After months of cat and mouse, Google Inc. has confirmed that it is behind the swarm of activity on slightly less than 514 acres in the Mount Holly Commerce Park.

“We are the ones responsible for the activity on the site, which amounts to continued preparation,” said Google spokesman Barry Schnitt in an e-mail to the Charleston Regional Business Journal on March 21.

Last December, an entity called Maguro Enterprises LLC purchased the land in the commerce park for the price of $1 and “other valuable consideration” totaling more than $16.9 million.

Since that time, dump trucks and construction crews have been traveling in and out of the site behind a chain-link fence under the watchful eyes of security guards.

On March 5, the Office of the Berkeley County Registrar of Deeds filed yet another deed related to Maguro Enterprises LLC, this one conferring the ownership of approximately 9.8 acres of the total it had purchased to Berkeley Electric Cooperative Inc.

While Maguro had been linked circumstantially to Google—all documents pertaining to the transactions were notarized in Santa Clara, Calif., where the search engine giant is based—the company consistently maintained that it was considering the site, but hadn’t committed to it.

But earlier this year, Maguro filed for a permit with the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control to build on nearly 170 acres of the site. According to DHEC officials, up to 152 of those acres will be built features, such as buildings, roads and parking lots.

And then the filer of the March deed claimed an exemption from deed recording fees due to the fact the deal represented a transfer of realty “in which no gain or loss is recognized.”

The document also stated that Berkeley Electric Cooperative and Maguro would share common entrance and egress from the acreage.

Given the players and the proximity to the site now confirmed to be Google’s, the speculation is that the land will be used for a power substation or some other power- related infrastructure.

Laura Varn, spokeswoman for the Santee Cooper utility, which operates the commerce park in partnership with Berkeley County and Alcoa Mt. Holly, said the utility sells power to the Berkeley Electric Cooperative, which is the direct supplier of power to businesses in the commerce park.

She said she had no knowledge of what will become of the 9.8 acres, but suggested a call be made to Eddie McKnight, vice president of marketing and public relations for the cooperative.

McKnight did not return several calls for comment.

Despite Google acknowledging its role at the site, seemingly waving confidentiality agreements it has had with public officials up to this point, comment on the development was not forthcoming from either Gov. Mark Sanford’s office or the S.C. Department of Commerce.

Dan McCue is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dmccue@charlestonbusiness.com.

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