SungEel’s Exit Leaves Stephens County Industrial-Park Land in Limbo

Final paperwork was being drafted in June 2025 for the reported buyback of lots 3 and 4 at Stephens County’s Hayestone Brady Industrial Park, according to WNEG Radio. Brittany Ivey, president and CEO of the Stephens County Development Authority, made the announcement at the authority’s June 25 board meeting after SungEel withdrew plans for its battery-recycling facility.

The unfinished land transaction is central to what follows the failed project: it would determine whether the development authority regains control of property once intended for an industrial facility and can pursue another use. It also leaves unresolved how the project’s reported local incentive arrangement, which included a declining tax-abatement schedule and city utility tap-fee waivers, applied after SungEel’s decision not to build.

WNEG Radio reported in September 2023 that SungEel had bought industrial-park property and that an incentive memorandum of understanding was on record with the Development Authority. The station said the company faced delays while updating equipment and building plans. By April 2025, WNEG reported that the authority announced SungEel would no longer proceed with the planned facility; the June report then described the proposed return of the two lots as the next step.

Development Authority leaders framed the withdrawal around conditions facing the electric-vehicle supply chain. WNEG reported that the authority attributed SungEel’s decision to slowing U.S. electric-vehicle demand, while Board Chairman Brian Akin said no local or state taxpayer money was lost. Earlier, Ivey described the reported incentives as tied to investment and employment levels and said the city’s tap-fee waiver would be exchanged for use of city utilities where possible.

SungEel’s withdrawal and the proposed lot buyback have been reported by WNEG Radio, but the June update described paperwork being drafted, not an approved or completed transaction. No official record here confirms an authority vote, executed buyback, payment, property transfer or the terms for returning the lots. The reported MOU terms likewise do not establish an official governing-body approval or grant award, and the withdrawal report does not independently establish final official action.

The next public milestone is a documented Development Authority action or executed transaction showing whether the buyback of lots 3 and 4 occurred. Until then, it remains unknown whether the parcels have changed hands, whether any money was exchanged, whether the incentive conditions were ever triggered or ended, and what the authority intends to do with the industrial-park land.