From Eli Lilly to Chewy, Kroger to Macy’s, the I-85 corridor is celebrating a business boom. Over the past few months, both Cabarrus and Rowan counties have seen record-setting economic development announcements.
The two largest announcements, the new Eli Lilly manufacturing facility and the Macy’s fulfillment center, represent about 75% of the announced jobs and capital investment in the region in the first quarter.
Cabarrus County has seen tremendous success over the past 12 months with three marquee announcements:
- Ball Corp., Red Bull, and Rauch announced 633 jobs and $1.1B in capital investment
- Kroger and Ocado: announced 692 jobs and $132 million in capital investment
- Eli Lilly: announced 589 jobs and $1B in capital investment.
In Rowan County, economic developers say the opening of Chewy’s 700,000-square-foot distribution center at exit 81 was the first ripple along the Interstate-85 corridor in the county, opening the floodgates for Macy’s recent announcement of a 1.4 million-square-foot facility at exit 68.
Traveling farther north along I-85, Nucor Corporation, the largest producer of steel in the country, will invest $350 million in a new micro-mill in Lexington off exit 96, just north of Rowan in Davidson County, which is expected to bring 180 jobs.
“We are very excited to grow our steel business here in our home state of North Carolina,” Leon Topalian, Nucor president & CEO said. “The corridor between Washington, D.C., and Atlanta is one of the fastest-growing regions in our nation, and new federal spending for infrastructure will further increase demand for rebar in the region.”
In Rowan County alone, there are more than 20 buildings and approximately 15 million square feet of industrial space under development, setting the stage for significantly more growth ahead.
Crow Holdings Industrial revealed this month that it is planning a 710,600-square-foot speculative building in Salisbury, located just off exit 71.
“Crow Holdings believes Rowan County is well-positioned to continue its growth given a dynamic labor force, pro-business mindset, and access to the Southeast’s main thoroughfare, I-85,” Matt Cochrane, Crow Holdings Industrial’s managing director for the Carolinas, told the Charlotte Business Journal. “Rowan County has demonstrated its ability to attract national and international companies such as Food Lion, Daimler, Chewy, Gildan and ALDI, and we’re excited to bring a Class A, state-of-the-art industrial facility online so we can add to the tax base and job growth in the surrounding area.”
Meanwhile, the industrial development growth trends continue in suburban counties along the major transportation corridors, where land is available to build large industrial buildings for the logistics industry.
Gaston County is home to much of the recent industrial development activity. According to data from JLL, the Gaston and Rowan county submarkets in the Charlotte Region have the most industrial space under construction with 2.2 million and 1.4 million square feet respectively.
As regionalism continues to broaden its reach, so do the economic development wins along the I-85 corridor. The interstate connects the Charlotte Region to Greenville, South Carolina, and Atlanta, Georgia, to the south; and Greensboro and the Triangle to the north. In the past 12 months, more companies have been choosing to invest farther along the route including:
- Oshkosh Defense: $155 million investment and 1,000 jobs for a new EV and low-emission vehicle facility in Spartanburg County, South Carolina. (06/2021)
- Toyota: $1.29 billion investment and 1,750 jobs for a new EV facility outside of Greensboro. (12/2021)
- Boom Supersonic: $500 million investment and 1,750 jobs for a new airliner manufacturing facility in Guilford County, North Carolina. (01/2022)
