A ceremonial turning of dirt is set for early next week at the site of a future shell building at the Nashville Business Center just west of town and close to the Business U.S. 64 interchange with U.S. 64.
The gathering is set for 10 a.m. Tuesday. The project is a partnership between Nash County and the town to help attract more industry to a location within an hour’s drive of the Research Triangle Park and five miles from Interstate 95.
Plans call for having a 40,000-square-foot structure on more than five acres, with the asking price to be more than $2.5 million.
The structure is anticipated to be ready by the end of the year, Nash County Economic Development Manager Susan Phelps said in a phone interview Thursday.
A shell building is one with a roof and walls but without interior work so a recruited company can do an upfit based on need.
“When a company or a site selector is looking for product for an expanding company, speed to market is important,” Phelps said.
Generally, speed to market is developing a product with a sense of urgency without sacrificing high-quality standards.
“And by having a site that is already permitted with due diligence completed and then adding the sweet cherry on top of a building that they can get started in helps them with that speed to market,” Phelps pointed out.
Due diligence is a reference to reasonable steps taken to satisfy a legal requirement, particularly in purchasing or selling something.
Phelps also said that she believes people used to say that just having a site with utilities was great but that now such a setup is not as competitive.
“So, having an available building when we are really in a market where there is a lack of available industrial space is key — and that has been helpful,” Phelps said.
The Nashville Business Center currently includes food products supplier Atlantic Natural Foods and ACDi Electronics Manufacturing.
Additionally, BuildLabs, a custom home designer and manufacturer, plans to invest $11.5 million in a 30,000-square-foot location in the center.
Next week’s planned ceremony is going to take place amid news that Nash County already has sold two shell buildings at the Middlesex Corporate Centre near the N.C. 231 interchange with U.S. 264 and in the far southwestern part of the county.
One building, which is 62,500 square feet, was sold to SinnovaTek for $1.6 million in 2022. SinnovaTek develops food processing equipment.
The other building, which also is 62,500 square feet, was sold to GXP-Storage, with 30 extra acres for expansion, for more than $4.6 million this year. GXP-Storage specializes in life sciences-related storage.
Phelps said that GXP-Storage is going to add to that building and is going to construct two more buildings.
Also, Nash County is seeking to sell a newly constructed shell building on the southwest side of the I-95 interchange for N.C. 97 in the far southern part of the county.
The site is composed of a 100,000-square-foot structure on more than six acres, with the asking price being $5.5 million and with the structure being expandable to up to 200,000 square feet.
Not only that, Phelps said, “We have had executive site visits for the Highway 97 site.”
She said that although there has not yet been a visit by a prospect to the site of the future Nashville shell building, that location is generating much interest.
Asked whether having shell buildings is going to become a routine economic development procedure in the county, she said, “I think we’re going to continue to do them as long as we see that they are successful.”
Phelps also discussed economic development opportunities at the Whitaker Business & Industry Center near the I-95 interchange for Gold Rock in the northeastern part of the county.
The Rocky Mount-based Golden LEAF Foundation’s board on June 6 announced an award of $34,000 in funds to Nash County from a program designed to complete due diligence on publicly controlled sites.
Nash County’s site currently is a wooded area just on the south side of Poppies Bakeries and adjacent to I-95.
“Our goal is to take those funds from Golden LEAF and have (the site) studied by an engineering firm to tell us how much would actually be developable,” Phelps said.
Golden LEAF was created by the N.C. General Assembly in 1999 to administer half of North Carolina’s share of the settlement agreement resulting from lawsuits against tobacco companies.
The Whitaker Business & Industry Center includes a supply chain giant McLane plant, an LS Tractor plant and a Cheesecake Factory bakery.
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