ROCKINGHAM — One parcel of land in the Energy Way Industrial Park could soon be sold.
The Richmond County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved a resolution authorizing County Manager Bryan Land to “dispose” of property in the park “by private sale at a negotiated price,” in accordance with state statute.
The county has been developing the industrial park on Airport Road, south of Hamlet since 2019.
Records show the four parcels — totalling 646.866 acres — were deeded to the county by Z.V. Pate Incorporated on Sept 9.
The resolution does not specify which parcel or mention if there are any prospective buyers.
“If we have interested parties, we need to expedite the process so that would give us confidentiality and an interest in time instead of having to come back to the board for every negotiation,” Economic Developer Martie Butler told commissioners.
“Obviously, once there’s an agreement…we would have to bring that before the board,” Butler continued. “This merely gives us … the authority to negotiate.”
During a candidate forum on Oct. 10, Chairman Jeff Smart — who has since been elected to his second term — teased that the county was “in line right now for a lot of good things to come,” within the next six months.
Smart added that there would be new jobs from a “high-profile industry that we’ve never had here in Richmond County, from a financial standpoint.”
In July, Energy Way was listed among the top 15 industrial sites in the Selectsite Readiness Program Report — compiled by Texas-based Site Selection Group with technical support from engineering firm Thomas and Hutton — released by the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina.
Former Rockingham mayor and state senator Gene McLaurin currently serves as chairman of the EDPNC.
Click here to read about the Selectsite Readiness Program Report.
Butler has previously stated that Energy Way has the potential to bring nearly a dozen new industries to the county.
The city of Rockingham entered into a 40-year interlocal agreement with the county government in 2023 to provide wastewater service for Energy Way.
Earlier this year, the county was awarded $500,000 for site prep and grading for a rail spur at Energy Way.
Click here to read about that grant.
During his monthly report, Land told commissioners that the county’s sixth shell building in the Richmond County Industrial Park off of the U.S. 74 bypass is progressing “on time and within budget.”
The 40,000-square-foot building should be complete the week before Christmas, according to Land: “Hopefully that’ll be a nice early Christmas present for us.”
Land also mentioned the progress at the Graceland Portable Buildings site in Marston at the former Woodgrain Distribution property on U.S. 1.
State and county leaders announced Graceland was coming to the area in September, just after commissioners approved the application for a $400,000 Rural Building Reuse Grant from the N.C. Department of Commerce.
Click here to read the Graceland announcement.
Local contractor Southern Builders has been performing “much-needed upgrades to the facility and we’re excited about the future of this new industry,” Land said.
Graceland is expected to come online in the first quarter of 2025, according to Land.
The company is reportedly investing $7.4 million into the project and is expected to hire 51 employees with an average wage of $43,335 per year.
