Former drug plant sold in Morrisville

To change to retail, residential, offices

MORRISVILLE -- A development team bought a deserted pharmaceutical plant and 96 acres with plans to build a blend of offices, shops and homes similar in style to Raleigh's Cameron Village or North Hills.

A partnership of Cary-based 1st Carolina Properties and Casto, a Columbus, Ohio, shopping center developer, last week paid Andrx Pharmaceuticals $22.5 million for the land and the 478,578-square-foot factory near N.C. 54 and the Cary Parkway, according to Wake County records.

The new plan for the property underscores Morrisville's metamorphasis from a business hub near Research Triangle Park to a place more people are calling home.

And it's pegged for the very spot that put the town on the map.

Bristol-Myers opened the plant in 1981 to make over-the-counter drugs such as Bufferin. There were 250 people living in Morrisville at the time. When it opened, it generated $55,000 in annual town taxes, double Morrisville's budget at the time. The town's population quadrupled to 1,022 residents almost a decade later.

By the end of 2005, there were almost 12,300 people living in Morrisville, according to town estimates. That number is expected to almost double by 2030. That's what attracted the developers.

"It's probably one of the best infill sites in the Triangle for mixed use," said Connell Radcliff, president of 1st Carolina.

He listed the reasons why: "The demographics, the growth in that part of Wake County, the proximity to Research Triangle Park. Where do I stop?"

And there's the bargain price -- a hair less than the $22.6 million Andrx paid in 2002. The Florida drug maker bought the plant months after Bristol-Myers closed there, with plans to hire 400 people.

Andrx pulled the plug on the Triangle expansion in 2004, and slapped a $42 million price on the property.

Casto and 1st Carolina likely will build a mix of shops and offices and possibly apartments or condominiums, Radcliff said. But the developers are still trying to determine how much to build. It could be three months before plans are filed to seek approval from town officials.

The deal is Casto's latest foray into the Triangle. The developer, whose specialty is building retail and residential properties, last year paid $9.4 million for a portion of Stone Creek Village in Cary and $33.6 million for Renaissance Village in Durham. The company plans to expand in the Southeast, particularly in Florida and the Carolinas, said Kristin Mack, a Casto spokeswoman.