April 13 Reuters Volkswagen39;s offroad brand Scout Motors studied 74 different parcels of land across the U.S. last summer as it hunted for a place to build a 2 billion assembly plant.

It quickly eliminated almost all of them. In one case, they learned it would take six years to build a needed rail link. Others lacked access to clean power crucial for a project for green electric vehicles. Some did not offer enough nearby skilled labor.

We were hitting a deadline, said Scott Keogh, Scout39;s CEO, so they settled for a parcel in South Carolina that has all their desired features but is a bit smaller than they initially wanted 1,600 instead of 2,000 acres.

Scout39;s scramble highlights a challenge facing dozens of global manufacturers. Fueled by a combination of hefty government incentives, a transition to new transportation and energy technologies, and national security concerns about relying on distant suppliers, especially in China, there39;s a factorybuilding boom taking place across the U.S.

But all that new construction has a real estate problem. More specifically, a megasite problem. While the U.S. has plentiful land, there are not that many places to quickly plunk a billiondollarplus factory.

The factory renaissance could soon hit a barrier because of the scarcity of readytogo megasites, according to 25 economic development groups, state and local officials, utilities, and companies interviewed by Reuters.

That would be a problem for the Biden…