Boeing Co has signed a deal allowing it to purchase nearly 1,100 acres of land at the site of its 787 jet factory in South Carolina, a deal that gives it room to expand production. The acquisition gives Boeing the option to buy the land its factory currently sits on, and the deal could eventually allow Boeing to quadruple its footprint in the area, its first commercial airplane manufacturing site outside of Washington state.However, some of the land is swamp that Boeing would need to fill in to develop, officials said. Also, one section contains a radar installation for the Charleston airport that Boeing would need to move to develop that land. Boeing also has not yet obtained a firm price for the purchase.Boeing said it is not looking to expand in the near future. The purchase "makes sense to protect any future growth plans the company may have," a spokesman said. He failed to comment on the difficulty in developing the land because there are no such plans.The agreement signed Wednesday would provide Boeing about 320 acres next to its factory and grants the Chicago-based company the option to buy 750 more acres in several parcels adjacent to and including the 260 acres that its 787 Dreamliner final assembly plant sits on, said Chip Limehouse, chairman of the Charleston County Aviation Authority, which oversees the local airport.
The Boeing Company (Boeing) is an aerospace company. Shares of BA fell by 1.5% or $-1.14/share to $74.69. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $66.82 and as high as $77.83. On average, 4570600 shares of BA exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 2970631.
Source
