New name for building once owned by WorldCom
Published 9:57 pm Saturday, September 8, 2007
The old WorldCom building in Clinton has been turned over to new owners.
“We have renamed the property South Point Business Park,” Jackson developer Ted Duckworth said.
The property didn’t have a name and this helps people understand it is not owned by WorldCom or Verizon, he said.
MCI was the company that emerged from bankruptcy following the $11 billion accounting scandal that resulted in former CEO Bernie Ebbers being sentenced to federal prison.
A group of private investors, including Duckworth, purchased the site from Verizon for an undisclosed amount. Verizon gained control of the Clinton office space when it purchased MCI in 2006.
“We will be leasing floor space from the owner and continuing our presence in Clinton,” Lynn Staggs, a spokeswoman for Verizon, said.
Staggs said the company sold the property rather than continue attempting to find tenants for the vacant space.
Duckworth’s company will manage the property, which has four tenants — Verizon, Reznick Group, Duckworth Realty and Bell Industries, which purchased SkyTel last year. The four firms and a food service operator of an on-site cafeteria, occupy 250,000 square feet of the buildings, Duckworth said.
There are 200,000 square feet of available office space, and the new owners have received inquiries from several companies, Duckworth said.
Three buildings sit on the 89-1/2-acre property that includes a wooded area.