spokeswoman Candy Eslinger said the construction firms were picked because of their aerospace manufacturing expertise and their success with the two fuselage assembly plants built originally for Vought Aircraft and Global Aeronautica in 2006.

Those buildings measure roughly 342,000 square feet and 310,000 square feet, respectively.

Boeing acquired Vought's local operation over the summer in a deal valued at $1 billion. Boeing owns 50 percent of Global Aeronautica.