Statesboro and Metter, Georgia: what's coming.

The read · October 2, 2026

Where the I-16 market is growing.

Bulloch County had 86,949 people and 36,248 housing units in 2025, up 9.2 percent in population since 2020. Candler County had 11,275 people, up 2.5 percent.¹ Since April 2025, councils and commissions here have approved about 1,700 homes and apartments with published counts, across six projects: Old Register Road (1,173), Herman Rushing Road (198), the Hunnicutt subdivision (134), the Coca-Cola site (108), Maria Sorrell Road (66), and East Olliff Street (19).²⁴²² That is about 5 percent of Bulloch's housing, or a little over a year of construction at 2025's pace of 1,389 permits.¹ Add the other units the city counts in its southeast corridor and Brooklet's 300-acre annexation, and the pipeline is about 3,300 units: nearly a tenth of the county's housing.⁶⁷ Approved is not built.

Old Register Road becomes a new center

One project is most of the recent approvals. In August 2025 Statesboro annexed 99.53 acres and expanded a planned development on Old Register Road and US 301 South to 237.59 acres. The plan shows about 1,173 units: some 500 apartments, 225 student cottages, 202 townhomes, and 246 houses, with a hotel, offices, a bank, and retail.²³ That is about 70 percent of everything approved since April 2025. It sits between the campus and the interchange, which is where the market's two engines meet.

Growth shifts inside the city

The Bulloch County Commission denied at least 165 rural subdivision lots in 2025 and approved about 200.⁴ In February 2026 it froze all residential rezonings while it writes an impact fee ordinance, and the freeze now runs through December 31.⁵ Over the same stretch, Statesboro approved about 1,500 units, most through annexation. Growth that would have spread across the county is landing inside the city, where there is water and sewer. Roads are the cost. The city counts about 1,342 units planned in the Burkhalter and Cawana corridor and has about $8.9 million in roundabouts and widening planned there, with the county sharing costs.⁶

The jobs land at the interchanges

Hyundai's Metaplant, east on I-16 in Bryan County, had hired 4,365 of its promised 8,500 workers by June 2026. Three of its suppliers sit along US 301 South. Two had hired 698 of the 1,086 jobs they promised: Ajin and Joon Georgia 430, Ecoplastic 268.⁸ The third, Hanon Systems, announced 160 jobs and lists its Statesboro plant among its production sites; it has not published a headcount.²³ The county keeps preparing land: a $1.5 million state grant to make a 69-acre site in Gateway Park pad-ready.⁹ Two question marks sit nearby. The Aspen Aerogels plant at the interchange was abandoned half-built in February 2025.¹⁰ The $200 million revalyu recycling plant in Gateway park broke ground in 2023 with phase one due in late 2025; we have found no report on whether it is running.²⁴

Metter: jobs without houses

Two Hyundai suppliers announced 500 jobs at Metter's I-16 industrial park, DAS with 300 and Doowon with 200.¹¹¹² Candler County's employers counted 2,289 jobs in 2023, so the announcements would add about a fifth. The county recorded 7 new housing units permitted in 2025.¹ If those jobs materialize and housing production stays that low, Metter would likely depend heavily on workers commuting from outside the city. The industrial park is getting a state grant to renew its certification and expand, and the city is weighing a 46-acre annexation at the exit.¹³¹⁴

Data centers, three ways

Statesboro rezoned 26.49 acres on Burkhalter Road for a 230,000-square-foot data center. A fiscal study puts it at $1.2 billion over 10 years with 12 jobs. Residents have sued.¹⁵¹⁶ Bulloch County kept its moratorium and set up a citizen working group after a ban failed by one vote.¹⁷ Metter posted a study for a 100-megawatt project with $1.1 billion in real property and 40 jobs, though the city says no developer has approached it and no annexation request has been made.¹⁸²⁵ The numbers explain the interest: large tax bases and few jobs. OpenAI's $20 billion campus in Effingham County shows how big the pull can get.¹⁹

Retail moves to the edge

Kroger broke ground on a 99,000-square-foot Marketplace on Veterans Memorial Parkway, anchoring a 21-acre center due in fall 2027.²⁰ On Northside Drive, the old Publix and Kmart boxes are filled again with Academy Sports and HomeGoods.²¹ New space goes where the new rooftops are. Older corridors are being reused, not abandoned.

What we're watching

• Whether the county adopts impact fees and lifts its rezoning freeze after December 31
• The Burkhalter Road lawsuit and the special use permit that has not been filed
• What the Fortner Road annexation in Metter is for
• Whether revalyu and Hanon report hiring
• Whether Blue Fern Village's 1,794 units come back to the council

How we count: the pipeline includes filed, approved, and started projects in Bulloch and Candler counties. Plan figures count at their approved maximum. Project figures without a number here come from the list below, where each row carries its source. Bulloch and Candler counts come from Census estimates.

1. U.S. Census Bureau, QuickFacts: Bulloch County and Candler County, Georgia (population and housing units, July 1, 2025; building permits, 2025; employment, 2023). Primary. Link · Checked October 2, 2026.
2. City of Statesboro, Planning Commission Agenda and Packet, August 5, 2025. Primary. Link · Checked October 2, 2026.
3. Grice Connect, Statesboro City Council approves property tax relief referendum, annexations, and housing programs, August 2025. Press. Link · Checked October 2, 2026.
4. Grice Connect, county commission coverage, June, August, and September 2025. Press. June · August · September · Checked October 2, 2026.
5. Statesboro Herald, Commissioners extend both moratoriums, step toward outright ban on data centers, May 2026. Press. Link · Checked October 2, 2026.
6. Statesboro Herald, City looks toward upgrades of Burkhalter and Cawana roads and their intersections, June 2025; and The Statesboro Brief, February 23, 2026 (city-county cost sharing). Press. Herald · Brief · Checked October 2, 2026.
7. Grice Connect, Brooklet annexes 278 acres to be used for single-family developments, July 18, 2024. Press. Link · Checked October 2, 2026.
8. The Current, Hyundai suppliers make hiring progress in exchange for public incentives, September 6, 2026. Press. Link · Checked October 2, 2026.
9. Expansion Solutions, Bulloch County secures $1.5M state grant for industrial site development, June 2025. Press. Link · Checked October 2, 2026.
10. WTOC, Taxpayer dollars impacted after Aspen Aerogels abandons Bulloch County, April 2, 2025. Press. Link · Checked October 2, 2026.
11. Georgia Department of Economic Development, DAS Corp. to bring 300 automotive jobs to Metter, September 2023. Primary. Link · Checked October 2, 2026.
12. Office of the Governor, Second automotive supplier creating 200 new jobs in Candler County, February 6, 2024. Primary. Link · Checked October 2, 2026.
13. The Georgia Virtue, Candler County Industrial Authority to receive state funds to expand industrial park, January 31, 2026. Press. Link · Checked October 2, 2026.
14. City of Metter, Public hearing notice: annexation and rezoning of 46.76 acres on Fortner Road, August 12, 2026. Primary. Link · Checked October 2, 2026.
15. City of Statesboro, City Council Minutes, August 18, 2026. Primary. Link · Checked October 2, 2026.
16. The Statesboro Brief, editions of August 17 and September 28, 2026 (fiscal study; lawsuit). Press. Aug 17 · Sept 28 · Checked October 2, 2026.
17. The Statesboro Brief, The data center ban died on one vote, and 21 of our neighbors get the next word, September 7, 2026. Press. Link · Checked October 2, 2026.
18. Economic Impact Group, LOCI fiscal impact analysis: 100MW data center in Candler County, February 2026, posted by the City of Metter. Primary. Link · Checked October 2, 2026.
19. The Statesboro Brief, Brooklet wildfire hits 389 acres, data center ban heads to Aug. 4 vote, July 27, 2026. Press. Link · Checked October 2, 2026.
20. WTOC, Kroger breaks ground on $45.7 million Marketplace in Statesboro, August 6, 2026. Press. Link · Checked October 2, 2026.
21. The Statesboro Brief, Edition 19, February 16, 2026. Press. Link · Checked October 2, 2026.
22. Statesboro Herald, Council approves Herman Rushing Rd. annexation for 198 townhome units, May 2025; and City of Statesboro, City Council minutes, April 21, 2026 (East Olliff Street). Press; Primary. Herald · Council, April 21, 2026 · Checked October 2, 2026.
23. Hanon Systems, Global network, checked October 2026; Office of the Governor, May 23, 2023. Primary. Hanon · Governor · Checked October 2, 2026.
24. Statesboro Herald, Recycling company revalyu breaks ground on Bulloch factory, October 6, 2023. Press. Link · Checked October 2, 2026.
25. City of Metter, public notice, August 21, 2026. Primary. Link · Checked October 2, 2026.

How this is put together

Sources: Statesboro City Council and Planning Commission; Bulloch County Board of Commissioners and Planning and Zoning Commission; Brooklet City Council; Metter City Council; the Development Authority of Bulloch County and the Candler County Industrial Authority; Bulloch County Schools and Georgia Southern University; state economic development announcements. Agendas and minutes are the primary record; press coverage fills in announcements and groundbreakings. We report what the record says and label what is not yet confirmed. Issues are dated and are not rewritten after they publish. Corrections are noted on the issue and carried into the next one.

See something we missed or got wrong? Tell us. How Redchip researches and verifies: Method.

Disclosure: the author is a partner in Vanguard Industrial Partners, which develops projects in the Southeast and may pursue projects in this market. General information only; see the disclaimer.