Raleigh developer secures incentives for $40M distribution center in Johnston County
Johnston County will chip in $750,000 toward the building of a vast warehouse that officials hope will soon be filled with hundreds of workers.
Edgewater Ventures, which has offices in Raleigh and Wrightsville Beach, said it plans to break ground this spring on the first phase of Crosspoint Logistics Center, a 500,000-square-foot distribution facility. It’s located on a chunk of land southeast of the junction of I-40 and I-95.
“For us, it was really just a can’t-miss location,” said Edgewater Ventures founding principal Chris Norvell. “Any large scale distribution project, you’re looking for accessibility. Accessibility to population, accessibility to ports, accessibility to major interstates.”
The site is a 90-minute drive from the Port of Wilmington, 45 minutes from Raleigh-Durham International Airport and a half-hour from downtown Raleigh.
%5B65%5D.jpg "2022-03-07 - Crosspoint Photos - Johnston County (2)[65].jpg")
“We’re really the center of everything. It’s a great logistics location for any company,” Johnston County economic development director Chris Johnson said.
Amazon announced last spring it was building a 620,000-square-foot warehouse in nearby Smithfield and has begun posting warehouse jobs online.
The Johnston County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved an incentive package expected to total about $750,000 on Monday. The county will pay 50% of the property taxes on the building, sending Edgewater Ventures annual checks between 2024 and 2028.
Norvell, who leads the company’s industrial efforts in the Southeast, said they searched along Interstate 95 from Nash County to Robeson County for a suitable site before landing on the acreage in Johnston County.
“It was a competitive environment,” Norvell told the commissioners. “We’re excited for the help you’re able to give to us, which candidly is going to enable us to be that much more competitive as we pursue a company that will bring the jobs that we’re talking about to Johnston County.”
%5B64%5D.jpg "2022-03-07 - Crosspoint Photos - Johnston County (1)[64].jpg")
Edgewater Ventures spent $2.2 million buying up 91 acres just outside the town limits of Benson late last year, property records show.
Norvell said they can accommodate two buildings of about 500,000 square feet or a single facility of 1 million square feet. He said a speculative facility of that size was unique to the Triangle market.
“We just think the time has come and the market is matured so it’s ready for buildings of this scale,” he said in a phone interview, adding they hope to have the facility occupied by mid-2023.
Economist says warehouse will add $73M to Johnston County annually
Mike Walden, an economics professor emeritus from North Carolina State University, estimated the facility would generate $73 million annually for the county.
Walden told The News & Observer that figure was based on anticipated salaries and production, as well as “downstream” impacts on local businesses.
“This is strategically important to Johnston County and will serve as a catalyst for future development in the area,” County Attorney Jennifer Slusser told the Board of Commissioners.
The county stipulated the facility must add 300 jobs by 2026 paying salaries that, when averaged, match the county’s average annual wages of $43,000.
Johnson said he hoped the jobs will help slow the “mass exodus” of workers from the county.
%5B62%5D.jpg "2022-03-07 - Crosspoint Photos - Johnston County (3)[62].jpg")
“Currently we have over 50,000 residents leave Johnston County daily to work elsewhere. This should be alarming to everyone,” Johnson said during Monday’s meeting.
He told The News & Observer that’s nearly half of the county’s workforce.
“Instead of being stuck in traffic on 40, they can work in what’s essentially going to be their own backyard,” he said.
This story was originally published March 9, 2022 at 10:36 AM.
