Today, Nov. 30, the Moore County Economic Development Partnership (MCEDP) acquired a 73-acre parcel of land in Aberdeen that will contain the Iron Horse Industrial Park. This makes Iron Horse the first publicly controlled industrial park site in Moore County.

“Today is a momentous day in my organization’s history. For the first time ever, we have land under our ownership that we can develop to help recruit quality jobs to Moore County,” said  MCEDP President Natalie Hawkins in a press release.

This property was identified as a potential site for industrial development 20 years ago. Hawkins shared that the lack of an access road along with the fact that the site was not cleared or graded, proved to be two of the biggest barriers they had to overcome, but with determination and help from community members and leaders they have finally succeeded in acquiring the site.

Over the last two years, MCEDP has accumulated nearly $2 million in grants and other funding to acquire and develop the 73-acre parcel. Most of the funding, or $1.2 million, came from a state directed grant made possible by Senator Tom McInnis. Moore County and the Town of Aberdeen also provided loans of $200,000 each to MCEDP to acquire the land.

“We have so many to thank for making closing on this property possible, including Senator McInnis, the Moore County Board of Commissioners, the Town of Aberdeen Commissioners, NC Department of Transportation, Aberdeen & Rockfish Railroad, the MCEDP Board of Directors and Three Rivers Land Trust,” said Hawkins in a press release. “We plan to move quickly with our development activities to expedite recruitment of business and industry to the site. Clearing of the site is planned to occur in January or February and construction of a public industrial access road from NC Hwy 211 should begin early next year,” said Hawkins.

Hawkins hopes that by the end of next year the space will be in a state fit for a new business with a new road and the site cleared and graded. She shared that they definitely hope to recruit a rail user and the site will be well suited for a small-scale heavy industrial user. It remains to be seen how many potential customers or clients will be able to operate within the park. 

According to Hawkins, there is no plan as of now to have a shell building on the site, but the idea is certainly not off the table. “We would love to talk with some developers who might be interested in constructing some shell buildings or buildings for us,” remarked Hawkins. 

More updates on the Iron Horse Industrial Park will follow as construction begins in the new year.