Industrial Park Building Nears Completion

By Jasmine Gallup

With just a few months left until completion, city and business leaders got a sneak peak Thursday at Central Carolina Enterprise Park’s shell building, which is expected to lure a new company to the north Sanford industrial park.

Construction of the 117,00-square-foot industrial building was somewhat delayed by rainy weather, said Sanford Area Growth Alliance Chairman Kirk Bradley, but is on track to be completed by April.

According to Bradley, the building is designed for manufacturing and distribution and when completed, potential tenants will be able to customize the interior and move in within 90 days.

Once the building is occupied, they will be the second tenant for the industrial park. Dowa Thermotech, a Japanese company that manufactures industrial furnaces and offers heat treatment for metal parts, was announced in August 2018 as CCEP’s first tenant.

Bradley said the shell building is already being considered by 12 international companies and SAGA hopes to have a tenant lined up before constriction is done. They are also marketing to local companies who may want to expand, Bradley said.

“We used to think in terms of competing against Wake County or Greensboro, maybe Virginia or Georgia, and now we’re competing against countries,” he told the small crowd.

“That’s happened because of the efforts that elected officials have been willing to make; private individuals stepping forward; our lending institutions.”

Chris Chung, the CEO of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, also spoke to those in attendance.

“Having available product is the number one stumbling block that we see our local partners facing all over the state,” he said. “Seventy-five percent of those calls that come to us from companies that are looking at North Carolina as a place to expand, are looking for an existing building.”

Chung said Sanford was in a good place to attract businesses with the shell building’s proximity to U.S. 1, along with the diverse and educated workforce and competitive tax climate.

Mayor Chet Mann and others praised the collaboration between public and private enterprise, saying the building was the culmination of 10 years of hard work.

The city and county entered into a joint agreement with SAGA, Samet Properties and CC Enterprise Park LLC last year to rent the building for two years, giving private organizations a backstop and more time to market the building if a tenant cannot be immediately found.

If the building remains empty, Sanford and Lee County will split the rent – nearly $14,000 each per month – for up to two years.

Article Source: Grow Sanford NC

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