NorthPoint on track to deliver I-85 Commerce Center on Webb Road by summer

Published 12:03 am Friday, February 25, 2022

SALISBURY — A large industrial development on Webb Road between I-85 and U.S. 29 is on track to be completed this summer.

NorthPoint Development’s project will include a 676,000-square-foot building primed to house a distribution center or manufacturing facility. The development is being marketed as the I-85 Commerce Center by Avison Young, a commercial real estate company.

NorthPoint broke ground last year and despite a rainy winter season, NorthPoint project manager Michael Johnston said the project is on schedule to be completed in July. Along with several thousand square feet of space, the development will have 364 auto parking spaces and 150 trailer parking spaces. The building will have 68 docks with the ability to expand to 150.

The building is being erected using a tilt-up construction technique, a process that has large concrete panels cast on site before being lifted into position with a crane around structural steel.

“You should see panels standing up in the next two weeks,” Johnston said. “Steel is going to start here in the next couple weeks as well, so the building will go from horizontal to vertical here pretty quickly.”

Although Johnston said the company has drawn some interest, an end user has not been determined yet.

The Rowan County Board of Commissioners in September voted to approve an incentive deal for the project. Whoever pays property taxes on the building, whether it be NorthPoint or the company eventually inhabiting the building, will receive a percentage of its paid taxes back from the county in the form of a grant. The percentage paid back will be determined by how much is invested and how many jobs are created.

The I-85 Commerce Center is not NorthPoint’s first foray into Rowan County. The company developed the building now occupied by Chewy in northeastern Rowan County.

“Rowan County is fantastic,” Johnston said. “They are a great entity to work with. They’re very user friendly. So, we love to work with the county and continue to bring these projects to market.”

NorthPoint’s development is one of several in the works in Rowan County. Land is currently being cleared near exit 68 for The Silverman Group’s 85 Logistics Center, which is being considered by multiple companies that are interested in establishing a location in Rowan County. One of the companies considering the property under the Project Rabbit codename could bring 5,100 full-time and part-time seasonal jobs. A decision on that project will likely come in March.

Trammell Crow Company is planning a 755,928-square-foot logistics center called Metro63 near exit 63 in Kannapolis. The company is also interested in building a 500,000-square-foot center near exit 72 in Salisbury. Meanwhile, multiple developers have placed offers for 40-acres of county owned property near Koontz Elementary and I-85.

About Ben Stansell

Ben Stansell covers business, county government and more for the Salisbury Post. He joined the staff in August 2020 after graduating from the University of Alabama. Email him at ben.stansell@salisburypost.com.

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