If International Paper sells the Savannah, Georgia, paper mill it just closed after nearly a century in operation, the site could generate interest from potential buyers in a range of industries. One such sector, shipbuilding, could create a new industry for the state of Georgia.
International Paper closed its Savannah containerboard plant in September to cut costs, resulting in the loss of about 1,100 jobs. The company has not indicated if or when it might list the property for sale, according to Wall Street analysts and local real estate brokers. International Paper did not respond to email requests for comment.
But the 382-acre site has direct access to the deep-water harbor of the Savannah River and a railroad yard, and is near the Port of Savannah, rare features for a single site on the East Coast, according to industry experts. Those amenities could make the site attractive to the Georgia Ports Authority or dry bulk and liquid storage container companies, all of which operate nearby facilities on the Savannah River.
The site could also drum up interest from an industrial sector that's new to Georgia — shipbuilding. The combination of the deepwater harbor with International Paper's freight railroad yard on the same site would be ideal for shipbuilders, an industry that a bipartisan group in Congress and the White House is trying to revive in the United States, according to one shipbuilding expert.
"We used to build a lot of ships in the U.S. and the number has contracted considerably," Roger Camp, president of the American Shipbuilding Suppliers Association, told CoStar News. "Congress is emphatic that we need to bring it back."
Lawmakers and President Donald Trump are pushing to revive domestic shipbuilding, as China has come to dominate the industry over the past several decades. The SHIPS for America Act, which has bipartisan support, would provide funding for training more workers in shipbuilding and other industrywide improvements. The U.S. Navy also wants to accelerate the delivery of new vessels.
"U.S. shipbuilding of large commercial oceangoing vessels has declined to a fraction of global commercial competitors' since the end of the 20th century," the U.S. Naval Institute, an Annapolis, Maryland-based nonprofit association of naval professionals, said in a February report. The U.S. Navy's goal to build 381 new ships "requires two things: $34 billion to $36 billion over the next 30 years and shipyards capable of building the vessels," according to the report.
"Our maritime infrastructure has eroded over the years," Greg Matter, head of the advanced manufacturing group at JLL, told CoStar News. "We've got shipyards that are older than the country."
Funds for shipyards
The Trump administration has said tariffs are intended to generate funds for, among other things, boosting domestic manufacturing in several sectors, including shipbuilding.
"The U.S. is embarking on a sweeping maritime revival, injecting billions into a shipbuilding industry that has struggled for years to keep pace with China's naval expansion and America's growing operational demands worldwide," Matthew Paxton, president of the Shipbuilders Council of America, a Washington, D.C.-based trade organization, wrote in an August opinion column.
Over the past decade, China has manufactured 6,765 ships for the commercial sector, compared to 37 ships made in the U.S., according to BRS Shipbrokers, a Swiss brokerage for the shipbuilding industry.
Several shipbuilding companies are in expansion mode, including Huntington Ingalls Industries, which operates two of the largest U.S. shipyards in Newport News, Virginia, and San Diego, California. Last year, HII acquired W International and its facility in Charleston, South Carolina, which manufactures structures and parts for shipbuilders.
HII hired 4,600 employees for manufacturing in 2025, and it has a $56 billion backlog of projects, CEO Christopher Kastner said during an Oct. 30 conference call.
HII has a "commitment to accelerate shipbuilding construction to meet our customers' requirements," Kastner said. "We continue to support the identification of strategies to increase throughput across our shipbuilding programs."
Meanwhile, BAE Systems completed a $250 million investment in June to upgrade its Jacksonville, Florida, shipyard to serve military and private sector clients.
In addition to expanding existing shipyards, shipbuilding companies may also be interested in acquiring land to develop new shipyards. The International Paper site could provide what they need, said Camp with the American Shipbuilding Suppliers Association.
"Anyone who wants to put a new shipyard in, personally, I think Savannah seems like a great place because of the water depth and, if there is a limited amount of environmental remediation needed, it's already zoned for industrial use and it has a rail yard," Camp said.
Potential sale
International Paper's Savannah packaging mill originally started operations in 1935 as the Union Bag and Paper Mill. International Paper acquired the mill in 1999, and it was one of the largest employers in eastern Georgia for decades.
The company has not yet commented publicly on whether it would sell the Savannah site, said Michael Roxland, an equities analyst at Truist Securities who follows International Paper and other paper companies. Roxland declined to estimate the property's potential sales price.
"My sense is the company will likely dismantle those mills and sell the real estate," Roxland told CoStar News. "They don't want to keep those up and running" because of the chance they might go to a competitor, he added.
The International Paper property would require significant work before it could be listed for sale, said David Sink, a principal at Colliers in Savannah who focuses on industrial real estate. A substantial number of buildings and infrastructure would need to be removed before a sale.
"It could be years before there are any real estate sales opportunities," Sink told CoStar News. Colliers does not represent International Paper in marketing the property.
After the buildings and infrastructure are removed, environmental assessments could reveal contamination of the land and groundwater. That would also require a costly remediation effort, Sink said.
"It would need a clean bill of health" before it could be sold, Sink said.
But the site has "substantial utility and railroad infrastructure and deepwater access," Sink said. That would make it attractive to a range of possible buyers.
Required maintenance
Other paper companies would need to make major upgrades if they wanted to use the existing International Paper infrastructure, Roxland said. The plant requires $300 million in maintenance and upgrades to run, International Paper recently said.
"It's reaching the end of its useful life," Roxland said.
Neighbors to the International Paper property have not said whether they would be interested in acquiring the site. The Georgia Ports Authority, which owns and operates the second-largest East Coast port on both sides of the International Paper plant, declined to comment to CoStar News on the International Paper site. The authority is already working on a $614 million upgrade to its Ocean Terminal in Savannah, spokesman Tom Boyd said in an emailed statement.
Colonial Group, a private company that operates a dry bulk and liquid storage terminal facility adjacent to the International Paper site, did not respond to requests for comment.
A third neighbor, turpentine manufacturer Kraton, owns an adjacent property. The International Paper site sits between the Savannah River and Kraton's property.
In August, Kraton said in a statement that it reached an agreement with International Paper "to maintain uninterrupted site services at Kraton's Savannah" facility to ensure "supply reliability, operational continuity and support for the long-term health of the pine chemicals industry."
As part of the agreement, "International Paper will continue providing essential site services to Kraton, enabling uninterrupted production and delivery of critical pine chemical products."
"This arrangement confirms our long-standing relationship with Kraton and our commitment to being a reliable, long-term partner to Kraton and participant in the pine chemicals markets for years to come," Chris Roeder, vice president and general manager of pine chemicals and low carbon solutions at International Paper, said in the statement.
Kraton did not respond to a request for comment.