An out-of-state company has begun to lay the figurative groundwork for a large speculative warehouse that it hopes to develop on the outskirts of Burlington.
The Bluescope Property Group of Kansas City, Missouri recently purchased two lots along Whites Kennel Road in order to build this proposed warehousing facility.
According to documents filed with Alamance County’s register of deeds, Bluestone shelled out $1,006,000 for these two parcels, which are located at 1736 and 1666 Whites Kennel Road, on October 2. Covering a combined area of just over 13 acres, these lots are located across the street from another logistics operation that’s owned and operated by the Sheetz gas station chain.
Bluescope has reportedly farmed out the construction of this facility to the North Carolina-based Bobbitt Group. Even before the site’s new owner closed on the property, Bobbitt had filed plans with the city of Burlington for a 187,500 square-foot building to be constructed at 1736 and 1666 Whites Kennel Road.
Bobbitt’s marketing director Courtney Collins acknowledged that some of this project’s particulars remain in flux at this time.
“This facility is designed to accommodate one to three tenants and may include the development of multiple buildings,” Collins went on to explain in a formal statement on October 9. “The new facility will contribute to the growing industrial sector in Burlington, offering prime space for potential tenants looking for flexible, modern warehouse environments.”
As of this week, Bobbitt’s plans for the warehouse were still making their way through Burlington’s planning review process. According to Jamie Lawson, the city’s planning director, a staff-level technical review committee is currently evaluating a site plan that the city received from the contractor.
“It hasn’t been approved,” Lawson told the newspaper on Monday. “They recently made some revisions, which are still under review.”
In addition to the revised site plan, Bobbitt has also submitted an annexation request in order to have the warehouse’s proposed site brought into Burlington’s territorial limits. A state-mandated public hearing on this “non-contiguous” annexation is scheduled to take place before Burlington’s city council on Tuesday.
If everything continues to unfold as expected, Collins told The Alamance News that it shouldn’t be long before the construction of this proposed facility begins in earnest.
“Essentially, we’re look at having groundbreaking in November,” she said in an interview Monday.
